Tucked away up a cobbled side street just off Sultanahmet’s main drag, Divan Yolu, is Khorasani (0212 519 5959 ; khorasani restaurant.com ) whose speciality is that most Turkish of foods - the kebab.
Begin your day in the subterranean depths of the Basilica Cistern, a 1,500-year-old building supported by 336 columns. Don’t miss the twin blocks carved into snake-haired Medusas.
Right across from the cistern is the greatest single building in a city full of wonders, the Hagia Sophia or Aya Sofya (£8.70, closed Mondays). It was a church, then a mosque and is now a museum.
The four courtyards and plethora of buildings and pavilions that make up the Topkapı Palace complex (topkapisarayi.gov.tr ; £8.70, closed Tuesdays in winter) are a whole afternoon’s entertainment.
Walk off an early lunch with a half-hour stroll to the wall’s end on the Golden Horn. At Ayvansaray Pier catch a ferry (£1) to the Galata Bridge.
