A Coffee Lover's Guide to Sultanahmet

Sultanahmet is one of the densest square kilometres of history anywhere on earth. Byzantine emperors, Ottoman sultans and a few million tourists have all walked the same stones — and the best way to see it is still on foot, slowly, with a good coffee somewhere in the middle. Here is a half-day route we recommend to guests who ask us where to start.

Start on the Hippodrome

Begin where we do: on At Meydanı, the long open square that was once the Hippodrome of Constantinople. Chariots raced here for centuries, and three ancient monuments still mark the old central spine. Walk the line of them: the Egyptian Obelisk, carved for Pharaoh Thutmose III and re-erected here by Emperor Theodosius in 390 AD; the bronze Serpent Column, brought from the sanctuary at Delphi; and the rough-stone Walled Obelisk at the far end. It is a quiet, open place early in the morning — one of the reasons we love opening our doors onto it.

Hagia Sophia

From the north end of the square, Hagia Sophia is a few minutes’ walk. Built in 537 under Emperor Justinian, its dome was the largest in the world for nearly a thousand years, and stepping under it still silences most visitors. Give it time: the marble floors, the mosaics in the galleries, the layers of church, mosque and museum all deserve a slow look.

Coffee break at Roots & Roasted

By now you have earned a proper cup. We are right on the Hippodrome, and we are open every day from 09:00 to 19:00 — early enough for a flat white before the crowds, late enough for a filter coffee after the cistern.

Our beans come from Calibre Coffee, the Istanbul roastery behind the 2023 World Coffee Roasting Championship runner-up, and every drink is dialled in by our baristas. If you have a sweet tooth, one TripAdvisor reviewer insists the baklava cookie “is a must” — we won’t argue. Take a table inside or on the terrace, watch the square, and let your feet recover.

The Blue Mosque

Directly across from the Hippodrome stands the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, known to most visitors as the Blue Mosque for the thousands of İznik tiles lining its interior. It is a working mosque, so plan around prayer times, dress modestly and remove your shoes at the entrance. The cascade of domes and its six minarets are just as striking from the square as from inside.

Finish underground: the Basilica Cistern

End the walk beneath the city. The Basilica Cistern, a short stroll from Hagia Sophia, is a sixth-century underground reservoir held up by a forest of 336 columns — look for the two carved Medusa heads at the base of the columns in the far corner. Cool, dim and echoing, it is the perfect final stop on a warm Istanbul afternoon.

Then, if you are anything like us, the route ends the way it began: back on the square, with one more coffee.