Travel: Culture, luxury and fine food on a lavish winter odyssey in Istanbul

When you think of a holiday in Turkey, your mind is instantly drawn to the sun-kissed beaches and turquoise seas of the Mediterranean coast.

Who hasn’t been to the likes of Marmaris, Bodrum, Antalya or Fethiye? They’re very popular with Brits for very good reasons.

But the country has so much more to offer, Istanbul being one of the best. The north-western city, formerly the Turkish capital, is steeped in history and has the honour of being the only city in the world to straddle two continents – one side is in Europe, the other in Asia, separated by the Bosphorus Strait.

It’s on the European side that you will find two of the city’s finest, most luxurious hotels – The Four Seasons on the banks of the Bosphorus and the chain’s other offering in Sultanahmet, home of the world-famous Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya (Hagia Sophia).

The Blue Mosque has been a functioning mosque since it was built in the early 1600s, with Aya Sofya dating back to the year 537, when it was built as a church by the Romans. Having gone through various incarnations as an Eastern Orthodox church, mosque and museum, it was re-established as a mosque in 2020 and is a popular sight on the tourist trail.

The weather can be hit and miss in Istanbul in winter. When we visited in December, it was warm and sunny during the daytime (only light jackets required) but in previous years it has been blanketed in snow during the same period.

If you can’t rely on consistent weather, what can you do? Well, the options are many.

Taking advantage of the chance to be thoroughly pampered at the Four Seasons is one. The Four Seasons Bosphorus is located in a stunning former Ottoman palace. Rooms range from standard doubles right up to luxury suites with views over the Bosphorus. We stayed in a suite that had a huge bedroom, two luxury bathrooms and a living room with gorgeous flowers and tasty treats laid out on the coffee table.

It had everything we could possibly need during our stay, from the usual luxury toiletries, coffee machine and mini bar to rain ponchos and toys for our nine-year-old son, which made him feel really special.

Our sumptuous breakfast was taken in the hotel’s Michelin starred restaurant and I swear they had every breakfast item known to man. Spoilt for choice, and with a waiter whispering suggestions in our ears, we filled an entire table with wonderful delights and made a valiant effort to finish it all. It was honestly the best breakfast I’ve ever had.

Exquisite lunches and dinners are also available, a la carte in the restaurant or by room service.

In winter, the hotel has heated glass sitting pods along the Bosphorus side of the hotel so you and your friends or family can enjoy the sea views in comfort.

The hotel’s spa offers treatments and therapies and, if you’re feeling adventurous, you can opt to be scrubbed down from head to toe and massaged in the traditional Turkish bath, an experience practised for thousands of years.

Four Seasons Bosphorus is in the Besiktas district (home of one the country’s biggest football teams), which is a university area, so there’s no shortage of bars and restaurants, as well as the Royal Naval Museum. From there, it’s easy to access the Galata neighbourhood – with its famous tower – which is home to social media star Salt Bae’s first restaurant, where you can eat a steak wrapped in gold. Getting back to the city centre by tram or metro, you will find Taksim Square and Istiklal Caddesi, the main shopping street.

On our second day, the Four Seasons transported us to its hotel in Sultanahmet. There you’ll find the Grand Bazaar with it hundreds of tiny shops and stalls.

The Four Seasons Sultanahmet has an interesting history. It was built in 1918, designed to be a French-style guest house but later became a prison, as it remained until the 1980s and was (falsely) claimed to be the setting for the Oscar-winning 1978 film, Midnight Express. Unfortunately for the producers, the local authorities refused permission for the filming, so they relocated to Malta.

Today it couldn’t be further from a prison. The former cells have been lavishly converted into rooms and suites, and the former exercise yard is now a delightful garden where you can dine and drink, or just sit. It’s a short stroll from the famous mosques – if you plan to visit, ladies must be suitably attired, with hair and shoulders covered and hems below knee length.

Our suite was, again, equipped with everything we could possibly need and this time our son received an “I Love Istanbul”

T-shirt along with activity books and puzzles. Staff members appeared at the door periodically with tasty treats for us to sample.

Having been thoroughly spoilt at both Four Seasons, we headed back to the rainy UK, with, thankfully, the joys of Christmas and New Year ahead of us.

But we could have been tempted to take advantage of one of the luxury Christmas packages the Four Seasons offers.

Christmas in Turkey? Well, with a name like that, you’re already half way there.

Factfile

Rooms at the Four Seasons Bosphorus in December range from £511 per night for a superior double room to £6,500 per night for a two-bed suite; and at Sultanahmet, £505 for a double room up to £2,422 for a one-bed suite. Visit www.fourseasons.com for more information.

P.S. An Istanbul Card can be purchased at any metro station and gives access to travel on the bus, tram, metro and train networks. The Blue Mosque is free to enter but Aya Sofya mosque now costs €25 per visitor, except for those wishing to pray at designated times.