Beyond the Big Three: Istanbul’s Smaller (and Cheaper) Delights

Our group of friends has a saying that, “in life, second round is always better.” While we may have started out talking about rounds of spare ribs at the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue, it has developed a strange practicality, apropos in lots of situations.  Like traveling, for instance.  We almost always enjoy a city more the second time we visit. We’ve “done” the big tourist attractions, so we can just walk around, poke into shops and cafes, and spend time soaking in the city.

In Istanbul, while it was our first trip here, we stayed for three weeks and moved into an apartment after one week, giving our last fortnight a “second round” feel to it.  We discovered some interesting gems outside of the “Big Three” sights, and started to internalize the rhythms of the city.  Here are our thoughts on Istanbul, Second Round:

Second Round Sights

We’ve previously written about the three buildings that top tourists’ must-see list in Istanbul.  With a little more time, we were able to hit a fair number of other mosques, notable buildings, and museums.   Here are our favorites:

Chora Church

Located outside the bustling tourist district of Sultanahmet, the interior of this little Byzantine church is covered in amazing frescoes and mosaics. The mosaics are similar to the ones in the Hagia Sophia, but are much better preserved, and the frescoes are incredibly advanced and well-rendered.

 

Basilica Cistern

I love creepy places and Jordan appreciates ancient technical know-how, so this place was pretty much perfect.  Built by the Byzantine emperor Justinian, this vast underground cistern acted as the water source for the ancient city of Constantinople.  What must be the most in-bred fish in the world swim like ghosts among the ancient pillars and there’s a couple of cool ancient Medusa heads at the back.  It’s also right across the street from the Hagia Sophia, so it was pretty crowded when we went at midday.  I wish we’d gone at the very beginning or end of the day and had it to ourselves.

Suleymaniye Mosque

A lot of the mosques in Istanbul are very ornate, covered in tilework and fancy engraved marble.  I liked Suleymaniye because it is so beautiful in its simplicity.  The grounds and külliye (mosque complex) of the Süleymaniye, which is outside the walled garden, are also particularly interesting and elaborate.  When it was built in the 16th century, the külliye housed a soup kitchen, hospital, hamam, etc.  The hamam is still in use and there’s a lovely tea garden in one of the old sunken gardens.

Archaeology Museum

Pretty much any invading horde who was anybody in the ancient world made it through Turkey at some point, and this museum houses some of the stuff they left behind.   They’ve got large mosaics of lions that guarded the ancient gate into Babylon and a 4th century BC sarcophogus decorated with an amazingly intricate sculpture of Alexander the Great routing the Persians (with some of the original paint still on it). If you’re into classical history or ancient art at all, this is a worthwhile stop near the Topkapi Palace.

Free and cheap things to do in Istanbul

When visiting a city, our favorite things to do are often smaller, more everyday pleasures.  Lucky for us, they’re also easy on the budget.  Istanbul is not a cheap destination, but we found things to do that were both enjoyable and frugal:

Stopping for tea

Daily, or twice daily, or maybe three times ….  Turks might be famous for their coffee, but I don’t know why when they drink tea all day long.  The brew is served strong with plenty of sugar cubes on the side, poured into delicate tulip-shaped glasses.  We drank it everywhere, from parks with breezy Bosphorus views to dark little back alleys where we’d watch old men duke it out on backgammon boards. It never cost more than 2 TL ($1 US). More than once, we had strangers buy us a tea when they saw we “weren’t from around here.”

 

Riding the ferries

The Bosphorus is the main, life-giving artery of Istanbul. With our transit pass, the Istanbulkart, we could cross continents or head up the Bosphorus for just a few lira per trip.  We’d sip tea, look at the famous Istanbul skyline, and watch the Bosphorus traffic roll past: European cruise ships, Russian tankers heading up to the Black Sea, and local fishing dinghies all jockeying for space.

Shopping in local markets

We covered our love of Istanbul markets at length here.  It always made for a fun outing, and we never spent more than a handful of lira getting out to the market neighborhood and buying some goodies to bring home.

Sipping a sundowner on Galata Bridge

The local brew, Efes, isn’t great.  But it’s just the right companion for watching the sunset from one of the bars underneath the Galata Bridge.

Strolling down Istiklal Caddesi and exploring its side alleys

Istiklal is the main shopping street and promenade in Istanbul, sort of its La Rambla or Champs-Elysees.  It’s up in the Beyoglu neighborhood, where we stayed and across the Golden Horn from the Old City. There are lots of international and Turkish brand name stores on Istiklal itself, but we enjoyed exploring the little alleys that branched off from Istiklal.  This is where you can find the little local shops selling evil eye amulets or handmade musical instruments and the neighborhood meyhanes (taverns) and kebab cafes.

Checking out the free art galleries

Many of the avant-garde modern art galleries in Istanbul are completely free and worth a quick look, if for no other reason than a quick AC break.  Check out the SALT galleries in Galata or Beyoglu (right on Istiklal Caddesi). We also found a wonderful “Art from Texas” exhibit in an old church that had a hilarious, embarrassing, spot-on “People of Wal-Mart” drawing.

Snack break for Turkish sweets

It’s dangerous being back in a country where we love their desserts. And there must be a sweets shop on every corner in Istanbul.  Baklava, Turkish delight, milk pudding, dondurma (the stringy local ice cream), and all sorts of confections with honey and nuts — they all looked so good!  If you’re really hard-up, or unsure of what to buy, every shop passes out samples. We loved going out for a walk after dinner, picking up some dessert at a place like Karakoy Gulluoglu, and grabbing a tea down by the water.  Good thing we dropped a few pounds in India.

This post is dedicated to our good friend Katy Thomas, a well-traveled Texan lady who knows the wisdom of second round, on her 30th birthday.