The city that meets the two continents…Istanbul’s Time is coming\nThe best travel destination this fall that combines art, gastronomy, and history
“The time comes for Istanbul.”
This is what Istanbul citizens in Turkiye call this time of year. When the golden sun of autumn shines in waves over the Bosphorus Strait, the elegant waterfront mansion “Yal ı” and magnificent mosques, palaces, and towers pass like a picture. In short, it’s golden time.
Istanbul, a city that shines brightly on the Bosphorus Strait connecting Asia and Europe, is once again capturing the hearts of travelers around the world. As many as 13.5 million people visited Istanbul in September this year.
A survey by Which?, a British consumer media outlet, listed it in the top five ‘best European travel city of the year’. It was also named one of the “best cities for family travel” at the Condé Nast Traveler Leaders’ Choice Awards.
Istanbul, which has thousands of years of time, is the city where history and modernity coexist most completely. Istanbul, which overlaps the glorious heritage of Rome, Byzantine and Ottoman empires, attracts travelers around the “Historical Peninsula” designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The overwhelming dome of Hagia Sophia, the delicate tile decorations of the Blue Mosque, the basilica reservoir deep underground, and the Topkap ı Palace, which shows the essence of the Ottoman Empire, are huge history textbooks in themselves.
Istanbul in autumn turns the whole city into a huge festival stage. The exhibition “The Art of James Cameron,” which opened on September 27, will unravel the film director’s imagination with more than 300 works, including drawings and sculptures, and will continue until March next year.
The Haunted Eye, an exhibition by world-renowned photographer Steve McCurry, will also be held until Nov. 30 at the Amire Culture and Arts Center in Topanay. His representative works and works with a deep view of humans capture the audience.
It’s gastronomic time after spending all day in the city. A Turkish breakfast is served with cheese, olives, simit (sesame bread), sweet jam, and hot black tea in a tulip-shaped cup. On the streets, ̧’s unique street foods such as spicy “kokorec ̧,” various toppings of “kumpir,” and “midye dolma” attract travelers.
In the evening, you can stop by the traditional “meyhane” and enjoy a glass of Turkiye’s national liquor, fresh seafood, and colorful meze, giving you a deeper Istanbul atmosphere than any other Michelin restaurant. Of course, Istanbul’s restaurants named in the Michelin Guide offer a more sophisticated gastronomic experience.
The menu, a modern reinterpretation of traditional Anatolian cuisine, has been praised by gourmets around the world, and the newly selected hotels at the recently held 2025 Michelin Key Awards promise travelers a high-quality accommodation experience with sensuous design and exceptional service.
Like the waves of the Bosphorus stained with autumn sunlight, Istanbul is a city where the past and present, the East and the West flow smoothly. A day here, where history, art, and gastronomy are in harmony, is like a poem in itself.
Istanbul, the heart of Turkiye, the “brotherly country,” still shines as the most fascinating European city to the world.
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