Eurasia
Where Europe meets Asia, over a glass of tea.
Turkey straddles two continents and a dozen empires — a vast, warm, endlessly hospitable country where minarets, bazaars and Roman ruins share the skyline and every encounter comes with a glass of tea. Istanbul is the incomparable heart of it: a city of 16 million split by the Bosphorus between Europe and Asia, layered with Byzantine churches and Ottoman mosques, humming markets and a nightlife that runs till dawn. Chaotic, gorgeous, and astonishing value.
What things cost: Turkey is a bargain for visitors — a superb kebab, a Bosphorus ferry, a hammam all cost a fraction of Western prices, and the lira's long slide has only widened the gap. Istanbul's old-city sights carry a tourist premium and museum tickets have risen sharply, but eating, transport and staying are cheap. When a zone below says 'low', that means very low indeed.
Sometimes the event picks the city for you.
During the holy month the old city takes on a special glow — the mosques strung with illuminated 'mahya' messages between their minarets, and the squares filling with families breaking the fast at sunset iftar tents. A moving, atmospheric time to be in Istanbul.
Istanbul · Sultanahmet & citywide
For the whole of April the city's parks erupt in millions of tulips — the flower is originally Turkish, and Emirgan Park on the Bosphorus becomes a carpet of colour. A gorgeous, free reason to visit in spring; the light and the blooms are unbeatable.
Istanbul · Emirgan Park & parks citywide
Weeks of classical music in extraordinary settings — concerts in Hagia Irene, Ottoman palaces and Byzantine churches, with world-class orchestras and soloists. A chance to hear great music inside the city's most spectacular historic buildings.
Istanbul · Historic venues citywide
Thousands of swimmers cross the Bosphorus from Asia to Europe on the one day the busy strait is closed to shipping — a joyful, only-here race between two continents. Spectacular to watch from the shore even if you're not braving the current.
Istanbul · The Bosphorus, Kanlıca to Kuruçeşme
