10 Free Things to do in Istanbul – Turkey

Istanbul is a massive city. A city with an extremely extensive and important history. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of interesting sites for visitors to see and explore: dozens of museums, hundreds of mosques, several historic royal palaces, large plazas, massive covered markets, quirky neighborhoods, narrow winding cobblestone roads, hefty stone castles and the wide Bosporus Strait that runs through it all.

Istanbul can be quite an inexpensive city to visit, well within the budget of most budget travelers. Hostel beds in major tourist areas cost just $7-10 US per night, while plenty of private rooms in AirBnB / Booking apartments cost only $10-15 US per night.

Food is plentiful and cheap. Public transportation is modern, reliable, extensive and cheap. And many interesting sites are free or very cheap.

On the other hand, most of Istanbul’s most famous sites are fairly expensive. Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sofia and Dolmabace Palace cost up to $15 US and major museums costs at least $10 US.

Quite happily, Istanbul also offers heaps of amazing things to see and do completely for free. Even better, those free sites include a handful of istanbul’s top attractions. In addition to those great freebies, most other free attractions in Istanbul are extremely interesting sites/activities that I consider top things to see and do, regardless of them being free.

Without further ado, here are 10 amazing free things to see & do in Istanbul:

1. Go inside Istanbul’s beautiful mosques

I was amazed during my first few days in Istanbul to discover that I could walk into each and every mosque to admire their beautiful interiors.

I previously spent many years in Asia’s predominantely Muslim countries of Malaysia and Indonesia. In those countries, women can only enter mosques during specific prayer times. During most of the day, only men can enter.

Besides that, non-Muslims aren’t allowed in anyhow, including both men and women. So before visiting Turkey, I have only been able to admire mosques from outside.

I can think of only one mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia that allows foreign, non-Muslim visitors to enter. And those mosque visits are highly regulated during specific hours and by asking guests to don Islamic robes & scarves provided by the mosque.

So I was utterly amazed in Istanbul to find that everyone is welcome to enter the mosques. Visitors must take off their shoes and women must cover their heads with a scarf. But by following those two simple requests, visitors are more than welcome.

Hundreds – perhaps thousands – of mosques are spread out all over the city and come in all different sizes, architectural styles and even color-schemes.

Their interiors are even more distinct. They range from plain white to extremely elaborate colored tiles and marble patterns on every surface of floors, walls, columns and ceilings. Each mosque has a predominant interior color like peach, pale blue, golden or white and different architectural detailing.

So it’s well worth stepping inside as many mosques as you can, up until you get ‘mosqued-out’.

As a huge bonus, Istanbul’s massive Blue Mosque is free to enter (while Hagia Sofia Mosque next door is expensive to enter). Blue Mosque, btw, is one of Istanbul’s top ‘must see’ tourist attractions.

2. Drool over the elaborate Turkish desserts

During my first day exploring Istanbul, I came across a very large Turkish gourmet desserts shop, where I was left dumb-founded at the huge piles of colorful Turkish delights, many varieties of baklavas and other beautiful Turkish sweets.

Anyone visiting Istanbul simply must wander through at least one of these huge, amazing desserts shops. Looking is free, lol, and sometimes small samples of various sweets are set out.

At some point, you also really have to eat some of these delicious desserts. Some shops have a cafe, where you can sit down to eat them with tea or coffee, while other shops only sell boxed desserts for take out. Of course, eating the delicacies isn’t free and they aren’t exactly cheap, but if it’s in your budget and you like sweets, you’ve got to splurge at bit.

3. Wander up and down cobblestone-street neighborhoods

Many world travelers enjoy just randomly wandering around new cities & towns, getting ‘lost’.

Istanbul is a really fantastic city for that. No matter where you are in the city, you’ll come across unexpected surprises on nearly every block… cute cat houses and stray cats, colorful Turkish dessert shops, exotic little Turkish coffee and tea stands, quirky boutiques, tiny unknown mosques with a delicate minaret, street musicians… the surprises go on.

4. Visit the stray cats & dogs

Istanbul is filled with healthy stray dogs and cats, but especially cats. Local people take care of these strays to an astonishingly high level. All over the city you’ll see not only dishes of food, water and milk set out for strays, but also dozens of cat houses, often lined with blankets, towels or other soft warm fabrics!

If you’re a dog or cat lover, you’ll be thrilled to walk around Istanbul. You’ll be able to pet and feed these animals on nearly every street & park, and even at restaurants, cafes & bars.

5. Enjoy Panoramic Views over the Bosporus

Istanbul is an extremely hilly city. In most areas, you’ll be walking either uphill or downhill, often on very steep narrow roads or sidewalks. But there aren’t so many high open spots where you have panoramic views over the Bosporus Strait or city (exceptions are inside various luxury hotels).

Sanatkarlar Park is one fantastic spot with fantastic panoramic views. It’s a small park located in Tophane, fairly close to the Bosporus shores, up some very steep roads. The park itself isn’t much to brag about, but it’s a famous spot for its views, especially at sunset.

The closest metro & bus stops are downhill at Tophane. The park is also directly downhill from famous Istiklal pedestrian avenue, perhaps a 10-15 minute walk down some steep winding roads.

6. Explore Sultanahmet Square

One of the many things that makes Istanbul so easy to explore is the fact that many top attractions are very close to one another. Sultanahmet Square is a prime example.

Right there at the square are at least four of Istanbul’s top attractions: Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia Mosque, Topkapi Palace and Basilica Cistern. Entering Blue Mosque is free, while the other sites have entry fees.

But besides these Istanbul ‘heavy hitters’, there are many other important, beautiful historic sites at the square, each one worth visting and all completely free.

They include two stunning historic marble public drinking-water fountains, two mosque-like buildings that are actually tombs of various Sultans and their families, minor mosques, at least two small but intriquing museums, the huge Aya Sofia Hammam (historic Turkish bath-house) and Sultanahmet Square itself.

You can easily spend half a day exploring all these free sites at the plaza.

7. Wander around Topkapi Palace grounds

Entrance to the vast & regal Topkapi Palace grounds is located at Sultanahmet Square. Entering the Palace buildings is rather expensive, but entry to the huge park & gardens surounding the buildings is free.

The palace compound is so huge that you could easily spend several hours wandering around, enjoying the beautiful grounds and admiring the exterior of the varous palace buildings. That might be enough for many visitors.

Those who also want to go inside to see the incredibly elaborate interiors will have to pay 90 Turkish lira / $15 US (as of 2020).

8. Learn various facets of Istanbul’s history & culture at free small museums

As I mentioned above, many of Istanbul’s major museums have pretty hefty entry fees. But many small specialty museums are free. And each one has some interesting history and beautiful interiors to explore.

Three little museums that I came across in Eminonu area are:

1. Medical Museum – located right in front of Sultanahmet Metro stop on the edge of Sultanahmet Square. Learn about this historic museum itself and how the Turkish medical community & government educated the population for good health and disease prevention.

2. ‘Hunkar Kasri’ Historic Sultan’s Summer Palace rooms – Located right beside Yeni Mosque (new mosque) and the Spice Market in Eminonu, this free ‘museum’ shows off several absolutely spectacular, ornate interior rooms of the historic summer residence. Every space of every wall, ceiling and column are covered in intricate blue-patterend tiles. It’s a place that must be seen to be believed.

3. Bank Museum – Just a couple blocks over is the interesting Bank Museum, also located inside a gorgeous historic building. Learn about the Turkish banking system and see some beautiful historic luxury rooms with period furniture.

Many more of these small wonders can be discovered by wandering around the city. If you’ve got time, whenever you find one, go inside and learn some interesting facts about Istanbul and Turkish culture & history. You can research for them online, too, of course.

9. Stroll through the amazing Spice Market and Grand Bazaar

Both of these historic traditional Turkish markets are considered top attractions in Istanbul and both are located not far from Sultanahmet Square.

The Spice Market is an large, unusual L-shaped brick & stone building right near Galata Bridge and Yeni Mosque. The interior showcases beautifully renovated soaring arch-shaped ceilings covering two long hallways.

The halls are lined by never-ending lines of small shops selling all sorts of traditional Turkish wares, mostly food items. Tall piles of colorful Turkish sweets, spices, dried fruits, nuts as well as home-made soaps and knick-nacks compete to catch visitors’ eyes.

You’ll have to deal with vendors shouting out greetings to you, but it’s worth dealing with to see the amazing building and vibrant goods for sale.

Grand Bazaar is a much, much larger traditional market that also is filled with hallways covered by colorful arched pattern-tiled ceilings. It’s so huge and maze-like that it’s easy to get lost, no matter how carefully you try to track your route.

This bazaar has shops selling every Turkish thing imaginable: carpets, ceramics, lanterns, clothing, scarves, jewelry, food & desserts, shisha pipes, home interiors and more.

10. Make a walking loop along the shores of Golden Horn & across bridges

The Golden Horn is a side-branch of the Bosporus Strait that points northward in a tapering horn shape. It runs between the two European sections of Istanbul. On the northern shores is Karakoy, while the southern shores is Eminonu district, which is connected to Sultanahmet area.

Several bridges cross between these two districts. Three of them are fairly close to one another, with Galata Bridge being the most used by pedestrians.

On the Karakoy side, from Galata Bridge to the third bridge, Attaturk Bridge, there’s a very wide wooden pedestrain walkway with lanes for cyclists and runners as well. The walkway goes past a line of boats, grassy parks, a few restaurants & cafes, a section of Byzantine wall ruins and passes under the high Halic suspension Bridge. Of course you’ll also enjoy continuously changing vistas of the other side of the Golden Horn.

Continue on to Attaturk Bridge, where there’s a small beautiful mosque and marble public water fountain. Cross over the bridge to Eminonu, where several small mosques and other intersting buildings run along the river and main road.

Walk back down to Galata Bridge then cross back over to Karakoy or stay in Eminonu to explore the mosques, markets, streets and historic districts.

Summary

That sums up 10 diverse and interesting free things to see & do in Istanbul. Certainly there are many, many others, but these will occupy many days of explorations in the main historic districts of the city.

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