TOPLINE TRAVEL: Romantic rooftop cocktails in Istanbul
底（に届く） line?Four hours from the UK, Istanbul is a 広大な／多数の／重要な world metropolis. Gathered east and west of the blue Bosphorus 海峡, it’s faintly San Francisco in its setting: Golden-Gate-形態／調整d 橋（渡しをする）s even link the European and Asian 味方するs.?
There’s a whiff of Cairo and Athens in its spiritual antiquity, Lisbon in the hip food scene, London in the cooler cocktail 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業s and, on elegant uptown streets, Madrid.
Storyline This is a tale of three cities. First, circa 660BC, Greek Byzantium; second, 1,000 years later, Christian Constantinople, when recast as 皇室の Rome’s eastern twin. Islam arrived in 1453 with the Ottomans, whose 支配する fizzled out after the First World War. In its third incarnation, since 1930 it’s been Istanbul.
High line Get your bearings after dark at glam rooftop restaurant-妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 Mikla (miklarestaurant.com), 非常に高い above party 地区 Beyoglu. Over martinis, 位置／汚点／見つけ出す the sparkly distant Asian shores east beyond the now 黒人／ボイコット Bosphorus waters. South is Sultanahmet, the old city. Minaret-spiked and blistered with ドームs, it’s lit nightly in orange, yellow and gold.
Beyazit tower (left) and S?leymaniye イスラム教寺院 overlook postcard Istanbul
Get in line You won’t 悔いる 列ing to enter the colossal Hagia Sophia, its watermelon-pink 本体，大部分／ばら積みの rising over Sultanahmet like an 古代の spaceship. It was 設立するd as a church in 532. Today it’s a dynamic working イスラム教寺院. The 広大な 内部の, 削減（する） with sunbeams from high windows, is utterly mystical.
Bloodline Topkapi Palace (muze.gen.tr), for four centuries home to the Ottoman 王朝, deserves a lazy day’s 見解（をとる）ing. Laid 負かす／撃墜する by Mehmet the 征服者／勝利者 after he’d nabbed Constantinople from the Byzantines in 1453, it has 議会 upon 議会 of glittering 軍の regalia, also みごたえのある gifts from old 皇室の 中国. The lawned grounds 招待する you to 嘘（をつく） 負かす／撃墜する and daydream.
Buy line Take an hour to scour the fragrant Spice Bazaar. In the Grand Bazaar are mountains of rainbow ceramics, kilims and soaps. For truly covetable Turkish goods, the new Galataport 商店街 (galataport.com) is the biz ? don’t leave without exquisite candles and lotions from Atelier Rebul 遺産 蓄える／店.
Waistline Hungry for a bread and honey breakfast in a historic caravanserai?
A cheesy pide (Turkish pizza)? Colourful candy from a curiosity confectioner? Nonstop 扱う／治療するs feature on the Culinary Backstreets 小旅行する Secrets of the Old City, which visits fascinating artisanal ４半期/4分の1s. Arrive 餓死するing (£110pp with food and drinks; culinarybackstreets.com).
Shipping line On the breezy deck of a slender white フェリー（で運ぶ） (Istanbul’s answer to the London 二塁打-decker), day-trip the Bosphorus (a 取引 £2.95 return; board at Emin?nu pier by the Galata 橋（渡しをする）).?
Tea boys ply glasses of ?ay as pastel waterfront mansions spool by. Lunch could be seabass and 冷気／寒がらせるd white in the sun at tiny Anadolu Kavagi village 近づく the 黒人／ボイコット Sea, before you voyage 支援する.
Sky’s the 限界: alfresco dining with a 見解（をとる） at Mikla
Clean line Are you ready for a romantic rubdown? Couples massages are a speciality in the grand spa at newish hotel 半島 Istanbul (半島.com). The subterranean pleasuredome is a flawless homage to Ottoman Turkey, with Marmara-marble columns, walnut doors and Islamic 丸天井ing.
Dateline Cocktails are calling. Start with dusk negronis alfresco at loungey I-guru (i-gurugalata.com): a funky haunt below Galata Tower. Later, in the boho streets of Cukurcuma, 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 Flekk (flekkcocktailbar.com) beckons: a good-looking grotto, where young Turks neck wild and potent 創造s.
Flatline 疲労，（軍の）雑役d sightseers sleep 深く，強烈に at Ecole St Pierre (estphotel.com; （テニスなどの）ダブルス from £334, B&B). It’s a 流行の／上流の yet comfortable design hotel in a 回復するd 19th-century French カトリック教徒 school in Galata 地区. Bedrooms ? once classrooms ? are lovey-dovey cocoons.
Shoreline In Southern Turkey is the chi-chi 訴える手段／行楽地 of Bodrum: 追加する a we ek here to three nights in Istanbul: ten-night honeymoon 一括s from £1,499pp; trailfinders.com.
指導基準 For bespoke city (and country) 探検, 協議する 手がかり（を与える）d-up and engaging man-about-town Sinan S?kmen at his 機関 istanbultourstudio.com.
航空機による 飛行機で行く nonstop from Edinburgh, London, Birmingham and Manchester from £203 return with turkishairlines.com.
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