Dolmabahçe Palace

Turkey was slow to protect its antiquities and to display them properly, but in 1867 Sultan Abdülaziz toured the museums of Paris, London and Vienna and saw what was needed. The main collection is in a grand neo-classical building of 1891, with two annexes for ancient art and Islamic art. Exhibits include Sumerian tablets, pieces of the wall of Babylon, Roman statues, and the sarcophagus of Alexander the Great, which he never lay in.

The defining image of Istanbul, dominating the skyline with its great dome and six minarets. Completed in 1617 for Sultan Ahmed I, it's still a working mosque, so dress appropriately and avoid prayer times. Enter via the courtyard on the SW side. You step (shoeless) into the blue-tiled prayer hall beneath the main dome and its semi-domes. The mihrab is of finely carved marble, well-lit, and the minbar (pulpit) next to it is visible from almost all parts.

It has a sandy beach backed by forest where a creek runs out. This is as far as you can go in a standard car.

A historic house museum dedicated to the life of Adam Mickiewicz, renowned Polish poet. This is where he lived while in Turkey from September 1855 to 26 November 1855, when he died of illness.

This is a circular indoor space enclosed by a 3D depiction of the Ottomans breaching the Walls of Constantinople on 29 May 1453, with sound effects. It's over-priced, unhistorical and tourist-trappy.

The Byzantines built several great palaces in Constantinople and this is the only one to survive almost intact. It's from the late 13th century, in typical alternating marble and red-brick rows, and was an imperial residence: Porphyrogenitus means "born to the purple" indicating the heir to the crown. Yet it was merely an annex or pavilion within the much greater Palace of Blachernae, of which nothing else remains. It's set within the north end of the Theodosian Walls and was much bashed during the Ottoman capture. Later it was variously a menagerie, brothel, pottery, poorhouse and bottle works, then fell derelict in the 20th century. In 2021 it re-opened as a museum.

The most interesting of the resorts along this part of the coast. The beach has multi-coloured stones much used as garden mosaics in the city. (Modern quarries nearby still extract these for the Turkish glass industry.) The town has restaurants and accommodation.

Tiny house museum on the life of Turkish novelist Orhan Kemal (1914–1970).

From Bahçeköy village, follow the road into Belgrad Forest towards Kemerburgaz for 10 mins. The arboretum, surrounded by a natural oak forest, is planted with many non-native tree species (many turning crimson/golden/purple as winter approaches) and has a pond with feisty ducks. It's an almost mystic place during hazy autumn days, but is always very scenic no matter what the season. Watch for migratory birds in autumn. No eating, no picnicking, no video photography and no smoking.

A medieval citadel on the Bosphorus at the mouth of the Göksu creek. It was built in the late 14th century to control (polite word for "choke off") shipping along the Bosphorus, which narrows to 660 m at this point. It worked in tandem with Rumeli Citadel, built some 50 years later on the European bank. It fell into disrepair but was restored in the 1990s. You can't go in, but it's a pleasant setting; the entire village is named Anadolu Hisarı after the fort and has many traditional wooden houses (yalı). Ferries along the Bosphorus call here.

Yeşilköy is home to a significant Syriac community. Their church was inaugurated in 2023. It is the first church built since the foundation of the Republic of Turkey. Its architecture is inspired by Syriac churches and monasteries in Mardin Province, the Syriac homeland in southeastern Turkey.

This was built in the 1430s by Grecian Jews ("Romaniotes") from the city of Ohrid, now in North Macedonia. The district of Balat was a Jewish quarter, swelled from 1492 by those expelled from Spain. The synagogue is only open for pre-arranged tours.

Stretching west from the park is this impressive 16th-century stone bridge with four humps and 28 arches spanning the channel between lagoon and sea. The bridge is pedestrian only and offers some very nice views, so it's worth walking across the entire (breezy!) span via the three islets to the quiet western end, even though beyond is industrial gap site, with the modern highway roaring to the south. In the park, the pillbox menacing the bridge was part of the "Çakmak Line", the World War II fortifications stretching from here to Terkos, which were Istanbul's last line of defence from the west. The pillbox exterior is colourfully decorated but the interior is closed.

A Byzantine monastery complex carved into a cliff, set in a lush valley. The site is free, but May-Sept there's a 32 TL toll for cars on the access roads. There's a picnic area, pity about all the trash, and a couple of restaurants nearby.

Named after a 16th-century village, founded by Serbs deported from Belgrade when it fell to the Ottomans. The village was popular as a forest resort, but its inhabitants were resettled in the 19th century and it's now a bosky ruin. The forest is mostly primordial and deciduous, predominantly oak. It's dotted with ancient aqueducts and dams as this area was a water catchment for Constantinople / Istanbul, and has lots of walking jogging and cycling trails and picnic areas. The two main ways in are via Bahçeköy (near the Arboretum entrance) and Kemerburgaz (which has the best aqueducts). There's a small access toll. The forest is supposedly a protected area but is being encroached on by highways and suburbs: this is likely to get worse as the access route to Istanbul's new airport leads right through it.

Dedicated to toys, this is a museum which adults can enjoy as much as kids. It's founded by poet Sunay Akın, and is housed in a historical mansion in the Göztepe neighbourhood east of Kadıköy. Among the 2,000 pieces of toys from around the world in exhibition, the oldest are a French-made violin from 1817 and a U.S.-made doll from 1820.

This is a completely wooden building rising up to six storeys. It is said to be the second largest wooden construction in the world and the first in Europe. On the second highest summit of Büyükada (İsatepe, "Jesus hill", 164 m asl), it lies abandoned and dilapidated amidst the pine woods, like a picture-perfect haunted manor. It was built in the late 19th century, originally intended as a luxury hotel for the passengers of the Orient Express but never served that purpose and was put in use as an orphanage by the Greek community until it was closed down in 1964, within the context of the deteriorating Turkish-Greek relations due to the Cyprus dispute. It's dangerous, not to say forbidden, to enter the building due to the damages inflicted by decades of neglect. The title holder is the Ecumenical Patriarchate, led by Bartholomew I who wants the building restored and made a global environmental research centre (he's known as the "Green Pope" due to his efforts for environmental protection), but given the long legal disputes on titleship, not to mention the enormous funds required to bring the building to life, don't hold your breath.

This is the main attraction around this part of the city. The holiest Islamic shrine in the city, the complex includes, right next to the mosque, the tomb of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (Eyüp Ensari Türbesi), the standard bearer of Prophet Mohammad, died and buried here during the first Muslim siege of Constantinople (674-678 AD). The neighbourhood was named after him. Muslims flock here (in such huge numbers that sometimes you have to queue for a few minutes before entering the tomb) also to see a rather uninteresting plaque made of plastic, which is purported to be Mohammad's footprint. The interior of the tomb, covered with fine tiles/faience, is nonetheless well worth a look, however. It is also interesting to see the devout Muslims leaving the place by walking backwards through its exit hallway, as not to turn their backs to al-Ansari's catafalque, though obviously no one expects everyone to quit the place in the same manner.

A historic 3-storey house, easily distinguishable among the modern apartment buildings thanks to its brightly coloured and gracefully decorated exterior. This is where the future founder of the Turkish Republic, Kemal Atatürk rented in 1919 while staying in Istanbul before setting sail to Samsun on the Black Sea coast to start the Turkish War of Independence. Hosts Atatürk-related paraphernalia and photos.

Sokollu Mehmet Pasha was the grand vizier and de facto ruler of the Ottoman Empire during its 16th century golden age. He commissioned this mosque, one of three in the city to bear his name, but the sloping site was a challenge. He hired the best, Mimar Sinan, who completed it in 979 AH / 1571 AD, with the slope resolved by a fronting courtyard above shops and a medrese. The interior has outstanding İznik blue tiles, and three fragments of the Black Stone (Hajar al-Aswad) of the Kaaba: above the main entrance, minbar and mihrab.