Türkiye with kids

Built as a cathedral in 537, a mosque since 2020, and the single most remarkable interior in the city. The upper gallery is where the mosaics are.

An underground Roman reservoir held up by three hundred columns, lit and half-flooded, with two Medusa heads at the back. Cool, strange and short.

The Ottoman court for four centuries, with the treasury and the harem. Large and mostly outdoors — the harem is a separate ticket.

The later, European-styled palace on the water, with a four-tonne chandelier. Timed entry and no photographs inside.

A working mosque, free to enter, with a guided tour sold separately. Closed to visitors at prayer times — check before walking over.

A medieval Genoese watchtower with a balcony right round the top. Forty dollars, and the queue moves slowly at sunset.

The newer broadcasting tower on the Asian side, higher and far less queued than Galata. Twenty-six dollars.

A 360-degree painted panorama of the siege of Constantinople that you stand inside. Twenty-four dollars and about an hour.

Three museums on one site, including the Alexander Sarcophagus and a genuinely good ancient Orient collection. Twenty-one dollars.

A large mall aquarium with a rainforest section, thirty dollars. The wet-day answer, and Istanbul has plenty.

The second, smaller aquarium, twenty-seven dollars. Pick one rather than both.

A safari-style zoo on the city edge, twenty-seven dollars, with a drive-through section.

A sema ceremony rather than a show — it is a religious rite, it is silent, and it lasts about an hour. Seventeen dollars.

The city's theme park, with a free shuttle. Sixty dollars and a genuine full day away from the historic peninsula.

Tilted rooms and optical tricks, eighteen dollars. An hour, and cheap by Istanbul standards.

A ropes and zipline park in the forest north of the city, thirty-seven dollars. Fresh air and trees, which the old city does not offer.

A short zipline with the strait behind you, thirty-one dollars. Height minimums apply.

Ninety minutes up the strait past the palaces and the fortress, and about eight dollars. The best-value thing in the city by a wide margin.

The two sides of the city on an open top. Useful because the historic sites are further apart than the map suggests.

Dinner and a folk show on the water, thirty dollars. Touristy, cheap, and it solves an evening.

Unlimited metro, tram and ferry for one to seven days. The ferries are public transport here and cost almost nothing — this is the card that makes them free.

A cable car up a mountain and an Ottoman old town, across the sea of Marmara. Thirty dollars and the best day trip from the city.

The site itself is a set of low walls and a modern wooden horse — worth it only for a child who already knows the story. A long day.

The Cappadocia version, staged in a caravanserai and fourteen dollars — cheaper and shorter than Istanbul's.

The reason most people come. A basket of about twenty, an hour over the valleys, and a minimum age of six with most operators. Cancelled for wind more often than you would like.

Through the valleys in an open jeep with a driver, twenty-two dollars. The version of the off-road tours that does not involve a child driving anything.

An open-top vintage car following the balloons at dawn, for families who would rather watch than fly. Photographs included.

The town has thrown pots from the red river clay for three thousand years. Fifteen dollars and you keep what you make.

Folk dancing and dinner in a rock-cut hall. Thoroughly touristy and the caves are genuinely caves.

The northern circuit — Goreme open-air museum, the fairy chimneys at Pasabag and the Devrent valley. Lunch and entry tickets included.

The southern circuit, taking in an underground city and the Ihlara valley. More walking than the Red Tour and a longer day.

A choice of attractions across the country on one ticket. Only sensible on a trip covering Istanbul and Cappadocia both.

One of the longest tunnel aquariums in the world, with a wax museum on the same ticket. Forty-nine dollars.

Animatronic dinosaurs in pine forest, thirty dollars. Aimed at the under-tens and shaded throughout.

A large dance production staged in the Roman theatre. The venue is two thousand years old and does most of the work.

The biggest theme park in the country — rides, a water park and a nightly parade. Fifty-two dollars and a genuine full day.

Trick-art and illusion rooms built for photographs, twenty-two dollars. An hour.

A waterfall that drops straight off a cliff into the sea, plus the Roman harbour quarter. Thirty-five dollars with transport.

A fuller day — the old town, a boat under the cliffs and the Olympos cable car up Tahtali. Thirty-six dollars.

A boat to an island with water the colour of the Maldives, lunch included, seventeen dollars. The best-value day on this coast.

A full day on a reservoir in the mountains with swimming stops. Cooler than the coast in August.

Three Roman sites in a day, including a theatre still standing well enough to be used. Twenty-nine dollars and very hot in summer.

White limestone terraces filled with warm water, which you walk barefoot. Three hours each way — a long day and unlike anywhere else.