Hotel Marius · Sirkeci
Three days in Istanbul on foot from Sirkeci
A route built around walking distance rather than a checklist. Everything on the first two days starts at our door; the third crosses the water.
Day one — the monuments, early
Leave by eight and walk fifteen minutes to Hagia Sophia before the queues form. Topkapı Palace is next door; give it three hours, and do not skip the Harem. Come back down through Gülhane Park to Sirkeci for lunch, then the Basilica Cistern in the afternoon when the light outside is harsh anyway. Total walking: under an hour, spread across the day.
Day two — bazaars and the water
Start at the Spice Bazaar, five minutes away, while it is still a food market rather than a photograph. Walk up to the Grand Bazaar — twenty minutes uphill through the streets where the traders actually work, which is more interesting than the bazaar itself. In the afternoon take a ferry from Eminönü up the Bosphorus and come back at dusk; the return leg into the old city at sunset is the view people remember.
Day three — the other side
Take the Marmaray one stop under the Bosphorus to Üsküdar or Kadıköy on the Asian side: markets, cafés and almost no tour groups. Or cross the Galata Bridge on foot to Karaköy and walk up to Galata Tower and Beyoğlu. Either way you are back in Sirkeci in fifteen minutes whenever you decide to stop.
What this route assumes
That you would rather walk between three or four things properly than see eight badly. Istanbul's old city is small enough for that; the mistake most first-time visitors make is booking a district that forces a commute into it every morning.