To Istanbul from Alanya - One Day Tour

7-10 days are not enough to see and explore the whole of Istanbul. However, while on vacation in Antalya, we have the opportunity to make a one-day trip to Istanbul in order to visit the most significant landmarks of this city. The high level of air traffic allows us to make a one-day trip to Istanbul together with the leading carrier, “Turkish Airlines”.

In the early morning, we arrive in the city that receives up to 15.000.000 tourists a year. Napoleon once said: “If the whole world was one country, its capital would be Istanbul”. Located at the crossroads of two seas and continents, the city has been forming over several cultural eras of humanity. This is evidenced by the architectural mosaic of very different cultures and religions, centuries, and millennia.

The majestic blue mosque Sultanahmet is adjacent to the cathedral Hagia Sophia. They are separated by 1000 years of the richest history of the largest empire. On the Hippodrome Square, the Basilica of Constantine (III century) exists side by side with the Egyptian Basil (IV century), brought by the emperor Theodosius from Egypt. The stories of erudite guide revive in our minds the horse racing of the ancient Romans at the Hippodrome, recalling the quote of the poet Juvenal about the life of those times– “bread and circuses”.

And since we are “visiting” the sultans, we will be received at their residence. The Topkapı Palace in Istanbul is a whole city in the city. And despite the fact that many legends, verses, poems and famous series about harems are dedicated to this fabulous luxury, the palace town was mainly the residence of the caliphs, who were the guardians of Islam for five centuries, uniting all the Muslims of the world in the Ottoman state.

Therefore, schools, libraries, military arsenals, mosques, and government institutions were located on the territory of 70 hectares (as well as all the necessary infrastructure for life and work 5000 dignitaries).

If you come to Istanbul even for one day, we can’t break the centuries-old tradition of shopping. And if shopping has a history, it definitely starts with the Egyptian Market, which we will visit during our program. About 100 shops at the Egyptian Market will offer us a wide variety of sweets, spices, and souvenirs in the atmosphere of the bright oriental coloring. The ancient market was built about 400 years ago by the mother of the sultan Mehmet IV.

Flying over Istanbul, the first thing that catches the eye is, of course, the Bosphorus- the strait that divides our planet into Europe and Asia and unites two huge basins of the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea. The thousand-year-old city is located on the strategic shores of this strait. Therefore, arrival in this city involves a boat trip along the significant Bosphorus Strait. Once in “neutral” waters between West and East, watching the gracefully suspended bridges and listening to the singing of seagulls, we will think about the muezzin’s call to prayer that comes from hundreds of minarets of the city.