What's a good 3-day itinerary for Istanbul?

The logic here is simple: Sultanahmet first, while your legs are fresh and your tolerance for crowds hasn't worn thin. Get to Hagia Sophia by 8:30 AM — the building faces east, and the morning light through the upper windows does something to the gold mosaic fragments that photographs at midday can't capture. It's a working mosque now, so shoes off, heads covered for women, and prayer times close the space for 30-90 minutes. Check the posted schedule at the entrance. Cross the park to the Blue Mosque, which takes about 20 minutes if you're not rushing. Lunch at Tarihi Sultanahmet Köftecisi on Divanyolu Caddesi — the grilled köfte plate runs about 250 TRY and the place smells like charcoal and lamb fat from half a block away. Skip the dozen copycat restaurants with nearly identical names on the same street; the original is at No. 12. After lunch, the Basilica Cistern is a five-minute walk — cool, damp, and eerie with the upside-down Medusa head columns half-submerged in green water. Topkapı Palace at 2:30 PM — prioritise the Harem and the Treasury if time is tight, then the Grand Bazaar before it shuts at 7 PM.

Day 2 shifts across the Golden Horn to Galata and Beyoğlu. The Galata Tower opens at 8:30 AM — go at opening or you'll queue 45 minutes by midday. The view from the top balcony gives you the whole city laid flat: minarets, container ships crossing the Bosphorus, the Asian shore fading into haze. Walk five minutes downhill to Mandabatmaz near the Tünel funicular — a counter the size of a newsstand, serving Turkish coffee since 1967, thick enough to stand a spoon in. From Tünel, walk İstiklal Caddesi north toward Taksim — 1.4 kilometres of pedestrian avenue with the red nostalgic tram inching through the crowd. Stop at Çiçek Pasajı for beer and meze around 1 PM: the covered passage is loud, tiled, and theatrical, and the waiters will oversell you on fish if you let them. Book the afternoon at Kılıç Ali Paşa Hamamı down in Tophane — the 16th-century bathhouse runs about 1,500 TRY for the full scrub and massage, and you'll come out feeling boneless. Dinner in Asmalımescit: Sofyalı 9 for rakı and grilled octopus.

Day 3 crosses to Asia. Take the ferry from Eminönü to Kadıköy — 25 minutes, about 17 TRY with an Istanbulkart, and the departure view of the Sultanahmet skyline from the water is the best free photograph in the city. Kadıköy's produce market opens around 8 AM and runs along Güneşlibahçe Sokak: dried figs stacked in pyramids, fishmongers shouting prices, spice vendors with open sacks of sumac and pul biber that sting the back of your throat if you lean in too close. Lunch at Çiya Sofrası on the same street — the hot buffet rotates Anatolian regional dishes you won't find on the European side, things like mantı with yogurt and dried mint, or lamb stewed with quince. A full plate runs 300-400 TRY. After lunch, walk south through Moda's residential streets to the waterfront — the coastal path has tea gardens and a view back toward the Historic Peninsula that feels less staged than Galata's. Catch the late-afternoon ferry back to Eminönü and finish on Galata Bridge at sunset, where the smell of grilled mackerel from the sandwich boats drifts up through the railings.

A few things that will save you grief. Buy an Istanbulkart at any metro station kiosk — it's about 70 TRY for the card itself, then load 150-200 TRY for three days of trams, ferries, and metro rides. The T1 tram connects Sultanahmet to Eminönü to Karaköy in about 10 minutes and runs until midnight. Taxis are cheap by European standards but the airport-to-Sultanahmet run has a reputation for scenic detours — a pre-booked private transfer runs about 800-1,000 TRY and removes the negotiation entirely. Total walking across these three days sits around 28-32 kilometres, split fairly evenly. Mind you, Day 2 is the hilliest — the Karaköy-to-Galata climb is short but steep, cobbled, and slippery when wet. Wear shoes you'd trust on wet stone. Istanbul in early spring can swing from 8°C in the morning to 18°C by afternoon, so layers beat a single jacket.