Istanbul: three palaces on the Bosphorus, and a one-dollar boat
Istanbul's best hotels line the European shore of the Bosphorus. We track three of them, all around CHF 500-600 a night. The best boat trip in the city costs about a dollar.
Istanbul sits on two continents and runs around the clock. Sixteen million people, a strait full of ships, and a street-food culture that means you never need to book a table. It rewards a long weekend better than almost any city in our corridor.
The old city, in a morning
In Fatih, the historic peninsula, the headline sights are all within a short walk of each other. Start with Hagia Sophia, built as a church in the sixth century and a mosque again since 2020, and give the rest of the morning to the neighbours around it.
For a hamam, skip the tourist ones and go to the Zeyrek Cinili Hamam, a sixteenth-century bathhouse that reopened after more than a decade of restoration.
Across the Golden Horn
Karakoy is the harbour district: five-star hotels, Michelin kitchens and, on the waterfront, grilled-fish wraps from street stands. Finish with baklava from Karakoy Gulluoglu, baking since 1949. The Istanbul Modern, opened in 2023 on the water, is the best place for Turkish art.
The best boat trip costs a dollar
Forget the tour boats. The public ferry from Eminonu to Kadikoy on the Asian side costs about a dollar and gives you the whole skyline. Kadikoy's market streets are the place for dinner: olives, cheese, grilled fish, and you assemble it yourself.
With a spare day, the Princes' Islands are about 90 minutes from Kabatas and are where Istanbul goes to get away from itself.
Where to sleep
We track three hotels here, all on or near the European shore of the Bosphorus. We have only a handful of checks on each so far, so treat these as first readings, not a verdict.
Çırağan Palace Kempinski Istanbul from CHF 522 - an Ottoman palace on the water, the grandest address in the city. Five checks, CHF 522≈ €552 · $635 to CHF 648≈ €686 · $788. The palace itself is used for events; most rooms are in the hotel wing beside it, so ask which you are booking.
Raffles Istanbul from CHF 463 - modern, in the Zorlu Center in Besiktas, with Bosphorus views from the upper floors. Three checks, CHF 463≈ €490 · $563 to CHF 528≈ €559 · $642, the cheapest of the three so far.
Shangri-La Bosphorus, Istanbul from CHF 515 - a converted former tobacco warehouse on the Besiktas waterfront, with the ferry dock outside the door. Two checks, CHF 515≈ €545 · $626 to CHF 567≈ €600 · $689.
All three sit close to our CHF 600≈ €635 · $729 ceiling. For value, go in November or from January to March, when rates drop and the city belongs to the people who live in it.
Credit
Background from The New York Times, 36 Hours in Istanbul by Valeriya Safronova (June 2025). Prices are our own.
The rest of the roll
Everything else we came back with from this trip - ours, taken on the days described above. Click any of them to see it properly.
