5-Day Istanbul City Break: Old City, Bosphorus & Princes' Islands

Highlights of the 5-Day Istanbul City Break

Five unhurried days in Istanbul, the only city in the world to straddle two continents, planned in-house by Inca Tour, a TURSAB-licensed operator, and guided throughout in English. From a central hotel in the heart of the old city you cover the great Byzantine and Ottoman monuments of Sultanahmet, cruise the Bosphorus between Europe and Asia, and sail out to the car-free Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara. It is a relaxed, private-paced introduction to a city of empires, bazaars and water.

• Sultanahmet & the Hippodrome — the ancient chariot-racing arena with the Obelisk of Theodosius, the Serpentine Column and the Column of Constantine.
• Hagia Sophia & the Blue Mosque — the sixth-century domed basilica with its golden mosaics, facing the six-minaret Sultanahmet Imperial Mosque and its blue Iznik tiles.
• Bosphorus cruise — a boat journey past the Dolmabahce, Ciragan and Beylerbeyi palaces, Ortakoy and the Rumeli Fortress of 1452.
• Camlica Hill & the Asian shore — the highest viewpoint over the city, reached across the Bosphorus Bridge from Europe into Asia.
• Princes' Islands — a Marmara cruise to pine-clad Buyukada, with its beaches, old mansions and horse-and-carriage lanes.

Your days begin in the historic peninsula. On the guided Istanbul city tour you walk the Hippodrome, step inside the monumental Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque with its vast dome and Byzantine mosaics, and admire the cascading domes and blue tilework of the Blue Mosque. There is time to browse the spice and sweet stalls around the Asil Efendi bazaar for Turkish delight, ceramics and handicrafts before returning to your hotel. A second full day takes you onto the water for a Bosphorus cruise, gliding past the waterfront palaces of Dolmabahce, Yildiz and Ciragan, the mosque at Ortakoy, the Rumeli Fortress and the Beylerbeyi Palace, then crossing to the Asian side to climb Camlica Hill for a panorama of minarets, bridges and sea.

A further day is set aside for the Princes' Islands, a cluster of green islands in the Sea of Marmara where motor traffic gives way to bicycles and horse-drawn carriages. You cruise out past the old city skyline and the Maiden's Tower, land on Buyukada to wander its pinewoods and Belle Epoque villas, and enjoy a seafood lunch before returning to the mainland. With four nights' hotel accommodation, a private air-conditioned vehicle, airport transfers and an English-speaking guide, this is an easy, flexible city break that blends imperial history with the everyday rhythm of life on the water. Prices are per person.