About DoInIstanbul
Published UpdatedIstanbul is not a checklist.
You can visit Hagia Sophia, take a Bosphorus cruise, eat a kebab and still leave Istanbul without really understanding the city.
Because Istanbul isn't just a collection of famous places.
It's knowing which ferry to take at sunset.
It's understanding why one street is crowded and the next one is completely quiet.
It's knowing when bluefish is in season, where locals actually go for breakfast, which neighborhood feels right at night, and when taking the metro makes much more sense than sitting in a taxi.
That's the Istanbul we're interested in.
DoInIstanbul exists to help visitors experience the city with a little more local knowledge and a lot less guesswork.
We look beyond the usual Istanbul list
The internet already has thousands of pages telling you to visit the Blue Mosque.
We don't need another one.
What we want to answer are the questions that usually come next:
Where should I go after that?
Which part of the Bosphorus should I actually see?
Is this neighborhood worth crossing the city for?
Where would someone from Istanbul take a friend visiting for the first time?
What's genuinely good — and what's simply good at marketing to tourists?
Sometimes the answer comes from official data or careful research.
Sometimes it comes from someone who has lived in Istanbul for decades.
And sometimes it comes from the kind of local knowledge that rarely makes it into a travel guide.
We bring those things together and turn them into practical, useful answers.
Istanbul, through people who know it
Cities are understood through people.
That's why DoInIstanbul works with Local Voices — people who know different sides of Istanbul through lived experience.
One person may know its old neighborhoods and food traditions.
Another may know where Istanbul goes after dark.
Someone else may know the Bosphorus, the bazaars or a particular corner of the city better than any guidebook ever could.
We don't pretend one person knows all of Istanbul.
Nobody does.
That's part of what makes the city interesting.
Ahmet Ünal Gül
Ahmet Ünal Gül was born in Kuzguncuk, Istanbul, in 1947. He contributed to the culture sections of DoInIstanbul’s meyhane, Turkish delight and baklava guides.
Ekrem Gül
Founder & Editor · DoInIstanbul
Istanbul, Türkiye
Exploring Istanbul through the places, craftspeople and local stories that don't always make it into traditional travel guides.
We don't recommend everything
And we don't want to.
A place doesn't belong on DoInIstanbul simply because it's famous, highly rated or willing to pay.
Our editorial recommendations are independent.
We may work with selected businesses, experience providers and sister brands. We may also publish sponsored placements, campaigns or special offers.
When we do, we tell you.
A commercial relationship does not automatically become an editorial recommendation.
If something is sponsored, we'll say it's sponsored.
If it's our recommendation, we want that to mean something.
Made for the moment when you're actually in Istanbul
We care about search engines, maps and AI because they're part of how people travel now.
But DoInIstanbul isn't really built for an algorithm.
It's built for the person standing somewhere in Istanbul with a phone in their hand asking:
“Okay… what should we do now?”
Maybe you're in Karaköy with three hours to spare.
Maybe it just started raining in Sultanahmet.
Maybe you're wondering whether to spend the evening in Kadıköy or cross back to the European side.
Maybe you simply want to eat something good without ending up somewhere designed entirely for tourists.
That's where we want to be useful.
Not by showing you everything.
By helping you choose better.
See the famous Istanbul. Find the other one too.