Where to stay in Istanbul: four areas on two continents

Stay in Sultanahmet on a first visit of two or three nights, when the palace and the great mosques are the reason you came. For a longer stay, sleep across the Golden Horn in Karaköy, Galata or Beyoğlu, where the restaurants and bars are, or across the Bosphorus in Kadıköy, where prices are lower. The Istanbul travel guide covers the sights and the Türkiye guide the route beyond the city.

Water divides Istanbul into three parts, and each area below sits in a different one. The old city is a peninsula south of the Golden Horn. Beyoğlu, with Karaköy and Galata at its foot, is on the north shore of that inlet, still in Europe. Kadıköy faces both from the Asian side. One tram line, T1, ties the first two together, and ferries tie in the third.

Hills matter as much as distance. Galata and Beyoğlu climb steeply from the waterfront, and a hotel that looks close to the tram on the map can be a hard walk with a suitcase. The price bands below, from $ to $$, rank the four areas against each other as a rough guide and are not room rates. The three-day Istanbul itinerary shows which sights close on which weekday, which may decide your dates.

Sultanahmet is the tip of the old city, the district around the square of the same name. Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque face each other across it, the Basilica Cistern is at one corner, and Topkapı Palace is behind Hagia Sophia on the headland. From a hotel here, the first day of sightseeing needs no transport at all.

The location pays off at 9:00, when the Topkapı ticket offices open and you can walk to the gate from breakfast. Tram T1 stops at Sultanahmet and at Gülhane, below the palace walls. One direction runs to Beyazıt-Kapalıçarşı for the Grand Bazaar; the other runs down to Sirkeci and Eminönü for the ferries, then across the Galata Bridge to Karaköy and on to Kabataş.

The area empties in the evening. It is quiet at night and has few restaurants that are not aimed at visitors, so most dinners mean a tram ride to Karaköy and back. The base also stretches down the tram line: Gülhane and Sirkeci, the next two stops downhill, are still a walk from the palace, and Eminönü, one stop further, has the ferry piers and the Spice Bazaar. A hotel on that slope trades the square at your door for a shorter trip to the boats. It is also the part of the city where the UK government's travel advice for Türkiye is most relevant: street robbery and pickpocketing are common in Istanbul's major tourist areas, and the advice tells visitors to be wary of strangers who offer to change money or take them to a restaurant or nightclub.

Karaköy is the old port quarter at the north end of the Galata Bridge, and Galata is the hillside above it, crowned by the Galata Tower. Cafes, galleries and restaurants fill the streets between the waterfront and the tower. For a stay of four nights or more it is the most balanced address in the city: the old city is one bridge away and the evening is at the door.

Tram T1 stops at Karaköy and at Tophane, and the ride to Sultanahmet crosses the bridge without a change. Ferries to Kadıköy leave from the Karaköy waterfront. At the top of the hill, Şişhane station on metro M2 connects to Taksim in one direction and to Gayrettepe, for the airport metro, in the other. The Galata Tower itself is open every day from 08:30 to 18:30, with separate night visits from 18:30 to 22:00, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The slope is the cost. The streets between the tram and the tower are steep, and with heavy bags the climb is the first thing you will notice. Ask the hotel which of the two stations, Karaköy at the bottom or Şişhane at the top, has the flatter approach.

Beyoğlu here means the ridge above Galata: Taksim Square at one end, Şişhane at the other, and İstiklal Avenue, the pedestrian shopping street, running between them. Restaurants serve late, the rooftops hold bars, and the side streets are the center of the city's nightlife.

It is the best-connected area for Istanbul Airport. Metro M11 from the airport ends at Gayrettepe, and M2 runs from there to Taksim and Şişhane; Havaist airport buses also run to Taksim. For sightseeing, the F1 funicular drops from Taksim to Kabataş, the last stop of tram T1, and Dolmabahçe Palace is a walk along the shore from there.

Reaching Sultanahmet takes two rides, funicular and tram, where Karaköy needs one. İstiklal Avenue and the streets off it are crowded and loud on weekend nights, and the UK advice on pickpockets and on strangers offering a night out applies here as much as in the old city. Pick a street a few blocks back from the avenue.

Kadıköy is the market district of the Asian side. Its market and cafe streets run inland from the ferry pier, and the T3 tram links Kadıköy with the neighborhood of Moda. Fewer visitors sleep here, and of the four areas it has the lowest price band.

Ferries run from Kadıköy to Karaköy and to Eminönü, which puts tram T1 at the far end of every crossing. Metro M4 starts at Kadıköy and ends at Sabiha Gökçen Airport, the simplest airport link in the city: one line, no change. The airport's own page adds that M4 meets the Marmaray rail line at Ayrılık Çeşmesi, the second route across to Europe.

On a short first visit the crossing is the problem. Every day of sightseeing starts and ends on a boat, and the last ferry sets the end of your evening on the European side; note its time before dinner. Kadıköy suits a week, a second visit, or the last night before a morning flight from Sabiha Gökçen.

Istanbul Airport (IST), on the European side far north of the center, has a metro line and a bus network. Metro M11 runs from the terminal to Gayrettepe, where you change to M2 for Taksim and Şişhane. For Karaköy, walk down from Şişhane. For Sultanahmet the rail route is M11, M2 to Taksim, the F1 funicular to Kabataş and tram T1: three changes, which is why a bus or a taxi makes more sense with luggage.

Havaist buses leave from the transportation floor, level -2 of the terminal. The airport says Havaist runs 11 routes to the city, among them a Taksim line. Find the route nearest your hotel before you land, because the stop decides whether you finish with a tram, a funicular or a short taxi ride. Going back to the airport from Taksim, the airport describes two patterns: one bus calls at Beşiktaş Square, Zincirlikuyu and 4. Levent, the other runs express after Piyalepaşa and Nurtepe.

The stops are listed on the Istanbul Airport page for airport transportation and the Sabiha Gökçen page for the metro. Sabiha Gökçen (SAW) is on the Asian side. Its metro station has an entrance at the terminal, and M4 runs to Kadıköy, where ferries cross to Karaköy and Eminönü. If you take a taxi from either airport, the UK advice is to use a registered one, note its registration number and make sure the fare is metered.

Tram T1, metro lines M2 and M4 and the F1 funicular are Metro Istanbul lines, and all take the Istanbulkart, the city's rechargeable fare card. A full-fare ride costs 46.20 TL with the card. Without one, the machines sell electronic tickets for a set number of rides, and each ride costs more.

The table is on Metro Istanbul's fares page, in Turkish. A Sultanahmet base keeps the count low, at two or three rides a day. From Beyoğlu, plan on four or more, and the card saves 18.80 TL on each against a single ticket. Each gate you pass uses one ride of an electronic ticket, so the Taksim to Sultanahmet trip by funicular and tram uses two.

Carry your passport when you go out. The UK advice says it is illegal not to carry photo ID in Türkiye and that the authorities stop people for ID checks in busy parts of Istanbul. Families should know one more line from the same page: there are reports of hotels refusing to check in guests aged 17 and under who arrive without a parent or guardian, unless written parental consent is shown, so ask the hotel in advance if a teenager is traveling separately.

Phone data needs a check as well. The UK advice says access to some eSIM services is restricted in Türkiye and tells travelers to confirm with their provider before leaving; eSIM, local SIM or roaming compares the alternatives. Entry rules depend on your passport, and the Türkiye e-visa guide lists who needs one. How much cash to carry covers the lira, and travel insurance with theft cover fits a city where pickpockets work the tourist areas. Once the base is settled, Bursa and Edirne are the two day trips the Istanbul guide suggests.