What to see in Istanbul. 2 Day.

I hope you had really nice evening after first day of walk in Istanbul.

Lets think what will we see today?

At the first day of out trip in Istanbul we was walking in the Fatih area (look on map - Day 1), today we will visit interesting places on the other side of Galata Bridge (the area marked in a map - Day 2).

Lets start with a Breakfast in Bebek - one of the most beautiful seaside in Istanbul, in a restaurant near the Roumeli Hissar Castle where we will go after. 

To get to the Roumeli Hissar Castle you can getting a bus # 25Е, 22 or 22RE from Kabatas station to Rumelihisari station. How to get to the Kabatas from the places you stayed in Istanbul? Easy!)

1) From Kalamis.

Take a bus to Kadikoy, or walk by foot 25 minutes along the seaside.

Take a ship to the Kabatas. And here you are! )

2) From Kadikoy.

Same as from the Kalamis, by ship.

3) From Taxim.

Use Funicular to go down one stage to Kabatas from Taxim Square and use bus or take a bus # 40, 40T, 42T near the Gezi park to go straight to the Rumelihisari station.

4) From Galata.

Take a tramway T1 from Karakoy to Kabatas, or walk to Kabatas by foot.

5) From Sultanahmet.

Get to the tramway #T1 on the Sultanahmet station to get to the Kabatas station.

Breakfasts in Istanbul are usually very similar everywhere. Its a dish with an egg. Can be just bowled egg or meneme - national turkish dish, that includes eggs, tomato, onion, pepper and spices, cheese, fresh tomato, cucumber, ham, a lot of bread, tea, jam and honey.

After breakfast you can go to discover the Roumeli Hissar Castle and walk along the seaside in Bebek area, enjoying the view from the bang.

Our next stop will be The Taksim square with Gezi park. To get there just take a bus # 40, 40T or 42T near the Roumeli Hissar Castle and it will take you to the Taksim square.

The Taksim square

The Taksim Square is one of the most central square in Istanbul. All important and government events take place here.

In the middle of the Taksim square you can see the monument. Its the Republic Monument, build in 1923 as a commemorate the formation of the Turkish Republic.

Near the monument you can see The Gezi park.

The Taksim Gezi Park was planned by the french architect Henri Prost in 1936, who was invited for that project by the President of Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The project was completed at 1943 and the territory of the Taksim Gezi Park was much more bigger then nowadays.

The Nostalgic Tramway

 On the Taksim square you can find an old Tramway. Its name a Nostalgic Tramway. Its is one of two Nostalgic Tramway in Istanbul. One is on the Asian side and another one is in European side, where we are now. The Nostalgic Tramway on the European side of Istanbul start its way on the Taksin square and have its end station near the Tunel, another one ancient transportation line in Istanbul.

Long time ago the Nostalgic Tramway was moved by the horses, however later instead of horses was used electricity to make the Nostalgic Tramway move.  The tramway is going along the Istiklal street, one of the most central street in Istanbul.

Using that tramway you will be delivered to the Tunel - an underground funicular with two stations. Using the Tunel you will get a bit closer to our next object - Galata Tower. Just you will need to walk by foot 400 meters down on the street after get of the Tunel.

Let me show you on map.

The Galata Tower

Well, at last we are reached the Galata Tower. That tower was the tallest construction in the old Constantinople. The Galata Tower was build to control the area of the Black sea near the Golden Horn.
From the top of the Galata Tower you can see the most wonderful view on Istanbul from the 66.5 meters up.

  Near the Galata Tower you can find a nice cafe - Ceneviz Cafe. From that cafe you can see the Tower and have a stop to relax before go far.

The Miniaturk

Our next destination will be the Miniaturk park. In that park you can see all famous ancient places and constructors of Turkey.

To get to that area you will need to go down to the Galata Bridge and cross the Bridge to get bus #  47, 47Е or 47Ç. To go down to Galata bridge will take just 15 minutes by foot.

To enter the Miniaturk park you will need to buy a ticket.

 But this is not all what you should do. If you want to listen information about each object in English, don`t forget to take an Audio Card in the same place where you will buy ticket.

After you can enjoy walking in the Miniaturk part and listening stories about every object you see.
I am sure, that you will see a lot of small copies of the places and constructions that we was visiting during this two days in Istanbul.

Istanbul Sapphire

After Miniaturk Park we will go to the Sapphire Tower to have a supper with a view on Istanbul from 261 meter up at the evening. It the dark period of time, looking on Istanbul from the top of the building is really incredible.

To get to the Sapphire Towet you can taking a bus # 54 HT or 36 T from the Miniaturk Park to go to the Taksim square. In the Taksim square you can go down to the underground and go by metro to the Levent 4 station from which you will need to walk by foot 200 meters.

Inside the building you will need to buy a ticket and climb up, using am elevator.

After dinner, if you want to go back to the area where you stayed in Istanbul, use the undegroung, going back to the Taxim, from where you can go one station down by funicular to the Kabatas. And then use the Tramway T1 to go to the Sultanahmet area or use ship to go to the Asian part of Istanbul to Kadikoy.

How to plan your trip in Istanbul tomorrow, you can see in the article What to see in Istanbul. Day 3.