Istanbul Kids & Family Attractions

You would love to visit Istanbul, but you wonder if it is child friendly? Yes, it is! Sure, the first thoughts that spring to mind are its vast history and uncountable historical sightseeing spots. And you may have even heard stories of the hectic life in Turkey’s metropolis and their ‘odd’ way of driving. But did you also know that Turks just LOVE children. So, stop worrying and check out my list that will keep both you and your children entertained while visiting Istanbul with kids. in fact, there’s even a Children’s Day each 23 April.

Miniaturk (Miniatürk)

This open-air miniature park on the banks of the Golden Horn contains no less than 105 scale models, all 1/25th of the original Istanbul, Anatolian and Ottoman structures. With its 15.000 m² miniature park and a total area of 60.000 m², Miniaturk is the world’s largest miniature park. The park also features a playground, life-sized chessboard, and labyrinth. Miniaturk is open daily from 09:00 till 17:00, even later in summer. English audio guides are free with admission.

Galata Tower (Galata Kulesi)

Chances are very likely that your kids will notice this 60-meter-high tower and Golden Horn feature immediately while scanning the Istanbul skyline. Although not suitable for very small kids, a walk on the tower’s top balcony will surely please them – and you. After an elevator ride to the ninth floor, followed by a flight of stairs you’ll enjoy commanding 360 views over the metropolis.

Istanbul Toy Museum (Göztepe)

This private toy museum is easily identifiable by two huge giraffe’s statues and giant nutcracker soldiers that guard the entrance. Inside, the former family home of the founder, the Turkish poet and author Sunay Akın, is filled with 4000 vintage toys. Dating from the 1700s to today, the toys were collected over 20 years from over 40 countries at toy shops and auctions. The museum also has a fantastic cafe, which looks like a gingerbread house, plus glass room where kids can paint wooden toys and take them home (for a fee). Outside is a giant chess set, and a statue of Nasreddin Hoca--the original Turkish clown.

The Naval Museum (Besiktas)

Caiques and cannons and boats, oh my! The newly upgraded Istanbul Naval museum in Besiktas is an awesome museum for kids. Only 6tl entrance for adults. Kids are free. There's a fantastic maritime-themed playroom with puzzles and pirates, and even a nice nursing room. All indoors, tho, so better for a rainy or blistering summer day.

Boat trip on the Bosporus

Jumping on a ferry and crossing from Europe to Asia along the Bosporus waterway is something everyone can enjoy. Visit a hill-top fort or waterfront palace and stop at a local restaurant for lunch.

Basilica Cistern

Slightly creepy lighting gives this underground water system – built by the Byzantines in the sixth century – another-worldly atmosphere that kids love. The cistern’s raised platforms take the visitor between huge columns while carp swim in the waters below. Look out for the huge stone Medusa heads.

Bazaar behaviour

They might not be interested in the jewellery or coffee pots on sale at the city’s Spice Bazaar, but kids’ faces always light up at the sight of lokum (Turkish delight). And with the Turks’ indulgent attitude towards children, you’re likely to get some free samples.

Gulhane Park

The offspring have been patient while you marched them round the Topkapi Palace so it’s only fair that you allow them to expend some of that pent-up energy in the park next door. Fountains and lots of trees providing shade help keep them cool.

Istanbul Modern

Contemporary art might not be top of most children’s must-see lists but this former shipping terminal turned gallery has a great interactive section where six- to 12-year olds can learn about art while having fun.

Rahmi M Koç Museum

If Istanbul Modern has whetted their appetite, kids can find similar hands-on attractions at this place. An industrial museum exhibiting such curiosities as an English Channel-crossing car, there’s plenty here to fill a couple of hours and a good café to fill a hungry stomach.

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Off the beaten path museums in Istanbul:

This is a special tour including some of the most unique places in the city but also which are difficult to visit on your own. The tour will take you to the roots of historic Istanbul with visit to the monuments of Byzantine and Ottoman cultural heritage. As the places of visit are all located out of the touristic centers, you will also have the chance to visit the current daily local life.

The first stop is Suleymaniye Mosque was built on the order of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and constructed by the great Ottoman architect Sinan. The construction work began in 1550 and the mosque was finished in 1557.The mosque is modeled in part on the style of a Byzantine basilica, particularly the Hagia Sophia, which was perhaps a conscious move on the part of the sultan to create a continuity and a symbolic connection with the city's past. Driving along the city walls will end at one of the oldest and most important churches in the city - The Church of Chora - representing fascinating wall paintings which tell the life of Christ in an historical order. Even though the building itself being small, the meaning was great for Byzantines as being founded at the borders of the city and welcoming the visitors. Today the environment is restored and this is a good place to spend time with local artisans and wooden houses.

After the church, we will have a tea-coffee break at one of the most splendid spots of Istanbul with a beautiful view over the Golden Horn - Pierre Loti Hill. Than you will again start drive but that time along the shores of Golden Horn through the towns Fener and Balat which are the old Greek and Jewish living sites. Fener Orthodox Patriarchate is in the area as well.

After lunch, our next destination will be the Dolmabahce Pal

ace the last residence for Ottoman Sultans with 365 rooms and 22 saloons. Famous with the great collection of European antiquity, furniture and 4.5 tons chandelier. This will be our last stop after visit we will drive back to your hotel. End of the tour.

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Istanbul Stopover Tours:

The Istanbul Ataturk airport is the hub of many airlines, located roughly 13 miles from Istanbul old city centre which makes the city an accessible destination for on a long layover.

Istanbul layover Tour; we are aware of how important your time is while on transit. Whether you only have a few hours in between journeys or that you just want the safety and comfort of a Private Istanbul Tour after a flight. Whilst in transit, turn your Istanbul airport layover into exciting mini-vacation. Outside working hour services are also available for late arrivals.

With our meet and greet service, the tour begins from the moment you arrive in Istanbul. You will be welcomed at Istanbul Ataturk airport IST by a Private Istanbul Walking Tours representative carrying a sign that bears your name on it before driven to the city center for the tour. Following the tour, you can be drop off at a central Istanbul hotel or at the IST airport. Pick up is available directly from Istanbul airport arrival terminal and return to your departure terminal at the end of the tour. Allow approx. 45 minutes to clear customs to begin your tour. Check in for international flights is at least two hours and for domestic flights one hour before your scheduled departure time.

Passengers on layovers will normally have their luggage forwarded to their final destination by their airline, if you will have your luggage with you, you can bring them to the tour vehicle as well.

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The Hippodrome of Constantinople: 

The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a circus that was the sporting and social center of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square named Sultan Ahmet Meydani (Sultan Ahmet Square) in the Turkish city of Istanbul, with a few fragments of the original structure surviving. 

The word hippodrome comes from the Greek hippos, horse, and dromos, path or way. Horse racing and chariot racing were popular pastimes in the ancient world and hippodromes were common features of Greek cities in the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine eras.

Although the Hippodrome is usually associated with Constantinople's days of glory as an imperial capital, it actually predates that era. The first Hippodrome was built when the city was called Byzantium, and was a provincial town of moderate importance. In AD 203 the Emperor Septimius Severus rebuilt the city and expanded its walls, endowing it with a hippodrome, an arena for chariot races and other entertainment.

The track was lined with other bronze statues of famous horses and chariot drivers, none of which survive. The hippodrome was filled with statues of gods, emperors and heroes, among them some famous works, such as a Heracles by Lysippos, Romulus and Remus with their wolf and the Serpent Column of the Plataean tripod.

Throughout the Byzantine period, the Hippodrome was the center of the city's social life. Huge amounts were bet on chariot races, and initially four teams took part in these races, each one financially sponsored and supported by a different political party (Deme) within the Roman/Byzantine Senate: The Blues (Venetoi), the Greens (Prasinoi), the Reds (Rousioi) and the Whites (Leukoi). The Reds (Rousioi) and the Whites (Leukoi) gradually weakened and were absorbed by the other two major factions (the Blues and Greens).

A total of up to eight chariots (two chariots per team), powered by four horses each, competed on the racing track of the Hippodrome. These races were not simple sporting events, but also provided some of the rare occasions in which the Emperor and the common citizens could come together in a single venue. Political discussions were often made at the Hippodrome, which could be directly accessed by the Emperor through a passage that connected the Kathisma (Emperor's Loge at the eastern tribune) with the Great Palace of Constantinople.

The rivalry between the Blues and Greens often became mingled with political or religious rivalries, and sometimes riots, which amounted to civil wars that broke out in the city between them. The most severe of these was the Nika riots of 532, in which an estimated 30,000 people were killed and many important buildings, such as the second Hagia Sophia Church, were destroyed. The current (third) Hagia Sophia was built by Justinian following the Nika Revolt.

Constantinople never really recovered from its sack during the Fourth Crusade and even though the Byzantine Empire survived until 1453, by that time, the Hippodrome had fallen into ruin. The Ottoman Turks, who captured the city in 1453 and made it the capital of the Ottoman Empire, were not interested in racing and the Hippodrome was gradually forgotten, although the site was never actually built over.

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Hagia Irene Museum

Hagia Irene means "Divine Peace" in Greek, so it was a church dedicated to holly peace, not to a Saint Irene as it's wrongly pronounced today. It's believed that the church was first built in the 4th century AD over the ruins of a pagan temple by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine I. The wooden construction was burned during the Nika Riot in 532 AD and it was renovated by Justinian I, representing typical characteristics of early Byzantine architecture. During the following centuries, the church was restored several times because of the earthquakes and some big fires.

The Janissaries used the church as an arsenal after the Conquest of Constantinople in 1453. The staircases to the galleries and the inscription on the gate was added by the Ottomans. In the 19th century it was opened as a sort of museum displaying old weapons. At the beginning of the 20th century it was closed and remained empty for many years, until they started the restorations.

Today, Hagia Irene church is in the first courtyard of the Topkapi Palace behind Hagia Sophia, and is called as Aya Irini in Turkish. At present, some classic music concerts or art exhibitions are organized in the building during important festivals. Inside, nothing much remained from its original mosaics but a large cross above its main narthex, showing us that they were never re-made after the Iconoclastic period.

Hagia Irene was closed, except for special occasions, until recently. In April 2014, it was opened to public as a museum. The entrance fee is 20 TL per person. The museum is open every day between 09:00-17:00, except on Tuesdays.

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