History walks in Istanbul
9 of the Istanbul walks are about history.
- 25 walks
- 281 places with a written story
- 25 km of routes in total
- 0.1-5.3 hours per walk
- written in EN, RU, AR, DE, TR, ES
- last walk added 2026-10-17
Walks in Istanbul
Sultanahmet ve Bizans: İstanbul'un Bin Yedi Yüz Yıllık Kalbi
Ayasofya'nın kubbesinden Yerebatan'ın Medusa'larına, At Meydanı'nın dikilitaşlarından denize bakan Bukoleon'a: Konstantinopolis'in izinde, Sultanahmet'te katman katman bir İstanbul yürüyüşü
Царьград под ногами: Стамбул византийский от Айя-Софии до морских стен Буколеона
Купол Юстиниана, подземные цистерны, колонна Константина, обелиски ипподрома, Голубая мечеть, мозаики Большого дворца и тихие мечети Синана: Стамбул, который на Руси звали Царьградом
Русский Константинополь: Галата, Пера и белая эмиграция в Стамбуле
По следам беженцев 1920 года от Галатского моста до площади Таксим: порт Каракёя, лестница Камондо, Галатская башня, обитель дервишей, бывшее русское посольство, Пера Палас и Цветочный пассаж — с Врангелем, Вертинским и булгаковским «Бегом»
Constantinople Underfoot: Byzantine Istanbul Beneath Sultanahmet
From Hagia Sophia and the zero-mile stone down into sunken cisterns, along the vanished Hippodrome, past a lost harbour to the emperors' palace on the sea walls: the Byzantine city still holding up Istanbul
Sultanahmet und Byzanz: Von der Konstantinssäule über den Deutschen Brunnen zur Hagia Sophia in Istanbul
Ein Spaziergang durch das kaiserliche Istanbul: Zisterne, Hippodrom und Kaiserpalast, Sinans verborgene Moschee und der Brunnen, den Wilhelm II. dem Sultan schenkte
Estambul Otomano y Bizantino: Santa Sofía, la Mezquita Azul y el Gran Bazar
El cruce de dos mundos entre el Bósforo y el Cuerno de Oro—desde mosaicos dorados bizantinos hasta palacios de sultanes y bazares de especias
Sultans, Spices & Covered Streets
A walk through the beating commercial heart of the Ottoman Empire
Spice, Stone & Sultans
A half-day walk through Istanbul's bazaars, food streets and Ottoman legacy
Sultans, Spices & Hidden Streets
Half a day through Ottoman Istanbul — from the Hippodrome to the Golden Horn
Can I do these walks during prayer times?
The routes pass mosques rather than entering them, so the walk itself is unaffected. If you plan to go inside, mosques close to visitors during the five daily prayers and for longer on Fridays; times shift through the year. The stories work from outside, and the stop tells you what you are looking at whether or not the door is open.
How much walking is involved?
Not much, by distance — these are the shortest routes per stop on the site, often under a kilometre between the first stop and the last. Most of the time goes on standing still and listening. That makes them practical in summer heat and awkward in a crowd, so an early start in the bazaar district is worth more here than on any other walk.
Are the walks available in Turkish?
Not yet — all three Istanbul walks are in English. Place names, addresses and opening hours are in their local form regardless of the story's language, because those come from Google Maps rather than from the text. If you would like an Istanbul walk in another language, creating one takes a sentence describing the route you want.
How much does it cost?
The first story of every walk is free, and the written text of every story stays free for everyone permanently. Paying writes the rest of one walk's stories, from £4.99, after which those stories are free for the next person too. Nothing to install, no account required — the walk is tied to the browser you made it in.