What to do

Istanbulite tours
The delightful Eda Sökmen specialises in custom-made private tours of Istanbul, from headline attractions to specialised culinary, art, architecture and in-depth neighbourhood excursions, including a trip around the up-and-coming multi-ethnic Fener and Balat districts. You can plump for a walking tour or be chauffeured around.
• Tours from €400 (£294) plus VAT for a day tour for up to four people, +90 537 346 6020, istanbulite.com

Kilic Ali Pasa Hamami
The stunning 1580s hamam by Mimar Sinan, architect to Suleiman the Magnificent, has been raised from dereliction. Men and women, instead of having different areas, have different visiting times, which has helped to preserve the integrity of the building. After your cleansing and revitalising session, you emerge renewed into the beautiful public space, to drink sherbet, or apple tea.
• From £28 a session, women 8am-4pm, men 4.30pm-11.30pm, +90 212 393 8001, kilicalipasahamami.com

Chora church
Although Istanbul is laden with Byzantine monuments, this small church in the Fatih district is the most exquisite, with its mosaics and frescoes depicting the lives of Christ and the Virgin Mary. The church has been rebuilt many times and restoration is still under way. The frescoes date from the final period of Byzantine painting, in the 14th century.
• Open daily 9am-5pm (7pm in summer), £4pp, choramuseum.com

Vintage shopping in Çukurcuma
The winding streets of Çukurcuma, in the European Quarter – particularly Faik Paşa and Çukurcuma Caddesi – are also known as yabancı köy (foreigner village), because they are beloved of fashionable foreigners. (Çukurcuma is also the home of The Museum of Innocence, based on Nobel prize-winner Orhan Pamuk’s 2008 novel.) Bijou stores and antiques shops sell everything from old postcards to antique glasses.

SALT Galata
Housed in the Ottoman Bank (built in 1892), in the heart of the cultural quarter of Galata, the not-for-profit SALT Galata is a contemporary art gallery, workshop space and location for great talks, screenings and programmes. There are also SALT galleries in Beyoğlu and Ankara.
• saltonline.org

Where to eat

Naif

With tables and chairs spilling out on to the street and a Mediterranean vibe, Naif is a cosy, whitewashed restaurant brightened with colourful ceramics and flowers. The food is light-touch, mainly organic and great for sharing, from tabbouleh with pomegranate sauce to keskek – wheat cooked with lamb and chickpeas in spicy sauce (about £4).
• +90 212 251 5335, naifistanbul.com

Karaköy Güllüoğlu
This sweetshop and cafe close to Karaköy pier is constantly filled with every imaginable Istanbulite from every walk of life, here to eat chocolate, chestnut, hazelnut or orange baklava, traditional flan or Turkish delight. The square baklava with pistachios, made with 30 layers of pastry, is particularly recommended.
• karakoygulluoglu.com

Dai Pera

Owner-chef Arzu Gurdamar calls the fare at his eclectic, chic hole-in-the- wall cafe ev yemekleri – home cooking. It’s like a Turkish Ottolenghi: fresh, top-class ingredients prepared to a daily-changing menu, including smoked meats, cheeses, pies and stuffed vines. For a treat, order pit-roasted lamb and rice with onions, nuts, diced liver and currants.
• +90 212 252 8099, Yeni Çarşı Caddesi 54, no website

Journey
This informal two-floor cafe is peppered with interesting books and creative folk conducting their working life at its coffee tables. It’s a perfect brunch spot in the heart of Europeanised Cihangir, offering comfort food such as homemade pastas, pizzas and meatballs. Come for breakfast and choose from pancakes, brioche, granolas, eggs and toasties.
• journeycihangir.com

Where to drink

Ferahfeza
Ferahfeza colonises the vast top floor of a modern block in Karaköy, which enjoys views of the Galata Tower out the back and of the Sultanahmet district at the front. It’s an upmarket Mediterranean seafood restaurant, but also an excellent place for a civilised cocktail, best enjoyed from the small, Galata-facing terrace.
• +90 212 243 5154, Kemankeş Caddesi 31, no website

Gaspar
Münferit’s little sister livens up a quiet backstreet in Karaköy. Its moody, dark interiors, created by layered panels of wood, are the work of Istanbul design studio Autoban. Two floors of a lounge bar-cum-restaurant-cum-club have been carved out of a handsome neo-classical building, which was once a printing press. House music predominates.
• +90 212 293 6660, Necatibey Caddesi, Arapoğlan Sokak 6, no website

Münferit
The modern take on the meyhane – the traditional Turkish tavern, scene of wild, raki-fuelled dancing and music – has caught on in recent years. Münferit is the most famous, though it’s equally renowned for its meze. It comes into its exuberant own after dinner, when the music ramps up (though you can still order black couscous with calamari).
• +90 212 252 5067, Yeni Çarşı Caddesi 19, no website

The Reina Club

There are countless clubs and bars along the Bosphorus. Among the glitziest – and worth a drink for the skyline views, even if the showy side of Istanbul is not your bag – is this celebrity haunt, with several bars, restaurants and dance floors.
• +90 212 259 5919, Muallim Naci Caddesi 44, reina.com.tr

Where to stay

Vault Karaköy
The latest and most grown-up addition to the successful House Hotel brand, 63-room Vault Karaköy takes over a 19th-century bank in Istanbul’s trendiest neighbourhood. Original period detail abounds: marble staircases and fireplaces, stencilled ceilings and mouldings. To this has been added a dash of pared-down luxury – green and white marble bathrooms, and art and photography dotting the rooms. The breakfast buffet is a world-beater.
• +90 212 244 3400, thehousehotel.com, doubles from €169 B&B

SuB Hotel Karaköy
An industrial-chic nook in the heart of trendy Karaköy. The aesthetic is minimalist yet comfortable: grey polished concrete walls, LEDs and docking stations, designer beds, big factory windows, and anti-stress mattresses. You can linger over the Turkish-style breakfasts (artisanal cheese, eggs, jams, organic honey, olives, heavenly pastries), while the restaurant does excellent, simple Mediterranean food.
• +90 212 243 0005, subkarakoy.com, doubles from €99

Mama Shelter
On top of a department store on Istikal Caddesi, Istanbul’s throbbing, pedestrianised shopping street, Mama Shelter is the latest offering from the stylish, Philippe Starck-designed chain. There’s a public space with a graffiti-scrawled ceiling that encompasses a pizzeria and terrace with views of the Bosphorus, excellent but affordable food, and small, simple, nattily minimalist rooms.
• +90 212 252 0100, mamashelter.com, doubles from €99 B&B

Bunk Beyoğlu

Bunk offers dorm living (though there are en suite doubles available too) in surprising style, moments from the Galata Tower in Istanbul’s heaving, culturally vibrant European quarter. Expect impeccable cleanliness, fluffy towels, hairdryers, crisp linen and free Wi-Fi. There’s also a classy street-level cafe that gets lively at night, marble bathrooms, and a roof terrace with Jacuzzi.
• +90 212 244 8808, bunkhostels.com, dorm beds from €15 including breakfast

Djem Istanbul

A classically furnished 11-room town house filled with Ottoman antiques, Djem is a cosy, affordable option in the shadow of the monuments of Sultanahmet. A stone’s throw from the Blue Mosque (you might think the muezzin is being sung just for you), it’s within strolling distance of the Hagia Sophia, Topkapi and the Grand Bazaar, and has free Wi-Fi and a 24-hour concierge.
• +90 212 518 1295, hoteldjem.com, doubles from about €100 B&B

Atlasjet (atlasjet.com) flies daily to Istanbul Ataturk from Luton, from £120 in EkonomiPlus (includes in-flight food and drinks, and 20kg hold luggage). For more information about holidays in Turkey visit gototurkey.co.uk