This week, The Plum Edit team spent the weekend in Istanbul. We wanted to bring you along to show you what we got up to in our 72 hours, and our recommendations of what to check out for your next trip.
Istanbul is a city of layers, shaped by its historical influences, and yet it is fiercely modern.
We spent most of our time in the Old City of Istanbul. It is nostalgic, spiritual, and undeniably grand. While the rest of Istanbul rushes toward the future, the Old City remains anchored in the echoes of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman eras.
Over the weekend, we were welcomed aboard Halas for lunch, a famous boat that has served and sailed over the Bosphorus as a public ferry for 65 years.
The boat carries a lot of history, having operated during the Gallipoli Campaign and serving during the Allied occupation of Istanbul. After her service, she was returned to Turkey and renamed Halas, meaning liberation.
In 1984, Turkish publisher Haldun Simavi converted the boat into a luxury motor yacht, and after renovations by Mustafa and Caroline Koç, today she continues to operate as a luxury coastal cruiser.
The interior of Halas boasts a spacious lounge, a formal dining area, and a library. Filled with opulent decor, the boat’s redesign combines period elegance with luxurious modern comfort. It was wonderful to enjoy the historic charm of the boat.
We also took a trip to visit the Basilica Cistern, an underground reservoir that dates back over 1,500 years, and is one of the oldest surviving structures from the Byzantine period. This ancient wonder is a spot that needs to go on your bucket list for Turkey.
Originally designed as an underground water reservoir to supply the royals of Constantinople, it is a wondrous example of Byzantine engineering.
In 2020, a major restoration to the cistern replaced the concrete walkways with a floating metal path that sits just above the water line. Combined with the light installations, it feels like a contemporary art gallery, with the sensory elements submerging you within the history of the site.
The cistern might look familiar to you, and that’s because its iconic structure has been used as a set for numerous movies, including the 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love.
We took a tour around the cistern, immersed in the sounds and softly lit waters, and got to see many details of the architecture, such as the Weeping Column and the Medusa heads.
Beyond our historical visits, we also spent our time eating at our favourite spots. We stopped in for a meal at Hamdi in the Old City.
Hamdi was founded by Chef Hamdi Arpacı, known as a kebab master. The restaurant serves over 30 types of kebab and offers panoramic views of the Golden Horn Bay and the Bosphorus Strait - a delicious meal with great company.
You can watch the full video of our trip below.
