Istanbul was not a destination I had been planning a trip around. In April 2024, it became our first stop because I was looking for an interesting way to fly to Europe on points.
What began as an Aeroplan search led me to a routing from Vancouver through Chicago to Istanbul: a short United Economy flight followed by Turkish Airlines Business Class. When I compared ways to book it, Turkish Miles&Smiles turned out to be the better option. That gave us an opportunity to try an airline we had not flown before and visit a city that was new to both of us.
We stayed for three nights. I came away glad we had seen Istanbul, particularly the mosques and an unexpected afternoon on the Bosphorus. I also came away fairly certain I would not plan a return visit. Both reactions are part of the story.
A memorable base beside Hagia Sophia
We stayed at Hagia Sofia Mansions Istanbul from April 3 to 6, using 210,000 Hilton Honors points for the three nights. The setting mattered as much to me as the booking. Rather than a conventional city hotel room, we were sleeping in a private bungalow-like residence close to Hagia Sophia.
Walking through the older streets around the property made the stay feel tied to the neighbourhood. We could leave our room and be near some of Istanbul's best-known sights without building our days around long transfers. The breakfast spread was substantial, too, although it was the location and unusual accommodation that stayed with me most.
I would not assume the same points price, room arrangement or benefits are available now. These were the particulars of our April 2024 stay. What the redemption changed for us was the kind of accommodation we could comfortably choose for a stop that had not originally been the purpose of the journey.
The mosques lived up to the photographs
Of everything we saw in Istanbul, the Blue Mosque is the sight I remember most fondly. It was beautiful from outside, but walking inside and looking up at the architecture gave it an entirely different scale. I have seen countless photographs of the building; being there was better.
Hagia Sophia was another memorable part of exploring the area. We spent much of our time walking around Sultanahmet rather than racing between distant attractions, and that was the right approach for the time we had.
If historic mosques and the architecture around them are the principal reason you want to visit Istanbul, I can understand why the city would be rewarding. For us, these were the strongest arguments for having made the stop in the first place.
The cruise we found while looking for food
One of my favourite Istanbul memories was not on the itinerary at all. We went towards Galata and Karakoy hoping to find somewhere appealing to eat. The food search was disappointing, but while exploring the area we came across the chance to take a cruise on the Bosphorus.
We decided to go, and I am very glad we did. Watching the shoreline and buildings from the water was a pleasant change after sightseeing on foot. There was no elaborate private tour behind this memory, only a decision made on the day because something looked interesting.
That is often how the experiences I remember best happen. We had researched the major sights in advance; the boat trip found its way into the day without needing to be one of them.
An awkward fit for how we like to travel
The food was a genuine problem for us. We travel as vegetarians, and in the places we explored we struggled to find choices that excited us. That is an account of our particular visit, not a claim that Istanbul has no good vegetarian restaurants. I would research meals much more deliberately before going back.
There was one very satisfying exception: the baklava from Karakoy Gulluoglu. It was excellent, and it is the food memory I would happily repeat. Unfortunately, great baklava did not turn the rest of our dining experience around.
Some of our interactions around busy visitor areas were tiring as well. Persistent selling and encounters that my partner experienced as unwelcoming made the visit feel less relaxed than the architecture might suggest. I did not interpret every encounter in exactly the same way, and I would not generalise those impressions to everyone in Istanbul. But they did affect how we felt about our stay.
The points mattered, but they were not the verdict
Our historical outbound itinerary cost 45,000 Turkish Miles&Smiles miles and C$338 per person, with miles transferred from Capital One. It connected Vancouver to Chicago in United Economy and then to Istanbul in Turkish Airlines Business Class. It was an unusually attractive redemption at the time, not a price I would present as bookable today.
The Hagia Sofia Mansions stay used another 210,000 Hilton Honors points across three nights. These are two separate loyalty currencies, so adding the numbers together would not tell you what the trip actually cost or what it was worth. Nor do these figures include our cash spending on food, taxis or the boat trip.
For me, the more important point is that the airfare made Istanbul a natural first stop. From there, I built the rest of our April journey around Santorini and a return flight from Budapest. Without the award opportunity, this particular itinerary would probably never have existed. The full set of decisions deserves its own story; Istanbul deserves to be judged on the days we actually spent there.
Three nights were enough for us
Istanbul exceeded my fairly modest expectations in some ways. The Blue Mosque was exceptional, sleeping near Hagia Sophia was memorable, and the unplanned cruise was one of those easy pleasures that travel is good at delivering.
But the combination of limited vegetarian options for us, some uncomfortable encounters and the simple fact that the city did not leave me wanting more means I am unlikely to return. Three nights felt sufficient. With an early-morning arrival and a tightly focused sightseeing plan, two nights might have worked for our particular priorities, although that is not how our own arrival was timed.
If I were arranging those days again, I would leave more time around Galata and Karakoy, look for a Bosphorus cruise, visit the mosques early and plan our meals before leaving the hotel. I would not try to squeeze in every possible attraction just to justify being there.
Istanbul was a worthwhile beginning to the trip, even if it was not the destination that stayed with us most. That is not a contradiction. A place can be worth seeing once without becoming somewhere you need to revisit.
