Turkey is an amazing country, on the edge of Europe and Asia. It’s a fascinating mix of cultures, with amazing historical sights and stunning landscapes. Here’s how to spend one week in Turkey, with your ultimate itinerary for seeing the highlights of Turkey in one week.
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Turkey is a fascinating country to explore. The variety of sights in Turkey is amazing. With one week in Turkey you can spend some time in the vibrant capital city, Istanbul, and also explore outside the city. There are famous historical sights, including Ephesus, Troy, and the WW1 Gallipoli memorials. And of course, there’s also the stunning scenery in Cappadocia – famous for the sunrise hot air balloon rides. And of course, the food and drink in Turkey is delicious as well.
With one week in Turkey, you can get a good taste of what this country has to offer. But to be able to see Turkey’s highlights in one week, you’re going to have some very long days and long drives. My itinerary for one week in Turkey is ambitious. You’ll get to see the top sights, but by the end of the week you’ll definitely be tired! For me, it was definitely worth it to be able to see so many of Turkey’s highlights in one week. But other travellers may prefer a slower paced itinerary, so if you have more time it’s definitely worth spending an extra night or two in some places.
What is the best time of year to go to Turkey?
I recommend visiting Turkey either in spring or autumn. These times of year give you the best weather for exploring. I went to Turkey in mid-late September and it was perfect weather. And I had perfectly sunny days everyday, and while it was sunny it wasn’t too hot. I definitely wouldn’t want to visit Turkey in the peak summer months of July and August, as it would feel far too hot to enjoy walking around historical sites like Ephesus. Spring and autumn bring pleasant, sunny weather without it feeling too hot.
How do I find the best places to stay in Turkey?
My ultimate itinerary for one week in Turkey involves staying in a lot of different hotels. Apart from a couple of nights in Istanbul at the start of your trip, you’ll be spending just one night in each of the subsequent hotels.
To find the best hotels near the top attractions in Turkey, I recommend using Booking.com (affiliate). You can enter your travel dates and the location you want to stay, and choose the hotel with the best reviews that suits your budget. Start searching for your Turkey hotels here (affiliate).
Is Turkey safe for solo female travellers?
Yes, Turkey is very safe for solo female travellers. The city of Istanbul is very safe, even in the evenings when it’s dark. You might get approached by sellers in the Grand Bazaar, or by waiters at restaurants trying to encourage you to eat there, but I never felt intimidated. I walked around Istanbul on my own, even at night, and felt really safe. Just make sure you have a headscarf with you if you want to visit the famous mosques, like the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofya, as you’ll need to have your head covered and dress modestly to go inside.
The historical sites and tourist destinations across the rest of Turkey are also very safe. Inside historical areas such as Ephesus, or in the tourist hotspot of Cappadocia, you’ll also feel very safe as a solo female traveller. I would generally recommend dressing a bit modestly wherever you are in Turkey, to respect the local culture and ensure you don’t draw too much attention to yourself as a solo female traveller. But in general, I felt very safe in Turkey.
How should I travel around Turkey?
The only way to enjoy my ultimate itinerary for one week in Turkey is to travel by car. While you can explore Istanbul using public transport, it’s unfortunately not possible to see all of Turkey’s highlights in one week if you’re solely relying on public transport.
The easiest way to have maximum flexibility is to hire your own car. Or you can hire a private driver for the week. There are some parts of the itinerary that can be done by train or by flying, but you’ll still need a car for a lot of it.
Alternatively, you can join a small group tour around Turkey. I recommend the company called G Adventures, which offers Highlights of Turkey tours that take in a lot of Turkey’s highlights. Joining a tour will give you less flexibility than if you have your own car, but you’ll have the benefits of a guide and a group of people to travel with, and a lot of the itinerary taken care of for you.
However you choose to travel around Turkey, you’ll have a great time. There really is so much to see in this country. So here’s my day-by-day itinerary for one week in Turkey, seeing Turkey’s best highlights in just one week.
Day 1: Istanbul
My ultimate itinerary for one week in Turkey starts with two full days in Istanbul. Istanbul is an incredible city, and you could easily spend many days here. But with two full days in Istanbul, you can get a taste of the top sights in the city and also enjoy some amazing Turkish food. On your first day in Istanbul, focus on the most famous sights in Istanbul’s historic centre.
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia is one of the most famous sights in the world. So start your first day in Istanbul with a visit here. It’s located right in the centre of Istanbul’s historic Sultanahmet district, with a beautiful park just outside.
Hagia Sophia really showcases Istanbul’s fascinating cultural and religious history. It was originally built in 537 AD by Byzantine Emperor Justinian I as a Christian cathedral. It was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years. After the Ottoman conquest in 1453, it was converted into a mosque. Later, it became a museum in 1935 before being re-established as a mosque in 2020.
The inside of Hagia Sophia is just as impressive as the outside. Inside, you can see the massive dome, intricate Byzantine mosaics, and Islamic calligraphy panels. Other highlights inside the mosque include the stunning Deesis mosaic, the Sultan’s tombs, the imposing marble columns, and even ancient Norse graffiti etched by Viking visitors.
You can definitely spend at least an hour admiring Hagia Sophia. Remember to dress modestly, wearing long trousers and a shirt that covers your shoulders. And a headscarf for women is also essential. Book skip the line tickets through Get Your Guide (affiliate) or Viator (affiliate).
Blue Mosque
Another of Istanbul’s top sights is the Blue Mosque. It’s set just across the square from Hagia Sophia. But make sure you check the opening times of the Blue Mosque before your visit, as it is closed for prayers, and closed a lot of the day on Fridays.
Istanbul’s Blue Mosque was commissioned by Sultan Ahmed I and constructed between 1609 and 1616. It features a cascading series of domes and six towering minarets – a bold design that once rivalled the Grand Mosque in Mecca. The view of the Blue Mosque from outside is stunning, and it gets even better once you enter the first courtyard.
Inside, the Blue Mosque is just as stunning. There are over 20,000 handmade Iznik tiles in shades of blue, giving the mosque its popular name. Although it can get busy inside, there’s always an uninterrupted view of the beautiful tiles into the domed ceiling. Again, remember to dress modestly, take off your shoes, and women must wear a headscarf inside. And you can book tickets with a guide through Get Your Guide (affiliate) or Viator (affiliate).
Basilica Cistern
You’ll have time for one more historic sight in Istanbul before lunch. Basilica Cistern is nearby the two mosques, and is a really unique and memorable place.
The Basilica Cistern, known locally as the ‘Sunken Palace’, is another of Istanbul’s impressive sights. It was built in 532 AD during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. It was designed to store and filter water for the Great Palace and surrounding buildings. Measuring 140 by 70 meters and supported by 336 marble columns (many repurposed from older Roman structures), the cistern could hold up to 80,000 cubic meters of water.
When you visit, you’ll walk along raised platforms through its dimly lit, vaulted interior, where the reflections of water and soft lighting create an eerie, majestic ambiance. Highlights inside include the two Medusa-head column bases, whose origins and placement remain a mystery.
You might recognise Basilica Cistern from films as well. It featured in the 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love, where Sean Connery as James Bond rowed across the water in a boat to spy on the Soviet consulate. It also featured in one of the key climax scenes in Inferno, the film based on Dan Brown’s novel, where Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon attempts to retrieve a dangerous bio-weapon from its underwater depths.
Book skip the line tickets, which can include an option guide, through Get Your Guide (affiliate) or Viator (affiliate).
Lunch at The Pudding Shop
After your morning of exploring, relax with lunch nearby. The restaurant called The Pudding Shop is a great option for lunch in Istanbul’s historic centre. It’s not actually a pudding shop – it serves delicious donner kebabs, grilled meat, and fresh pitta breads. It’s a great option to sit down and relax with lunch.
Grand Bazaar
After lunch, head over to the Grand Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar is another of Istanbul’s must-visit places. It’s one of the world’s oldest and largest covered markets. And it’s a huge place – a vibrant maze of commerce and culture dating back to the mid-15th century. It’s now a sprawling network of 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops. There’s a huge variety of shops, and you can buy anything from jewellery, ceramics, carpets, leather goods, spices, sweets, bags, antiques, and so much more.
The sheer size of the Grand Bazaar can feel a bit daunting. But I really enjoyed exploring. The main streets are nice, but I preferred turning down the side streets. It’s best not to try to follow a map, but instead just wander around wherever you feel like.
If you stop to look at a shop, you might get approached by the shop owner trying to sell you things. If you’re interested, you can then start to barter for the price. There aren’t any fixed prices in the Grand Bazaar, but instead you negotiate the price with the shop owner. As a tourist it can be hard to know if you’re getting ripped off, but that’s part of the fun! And if you’re not interested in buying anything, it’s easy to just say ‘no thank you’ and keep walking.
I’d heard mixed things about travellers feeling harassed in the Grand Bazaar by pushy sellers, but I didn’t feel harassed or unsafe at all. I was pleasantly surprised how relaxed and welcoming it felt, and it was so easy to just walk by if you didn’t want to buy something. Even if you don’t buy anything, it’s still a great place to walk around.
If you’d rather walk around the Grand Bazaar with a guide rather than alone, then I recommend booking this Grand Bazaar guided tour (affiliate), or you can book a personal shopper to help guide you around the Grand Bazaar (affiliate).
Little Hagia Sofya
After visiting the Grand Bazaar, it’s worth heading over to one of Istanbul’s slightly less well known attractions. Little Hagia Sophia is much smaller than it’s big cousin, but it’s a beautiful mosque. It feels a lot more ‘real’ and ‘local’ than the grand Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque.
Little Hagia Sophia was originally the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus. It really is a hidden gem of Byzantine architecture nestled in Istanbul’s Kumkapı neighbourhood. Commissioned by Emperor Justinian I and completed around 536 AD, it predates and possibly influenced the design of the grand Hagia Sophia. Though smaller in scale, its octagonal dome, elegant columns, and intricate carvings showcase early Byzantine artistry. It was converted into a mosque in the early 16th century under Sultan Bayezid II. When you visit the mosque, you can see the galleries and geometric dome decorations. It’s a much more peaceful mosque than the bigger ones.
Spice Bazaar
The last stop of your first day of your one week in Istanbul is the Spice Bazaar. The Spice Bazaar, also known as the Egyptian Bazaar, is like a small scale version of the Grand Bazaar. It’s much smaller, and laid out in an ‘L’ shape so it’s hard to get lost. Like its name suggests, the main focus of this covered market is spices, although there are shops selling other things as well.
It’s a really nice place to walk around, and the smells of the spices as you pass the shops is amazing. It’s incredibly colourful as well, with the brightly coloured spices laid out in the shops.
Dinner – Turkish pasta
After a long day of exploring, you’ll definitely be ready for dinner. For dinner, I recommend the Red River restaurant in central Istanbul. This is one of the best places in the city to get Turkish pasta. The best Turkish pasta is called Ev Mantisi. It’s homemade Turkish pasta, filled with minced meat, and served with yoghurt and tomato sauce. It goes perfectly with an Efes beer, the famous local beer in Turkey.
Day 2: Istanbul
On your second day in Istanbul, there’s time to see more of the top sights, as well as explore a few places that are slightly more off the main tourist track.
In the morning, choose between two activities. Unfortunately if you’re trying to see all of Turkey’s highlights in one week, you won’t have time to do both of these things. So choose between either taking a relaxing boat cruise along the Bosphorus strait, or visit the impressive historic Topkapi Palace.
Bosphorus Cruise or Topkapi Palace
The Bosphorus boat cruise is definitely the more realxing activity. It’s a great way to see more of the city from the water. While you’re relaxing on the boat, you can enjoy views of Istanbul’s iconic skyline from the water. The boat trip will take you up to the second bridge to the north, before turning around and coming back down to the centre. The entire boat trip takes about 1.5 hours, and on a sunny day it’s really peaceful.
You can find a great Bosphorus cruise boat trip here (affiliate), or a this tour on a smaller yacht that includes snacks (affiliate).
If you’d rather explore more of Istanbul’s historic sights, then head to Topkapi Palace in Istanbul’s historic centre. This Ottoman palace is huge, and you could easily spend 3+ hours exploring. But you can visit the best parts of the palace in 1.5-2.5 hours.
Topkapi Palace was the imperial residence of Ottoman sultans for nearly 400 years. Commissioned by Sultan Mehmed II after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, it became the administrative and ceremonial center of the empire. Topkapi Palace is a sprawling complex of courtyards, pavilions, and gardens, reflecting Islamic and Ottoman architectural traditions.
Highlights of the palace include the Harem, the Imperial Council Chamber, and the Sacred Relics Room, which houses revered items like the Prophet Muhammad’s cloak and sword.
Make sure you book skip the line tickets here, which also includes an optional audio guide (affiliate). Or you can book skip the line tickets that also includes a small group guided tour (affiliate).
Taksim Square and Turkish Coffee
Next, head over to Taksim Square. This is a slightly more modern part of Istanbul, and just as fascinating. In the centre of square is a large statue – the Monument to the Republic, commemorating the founding of the Turkish Republic by Ataturk.
The whole area is a vibrant mix of restaurants, bars and shops. The historic city trams still go past Taksim Square. I enjoyed walking around the shopping streets, which felt very European.
The cafes around this area are a great place to try Turkish coffee. Turkish coffee is super strong – so you won’t want to drink too much!
Mezze lunch
For lunch, head to a restaurant like Ficcin for a mezze lunch. Mezze refers to lots of small, shareable plates of food, similar to Spanish tapas. Dishes can include hot and cold items, included hummus, dips, olives, bread, fish and meat. Choose a variety of dishes, and ideally this meal is best shared so you can try lots of different dishes.
Istanbul’s colourful Balat region
After lunch, get the tram over to the Balat region of Istanbul. This area has a completely different feel to the areas you’ll have visited so far.
The Balat region of Istanbul is historically the Jewish quarter. It’s a vibrant mix of cultures and colourful charm. Once home to a thriving Jewish community, many of whom arrived after the 1492 expulsion from Spain, Balat flourished under the tolerant rule of the Ottoman Empire. It became a unique blend of Jewish, Greek, and Armenian heritage. With its bohemian cafes and antique shops, it’s one of the most colourful and characterful districts in Istanbul.
The Balat area is a great place to walk around. There are narrow cobbled streets lined with brightly painted Ottoman-era houses, and plenty of cafes and restaurants. As you walk, you’ll discover hidden courtyards and colourful steps and steep hills.
Turkish Bath
In the evening, check out another must-do activity when you’re spending one week in Turkey. Turkish Baths are such a famous part of Turkey, that no visit would be complete without a visit to a Turkish Bath.
You can book your visit to a Turkish Bath on Get Your Guide (affiliate) or Viator (affiliate). I recommend visiting one of Istanbul’s historic old bath houses. The buildings are beautiful – you really feel like you’re part of history.
You can book a package which includes a variety of different treatments. The one I went to started with a sauna. You then got taken to the treatment area. And that was where the ‘scrubbing’ started – the most famous aspect of the Turkish Bath. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it wasn’t at all painful, and felt relaxing. Next was a foam massage, which was very relaxing. And then the chance to relax with Turkish tea and Turkish delight.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from a Turkish Bath as I’m not the biggest fan of spas and spa treatments. But I was surprised how enjoyable it was. And it was great to be in a historic Ottoman bath house as well.
If you want to try a Turkish Bath, you should definitely book in advance. You can book this famous Turkish Bath here through Get Your Guide (affiliate), or book the famous historic Turkish Bath through Viator here (affiliate).
Evening street food walking tour
To finish your final night in Istanbul, book a street food walking tour. Istanbul is full of delicious street food, but it can be difficult to know where to go for the best food. So a guided street food walking tour will show you the best places to eat in the city. I recommend taking this street food tour of Istanbul through Get Your Guide (affiliate), or this food tour that focuses on the Asian side of the city (affiliate). You can also take this similar street food tour through Viator (affiliate). These tours will show you the best places to try some of Istanbul’s best food.
You can try lots of different foods. My favourites were kebab meat with bread, mackerel sandwiches, Turkish pancake called Gozleme, and Turkish tea. And you can even try kokoretsi – which is lamb intestines on bread – and it tastes a lot nicer than it sounds!
The views of Istanbul at night are stunning as well, and it’s the perfect way to finish your time exploring Istanbul before you head off to explore more of Turkey’s highlights.
Keep reading on the next page for the rest of your ultimate itinerary for one week in Turkey, with visits to Gallipoli, Troy, Ephesus and Cappadocia.