14 Nights / 15 Days
The Ultimate Journey Across Turkey
3 Nights Istanbul | 3 Nights Cappadocia | 1 Night Gaziantep | 1 Night Sanliurfa | 1 Night Diyarbakir | 3 Nights Mardin | 1 Night Van | 1 Night Kars
Turkey / Other
Sultanahmet
Sultanahmet blends layered history with the everyday rhythms of a living Istanbul neighbourhood, where Byzantine stone meets the morning call to prayer.
The area that visitors call Sultanahmet takes its name from the 17th-century mosque of Sultan Ahmed I, whose cascading domes and slender minarets rise above a neighbourhood of quieter streets and courtyard gardens. What makes this part of Istanbul unusual is that beneath its modern surface lies one of the world's most consequential archaeological sites, and alongside the monuments sit ordinary apartments, tea gardens, and families going about their day.
What fills the space between the monuments
Walking from the Blue Mosque toward the great column of the Hippodrome, you pass a rectangular pool known as the Serpent Column, a Greek bronze originally cast to celebrate a military victory and later relocated here by the Romans. A little further on stands the Egyptian Obelisk, carved in Thebes and brought to Constantinople in the 4th century. These are not exhibits behind glass but objects embedded in a public square where pigeons land and children run.
The surrounding streets hold smaller surprises: a Ottoman-era water tower, the remains of a Byzantine aqueduct visible from certain alleys, and the Cistern of Philoxenos — one of several ancient underground reservoirs that once supplied the city. On the eastern edge of the district, the Byzantine land walls run north-south, with some sections still standing to their full height, their stone and brick courses visible from the roadside.
Eating and drinking locally
The dining options are modest and centred on local trade rather than tourism. Restaurants near the Hippodrome serve meze, grilled fish, and pide — a boat-shaped flatbread — eaten at tables close enough to hear the muezzin. Small bakeries on the side streets sell simit, a sesame-crusted bread ring sold from carts in the mornings. In the afternoons, tea gardens fill with men playing backgammon, and the hiss of a nargila pipe is not unusual.
Finding your way
Sultanahmet is on the European side of the Bosphorus, connected to the old city's main ferry terminals at Eminönü and Karaköy by a short tram ride. The district is largely flat and walkable, though it sits atop layers of excavation that occasionally interrupt the street plan. A guide helps navigate these transitions — from open square to shaded alley to the sudden cool of an underground chamber — without losing the thread of the place.
On the map
Find it on the map
- Sultanahmet Other
Tours that visit Sultanahmet
8 Nights / 9 Days
Turkey's Golden Triangle
8 Nights | 3 Istanbul · 3 Cappadocia · 1 Pamukkale · 1 Kuşadası — Hagia Sophia, fairy chimneys, white travertines and Ephesus.
9 Nights / 10 Days
Turkey's Grand Cultural Journey
9 Nights | 3 Istanbul · 3 Cappadocia · 1 Gaziantep · 1 Şanlıurfa · 1 Diyarbakır — imperial capitals, surreal landscapes and the cradle of civilization.
6 Nights / 7 Days
Turkey's Timeless Classics
6 Nights | 3 Istanbul · 3 Cappadocia — imperial palaces, Byzantine churches and the surreal fairy chimneys of Cappadocia.
Good to know
Before you book you should know
-
Is this trip right for you?
Our groups are capped at eight travellers, which is about a third of what the industry calls a small group. Eight people share one vehicle, one table at dinner and one guide's attention, and the day can change on the road without anybody being left behind. If you are looking for a coach, a fixed script and a microphone, this is not that.
Most days involve real walking, often on ground that was laid two thousand years before walking shoes: marble worn smooth, cobbles, uneven steps and long site paths with little shade. Bring shoes you can spend a morning in.
Some days move between regions and are largely a drive, with stops along the way. Summers are hot — well over 35°C inland — and winters are colder than most people expect, so layers, a hat and sunscreen earn their place in the bag whatever the month.
How demanding a particular trip is, is written on the trip itself: the physical rating in the header, and the day-by-day itinerary above.
-
Rooms, and travelling on your own
Trip prices are per person, sharing a twin room. Each traveller picks their own room while booking, so a party can mix the three:
- Twin share — two single beds, shared with someone you are travelling with or with a traveller of the same gender.
- Travelling as a couple — one double room.
- Individual room — a room of your own, for a single supplement on top of the trip price. Availability is limited, and the supplement for a given date is shown next to the option when you book.
Solo travellers are welcome on every departure, and most of our groups have one or two aboard.
-
Accommodation
The hotels named in an itinerary are a guideline rather than a guarantee. Where one is full, or has dropped below the standard we booked it for, we substitute a property of a similar standard in the same area — we would rather change the hotel than the trip.
Check-in is usually mid-afternoon. If you arrive early we will ask for the room, but no hotel can promise one before its own check-in time; luggage can normally be left at reception in the meantime. If you want the room from the night before, ask us and we will add the extra night to your booking.
-
Passports, visas and insurance
Entry requirements depend on your nationality and change without much notice, so the only reliable source is the official one: the government of the country you are travelling to, and your own foreign ministry's travel advice. Check both before you book a flight.
Many countries ask for a passport valid for at least six months beyond your travel dates, and for blank pages. It is worth looking at yours now rather than at the airport.
We ask every traveller to carry travel insurance covering medical treatment and repatriation, and we would strongly encourage cover for cancellation and for your luggage as well.
-
Your departure is guaranteed — the day can change
Once a departure is on the calendar it runs. We do not cancel a trip for want of a minimum number of bookings, so a booked date is one you can plan flights and leave around.
What can move is the shape of a day. Museums and archaeological sites change their hours, roads close, weather turns, a local holiday lands in the middle of the week. Where that happens your guide reorders the day, or swaps a stop for one of the same weight, and tells you why. Changes to a booked itinerary are covered by our Booking Terms & Conditions.
