Istanbul travel guide 2026: airports, transit, neighborhoods, and mosque rules explained

Istanbul has two airports and picking the wrong one changes your day. Istanbul Airport (IST) on the European side is the main international hub and where most long-haul flights land; the HAVAIST shuttle bus network connects it to the city for about 275 lira one way, card or app only since cash was phased out, though there's no longer a direct HAVAIST line straight into Sultanahmet, you connect via the HVL-1 route to Beyazıt-Aksaray and pick up the T1 tram. Sabiha Gökçen (SAW) on the Asian side handles a large share of budget and regional carriers; the HAVABUS to Taksim costs about 440 lira in cash (card payment adds roughly a 100 lira surcharge) and takes about 90 minutes, so factor that into any tight connection.

Once you're in the city, buy an Istanbulkart immediately, it's 130 lira for the card and covers metro, tram, bus, and ferry, with the first ride at 27 lira and each transfer within the transfer window getting progressively cheaper, down to about 9.27 lira. The ferries in particular are worth using for their own sake, not just as transport, the crossing between the European and Asian sides past the Bosphorus waterfront is one of the best cheap experiences the city offers and it's covered by the same card as the bus.

Where you stay matters more here than in most cities because the historic peninsula, modern nightlife district, and Asian-side neighborhoods each offer a genuinely different trip. Sultanahmet puts you within walking distance of Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and Topkapi Palace, which is convenient for a first visit but means tour groups and touts outside your hotel door from morning to night. Beyoğlu and Karaköy, across the Golden Horn, put you closer to the restaurant and nightlife scene along Istiklal Street and the waterfront, with a livelier but louder base. Kadıköy, on the Asian side, is quieter, more residential, and popular with travelers who want a local feel and don't mind a ferry ride to reach the major sights.

Mosque etiquette is not optional and gets enforced at the door. At the Blue Mosque and other active mosques, women need their hair, neck, and shoulders covered and legs covered to below the knee, and men need to avoid shorts above the knee; shoes come off before entering. Free scarves and wraps are available at the entrance but they're shared and not always clean, so bringing a lightweight scarf and covering layer of your own is more comfortable. Remember mosques close to visitors around five times a day for prayer, with Fridays closed until roughly 14:30, so check timing before you build it into a tight itinerary.

On money, card acceptance is widespread in restaurants, shops, and hotels, but carrying some lira in cash is still useful for the HAVABUS, small vendors, and situations where a driver or shop claims their card machine is down, a known tactic worth being skeptical of rather than an automatic reason to hand over cash. With inflation running high, prices you see quoted in older blog posts or guidebooks are likely to be understated, budget with a buffer rather than trusting a number that's more than a few months old.