There's something genuinely raw and honest about the whole metropolis, which now spreads its tendrils into an urban conglomeration of more than 15 million people – one of the largest in the world! Make for Taksim Square and the grand monuments that gaze down at coffee-clinking cafes. Delve into Galata to find chic fashion boutiques lining ancient, cobbled alleys. Look to Karaköy for cutting-edge photography galleries and spice-scented mezze joints plumed in shisha smoke.
Once known to the world as Byzantium, once known as Constantinople, this town is a layer cake of history. Legendary landmarks like the Hagia Sofia have been cathedrals, mosques, and museums for their long lives. They artfully fuse the Arabesque and the Gothic in a swirl of minarets and soaring domes. Then comes the Grand Bazaar, with its thousands upon thousands of hawkers touting carpets, copper lanterns, strange herbs and roots, and spices from the Far East.
Although it's not the capital of Turkey, this great megacity is often an overload for the senses. However, charter flights to Istanbul can also be your ticket to a more laid-back country on the beaches of Kumköy and Şile or even further south along the sun-kissed sands of the Turkish Riviera.
