5 Things to do in Istanbul on a Budget

Istanbul is a very affordable and fun city to explore and is a great place for budget travelers. As a budget traveler, I spent five days in the city and have made a list of five affordable things to do in Istanbul that is both worth your time and money. 

1. Try Turkish Street Food 

2. Visit the Mosques

3. Take a ferry across the Bosphorus

4. Rent Scooters

5. Visit the Souks

Many foodies can easily spend a whole day in Istanbul just wandering around and trying street food from the hundreds of vendors. There are many street food tours that you can sign up and pay to do, but I found these to be very costly and I couldn’t seem to find a decent one with reviews for cheaper than $90 USD. Instead of spending $90 USD just for a street food tour, I decided to look up some of the best foods to try in Istanbul from google and Youtube, where I watched several travel food blogs. I spent the day wandering around both the European and Asian side of Istanbul and trying a plethora of different foods, spending way less than $90 and having a beyond full stomach after. After living in Dubai for the past two years and coming from the US, I find food prices at Turkish restaurants to be relatively reasonable depending on where you go (stay away from expensive tourist spots) and find it to be generally cheaper than Dubai and the USA. Some street food that I would recommend trying when you find yourself exploring Istanbul include:

1. Baklava

2. Kebab

3. Turkish Ice cream

So if you are on a budget but don’t want to miss out on all the great food that Istanbul has to offer, I recommend skipping the touristy paid foodie tours and going on your own adventure and trying the food mentioned above. The best people to ask about Turkish food is of course, the local Turkish people, so never be too shy or afraid to ask which places they recommend going to for certain foods.

So if you are on a budget but don’t want to miss out on all the great food that Istanbul has to offer, I recommend skipping the touristy paid foodie tours and going on your own adventure and trying the food mentioned above. The best people to ask about Turkish food is of course, the local Turkish people, so never be too shy or afraid to ask which places they recommend going to for certain foods.

The Hagia Sofia mosque and Blue Mosque and the top tourist attractions in the city and are a big reason why Istanbul is so famous. The Hagia Sofia has an interesting history as it was actually first a church, then a mosque, then a museum, and now it is currently a mosque again. You can see feature inside that you normally can find in a church such as stained glass and a relic displaying Mary, jeeps, and Jesus. It is beautiful on the inside and I highly recommend going into and just sitting and enjoying its prescience for a few. minutes. If you go during prayer times, you can hear the beaitufl call to prayer and observe many muslims coming to pray. You will need to either buy a headscarf onsite or bring your own. I forgot to bring a head scarf but my boyfriend had a baseball cap so I wore that instead and it was fine. As long as you have something to cover your hair. The entrance is free and there are a few guides who stand outside if you want to hear any exp[lanations of the mosque or you can just look up facts on google while inside like I did.

Istanbul is in a very unique location as the city is operated between both the European and the asian continents. The bospheous river divides the city into two. The European side off Istanbul is more popular as it has the blue mosque and Hagia Sophia, but I highly recommend hopping on a ferry and riding across the bopshorus to the asian side. Not he asian side you can walk to the gallata tower. \you can catch the ferry at…. And it costs about….. Riding the ferry is a lot more affordable than doing about tour with a company so if you are on a budget or don’t have much time but still want to check it off your list, I recommend the passenger ferry option.  

Renting scooters are a great way to see the city as Istanbul is a very big and spread out city. Of course you can walk to many spots but if you have limited time or don’t want to walk for hours, you ca download an app called “Marty.” You do need to have. Phone number ( does not have to be Turkish) and you need to have data to successfully unlock the scooters. The app shows you all of the locations of the scooters so you can walk to one that is most convent for you and then park it anywhere ij the city once you are done. The scooters are very cheap and affordable and charge only .70 lire a minute. We ended up riding around the city for. 60 minutes and only spent 42 lire which is approximately $4.88. The scooters technically aren;’t supposed to be ridden by two people and when my boyfriend and I tried to ride together, we felt really unsteady. I would recommend riding your own scooters by yourself if you are with others for safety reasons. A lot of the streets are also cobble stone making your scooter already wheel wobbly and unsteady.

If you are looking for souverirs while on your trip, you can find all things Turkish at the Grand Bazaar souks in Istanbul. Souks mean market in Arabic and is usually found in most Middle  Eastern and North African country. You can find an array of things such as spices, Turkish lamps, magnets, rugs, clothing, Turkish delights and other sweets, jewelry, and any other souveneery type of items. I would save all of your shopping for the souks, as there isn’t usually a set price on items so you are more than free to bargain for the price and score a great deal.