Türkiye
Istanbul
Match
65
- Beach first63
- Culture first69
- Food & nightlife71
- Family trip64
- Nature first57
- Good weather62
- On a budget68
The nine measures
Each scored 0 to 100 against fixed anchors, so a score means the same thing on every page. Open a row for the figures behind it.
Beaches & swimming. Scores 43 out of 100.43
| Score | 43 |
|---|---|
| Swim season months | 3 |
| Beaches 10 km | 2 |
| Coast distance | 0 km |
| Water distance | 0 km |
Sea reaches 21 °C or more in 3 months, 2 beaches lie within 10 km, and the water is 0 km away.
Places to eat. Scores 70 out of 100.70
| Score | 70 |
|---|---|
| Restaurants within 2 km of centre | 2,086 |
| Effective number of cuisines within 2 km | 20 |
2086 restaurants within 2 km of the centre, spread across an effective 20 kitchens.
Museums & heritage. Scores 66 out of 100.66
| Score | 66 |
|---|---|
| Museums within 10 km | 145 |
| Museums within 2 km of centre | 71 |
| Share of museums within 2 km % | 49 |
| Unesco sites within 50 km | 1 |
145 museums mapped within 10 km, 49% of them within 2 km of the centre, and 1 whole UNESCO inscription within 50 km.
Nightlife. Scores 79 out of 100.79
| Score | 79 |
|---|---|
| Drinking venues within 4 km | 2,266 |
| Drinking venues within 2 km of centre | 1,176 |
| Share of drinking venues within 2 km % | 52 |
| Nightclubs within 4 km | 221 |
2266 places to drink within 4 km, 221 nightclubs among them, and 52% of the drinking venues within 2 km of the centre.
Nature & day trips. Scores 25 out of 100.25
| Score | 25 |
|---|---|
| Protected land share 50 km % | 1 |
| Landscape blanket share 50 km % | 0 |
| Land share of disc % | 48 |
| Park area within 2 km | 60 hectares |
1% of the 50 km disc around the city is protected land, and there are 60 hectares of park within 2 km of the centre.
Good for families. Scores 67 out of 100.67
| Score | 67 |
|---|---|
| Tourist attractions within 2 km | 68 |
| Park area within 2 km | 60 hectares |
| Theme parks within 30 km | 2 |
68 tourist attractions within 2 km beside 60 hectares of park, and 2 theme parks within 30 km.
Sights concentration. Scores 75 out of 100.75
| Score | 75 |
|---|---|
| Notable places within 2 km | 285 |
| Min wikipedia languages | 5 |
285 notable places within 2 km of the centre, counting places with a Wikipedia presence in at least five languages.
Value for money. Scores 89 out of 100.89
| Score | 89 |
|---|---|
| Price level global | 35.2 |
| Daily budget | €100 |
National price level of 35.2 against the United States at 100, scored on a fixed scale from 20, the cheapest countries anyone travels to, to 160, the most expensive. The estimated daily budget there is €100.
Year-round weather. Scores 69 out of 100.69
| Score | 69 |
|---|---|
| Monthly daytime high | 9.2 °C to 29.7 °C |
| Monthly rainfall | 23 mm to 101 mm |
| Dry months | 4 |
Daytime highs run 9-30 °C across the year, with 4 month(s) at 40 mm of rain or less.
When should you go?
The figures behind each month, shaded against this city's own year: the deepest cell is its best month for that measure and the palest its weakest.
Temperature and rainfall are thirty-year climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Istanbul: 1991-2020 normals, Istanbul / Goztepe (9.9 km from centre).
Getting there
| Flying from | Istanbul |
|---|---|
| AntalyaAYT | 1 h 15 m €54-87 SAW · 30 km |
| MoscowVKO, SVO, DME, ZIA | 2 h 40 m €215-235 IST · 36 km |
| TehranIKA, THR | 3 h 5 m €261-292 IST · 36 km |
| LondonLHR, LGW, STN, LTN +2 | 3 h 35 m €110-186 IST · 36 km |
| IzmirADB | 1 h 5 m €49-61 IST · 36 km |
| ErcanECN | 1 h 30 m €80-95 SAW · 30 km |
| New YorkJFK, EWR, LGA | 10 h 5 m €608-794 IST · 36 km |
| Panama CityPTY, PAC | 13 h 25 m €1,201-1341 1 stop IST · 36 km |
| TashkentTAS | 4 h 35 m €285-352 IST · 36 km |
| AnkaraESB | 1 h 5 m €42-52 IST · 36 km |
The busiest departure cities for Istanbul, with a place kept for each other part of the world. Busiest means arriving passengers where an official count exists, and where none does, the number of non-stop services flown: official route statistics are published by the European reporting countries and by nobody else, so a table ranked on them alone would offer a reader in New York or Tokyo ten European cities. Flying times are estimated from the distance between airports, and every row is a city flown non-stop. Where the typical offer connects anyway, the stops are shown. Under each figure is the airport the flight lands at and how far that is from the centre, because the nearest airport is not always the one a route is flown to. Typical return fares for 2026-08 to 2026-10, cached market data up to 7 days old. The figure is the middle half of the offers found, so a single price means they agreed and a range means they did not; for a typical route that middle half spans about a quarter of the median, and for the least settled routes rather more than the median itself.
Before you go
| Measure | Istanbul |
|---|---|
| Official language | Turkish |
| Currency | Turkish Lira (TRY) |
| Sockets | CF230 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+3 |
| Emergency number | 112 |
| Elevation | 100 m |
| Main airport | İstanbul Airport (IST)36 km from centre345 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 14 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Istanbul |
|---|---|
| City population | 15,655,924 |
| People per km² | 2,930 |
| Museums within 10 km | 72 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 1 |
| Distinct cuisines in the centre | 62 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 3 months |
Compare Istanbul with
Every comparison with a written verdict behind it.