Tour operator
Culinary Backstreets Istanbul
The neighbourhood food-tour company that began in Istanbul in 2009 as Istanbul Eats, known for its day-long Two Markets, Two Continents walk.
An Istanbul food-tour company operating since 2013, whose Taste of Two Continents tour links the Spice Bazaar area with Kadıköy market by ferry.
Good to know
Yummy Istanbul has been running food tours in the city since 2013. Its Taste of Two Continents tour starts near the Spice Bazaar on the European side, crosses the Bosphorus by public ferry, with about 20 minutes on deck, and then works through Kadıköy market and the backstreets of Moda.
Over about five and a half hours there are eight food stops and more than twenty tastings, which can include simit, cheeses and olives, menemen, İskender kebab, lahmacun, beyran soup, stuffed mussels and baklava with ice cream. Groups are capped at ten, with three morning departures every day. Arrive hungry, wear comfortable shoes, and meet at the café in Sirkeci named on the booking.
Reviewed by Lifestylemetro · Details checked October 23, 2026
About 5.5 hours, including the ferry crossing between the European and Asian sides.
Daily departures at 09:30, 10:30 and 11:30 from Viyana Kahvesi in Sirkeci.
Bar
A long-running bar, restaurant and late-night club on the top floor of the historic Mısır Apartment on İstiklal Avenue, with panoramic city views.
Hotel
A five-star Kempinski hotel built around a restored 19th-century Ottoman palace on the Bosphorus shore, with an infinity pool and 317 rooms.
Thing to do
One of the world's oldest covered markets, begun in the 1450s, with 61 vaulted streets of carpet, jewellery, ceramics and textile shops.
Attraction
Justinian's sixth-century domed basilica, now the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, with a separate visitor route through its upper galleries above the prayer hall.