Two continents, one long conversation with the water.
The Istanbul feature
Istanbul at blue hour
Domes lit against the evening, ferries crossing between continents. A city that keeps its best details for those who slow down.
Photo: Benh LIEU SONG (Flickr), CC BY-SA 3.0
Discover the architectural details, neighbourhood rituals, waterfront escapes and contemporary culture that give Istanbul its distinctive character.
- Look closer at the architectureCarved doorways, banking-hall facades and domes built to feel weightless.
- Join the neighbourhood ritualsTea glasses, simit carts and breakfasts that run into the afternoon.
- Escape to the waterCommuter ferries, Bosphorus villages and the Moda shoreline at dusk.
- Find the contemporary cityNew museums, research spaces and a city that is still being written.
Destinations
Collections built place by place, starting in Türkiye.
All destinations
Valleys of soft stone, carved into homes, churches and hotels.
Pine-backed coves and harbour towns on the Lycian coast.
Islands, harbours and slow coastal towns around the inland sea.
Short breaks in cities with a strong sense of place.
From the journal
Neighbourhood guides, architecture, food and itineraries.
All stories
Neighbourhoods
A design lover's guide to Karaköy
Banking-era facades, a curving stairway, a modern museum on the water: how Istanbul's old port district became its most design-minded quarter.
Stays
Where to stay in Istanbul: a curated neighbourhood guide
The neighbourhood you choose shapes your Istanbul more than the hotel does. Here is how the main districts compare, and who each one suits.
Food & drink
The art of Turkish breakfast
Kahvaltı is less a meal than an occasion: a table of small plates, endless tea and no particular hurry. Here is what to expect, and how to enjoy it.
Itineraries
A weekend in Cappadocia
Two unhurried days among rock-cut churches, walking valleys and cave rooms, with a sunrise or two kept free for the balloons.
Architecture
Discovering Istanbul through architecture
Fifteen centuries in a few square miles: a walk through the buildings that explain Istanbul, from Justinian's dome to Renzo Piano's museum.
Curated stays
Settings worth building a trip around, and what to look for in each. Editorial picks with no paid placements.
All stays
Waterside on the Bosphorus
The yalı, a timber mansion built at the water's edge, is the Bosphorus's signature building. A handful have become small hotels, and the villages around them offer the city's calmest mornings.
Where to stay in Istanbul
Design hotels in old Karaköy
Karaköy's banking-era buildings, with their high ceilings and stone stairwells, have been turned into some of the city's most considered small hotels. Galleries, ferries and the Historic Peninsula are all within walking distance.
A design lover's guide to Karaköy
Rooms cut from the rock
Cappadocia's cave hotels occupy rooms carved into the soft tuff, often joined to stone-built houses. Done well, they are cool in summer, quiet, and open onto terraces facing the valleys.
A weekend in Cappadocia
Harbour-town guesthouses
In Kaş, the best stays are small: family-run guesthouses and boutique hotels on the slopes above the harbour, with sea-view terraces and the old town a short walk downhill.
The Turkish RivieraExperiences
Ways into a place, chosen for character. Ideas to explore, not packages to buy.
All experiences- Architecture & cultural walksRead a city through its buildings, from Byzantine domes to banking halls.
- Food & local gastronomyBreakfast tables, market stalls and the small rituals of eating well.
- Waterfront experiencesFerries, shorelines and long evenings by the sea.
- Boutique shopping & designAntique dealers, ceramicists and independent design studios.
- Distinctive local discoveriesThe streets and small moments most itineraries skip.
Letters from Novaire
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