Istanbul City Orientation by Foot

Byzantine marker near Basilica Cistern

Emerging from the Basilica Cistern several blocks away from the entrance, I thought it would make sense to tour around the city on foot as far as I could before making specific plans for longer visits to some of the more interesting historical places. By design and by age, old Istanbul, the Sultanahmet, is so pedestrian friendly and chockfull of prominent sites to see that you would miss a lot of historic sites and the vibe of the city if you just hopped around on buses and taxis. It was also comforting that there is an efficient Tram system that traverses the city and at 2 TL (Turkish Lira) token, you can hop on a Tram back to your hotel or anywhere else if you  get tired of walking.

Breakfast before the stroll

In the immediate vicinity of my hotel and the Basilica Cistern was the Ayo (Hagia) Sophia, which is now a museum and across from it was the Sultanahmet mosque, famously known as the Blue mosque. Then up behind Ayo Sophia was the Topkapi Palace, the home of the Sultans that ruled the famed Ottoman Empire, and nearby were magnificently and intricately colored marbled burial crypts of various deceased Sultans and their families under ornate and tastefully furnished domed edifices.

On the other side of the Blue mosque was the Hippodrome depicting the ancient Greek sports arena decorated with various monuments from the ancient Romans and ancient Egyptians.

On my stroll route

As I gazed around in wonderment, I came by the massive and extensive Topkapi Palace walls, which stretched along the shores of the southern end of the Bosphorous and the Sea of Marmara, so I crossed the street and followed the seashore for a leisurely walk, as ships sailed past me and buildings on the continental Asian side of the city of Istanbul gleamed in the morning sun. By the time I rounded the circumference of the Topkapi palace wall, I had passed the Istanbul Gar at the Sirkeci Railway Station (a once famous stop for the Orient Express) I had reached Eminonu, the miniport at the base of the exciting Galata Bridge, from where charter and passenger boats and vessels cruise the Bosphorous towards the Black sea 19 miles north or a few miles south through the sea of Marmara into the Mediterranean sea.

At that point I crossed a pedestrian bridge to head back to the hotel through a slightly different route but was surprised to come upon Kennedy Cadessi (Kennedy Street) at the bottom of the foot bridge. Obviously the street was named for the former US President John Kennedy. Weaving my way back in the general direction of my hotel, I came upon the Grand Bazaar, and the Egyptian spice market. Virtually every block has a story to tell going by prominent and  unique features of various architectural marvels, mosques, minarets, ancient churches (like Church of St. Irene), Turkish baths mixed with recognizable western institutions, Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and a friendly crowd of people going about their business, beaming with smiles and beseeching you to step into their stores for some tea and bargains or into their restaurants for some delicious Turkish cuisine.

By the time I got back to the hotel, I had a longer list of more places to visit for extended tour.