Istanbul in Turkey is a perfect stop over place while traveling from Europe to the eastern side of the world. With Turkish Airlines promotions on utilizing your layover time, it can give you a great opportunity to shortly stop and relax in the city of the world’s desire before taking of to your next destination!
Since we decided to stay for 24 hours before moving forward to Bangladesh, we looked for a central stay in Istanbul to see some of the highlights. We decided to go for Hotel Nena with a beautiful view on Hagia Sophia.
After arriving we spend the night strolling with our almost 2 year old through the streets in the area. Seeing a lot of local markets, gift shops but of course also getting some famous Turkish delights!
The view from our hotel balcony at night was also very pretty, with a lot of lights and a beautiful scenery to look at.
The next day we went for a short sightseeing tour. We started at the Walled Obelisk, which is an old Roman monument in the form of (you guessed it) an obelisk. It is located on the Sultanahmet Square.
Close to it is also the famous red obelisk, Obelisk of Theodosius. This obelisk has a lot of cool inscriptions and carvings and stands at a 18.54 meter tall. In the past it was moved from Egypt to its current place in Istanbul.
The square it self also is home to the German Fountain, a gazebo styled fountain that looks very nice central in the square.
After that, we walked towards the famous Blue Mosque of Istanbul. We did not have enough time to visit the inside of this beautiful sight, but the outside does not disappoint either.
We did however get a chance to enter the Turbe of Sultan Ahmed Khan located right opposite of the Blue Mosque. The sons of this famous 14th century sultan are buried here. The turble is covered from marble from the outside and has a beautiful interior design.
From the park in between the turbe and the mosque, you can make some beautiful snaps of the surrounding touristic spots.
After that we passed through the Fountain Sultan Ahmed III to visit the Imperial Gate of Topkapı Palace. We only went inside the first square and did not have time to visit the palace itself, but for the short time we were there we saw a beautiful scenery.
All in all, still plenty to see of Istanbul. 24 hours is not nearly enough, but it is a great pitstop for your further travels onwards leaving Istanbul!
Leave a Reply