Üsküdar

Traditional, unhurried and rooted in faith

Step off the ferry in Üsküdar and the pace changes. Calls to prayer from several mosques overlap across the pier square, simit sellers and seagulls greet commuters, and families sip tea on seafront benches. This is a residential, fairly conservative part of the city where traditions are kept alive, and visitors are expected to be mindful of that.

The district's great treasure is its view. From the Salacak seafront, Topkapı Palace, Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and Süleymaniye all line up in one frame, and the sun sinks right behind them.

From the City of Gold to the pilgrim caravans

Known in antiquity as Chrysopolis, the City of Gold, Üsküdar was where roads from Asia reached the Bosphorus crossing. The Ottomans strengthened that role: pilgrim caravans to Mecca and the Surre procession, which carried the sultan's gifts to the holy cities, set out from here. That's why royal women endowed large mosque complexes in Üsküdar, a place every traveller passed through.

The first great example is the Pier Mosque that Sinan built in the 1540s for Mihrimah Sultan, daughter of Süleyman the Magnificent. It was followed by Sinan's small seaside masterpiece, the Şemsi Pasha Mosque, Nurbanu Sultan's Atik Valide complex and, in the early eighteenth century, the Yeni Valide Mosque. In the nineteenth century the sultans added summer residences along the Bosphorus, including Beylerbeyi Palace and Küçüksu Pavilion.

What to see in Üsküdar

• Maiden's Tower: the legendary tower on a tiny islet, reopened as a museum after restoration in 2023.
• Mihrimah Sultan (Pier) Mosque: Sinan's mosque on the ferry square, fronted by a tall, deep portico.
• Büyük Çamlıca Mosque and Çamlıca Hill: Türkiye's largest mosque, opened in 2019, and a hilltop viewpoint that takes in both continents.
• Kuzguncuk: a Bosphorus village of colourful wooden houses where a mosque, churches and a synagogue stand side by side.
• Beylerbeyi Palace: Sultan Abdülaziz's elegant summer palace from the 1860s, which once hosted Empress Eugénie of France.
• Küçüksu Pavilion and Anadolu Fortress: a rococo hunting lodge and a fourteenth-century castle on either side of the Göksu stream.

One day in Üsküdar

1. Start at the pier with Mihrimah Sultan Mosque and the Yeni Valide Mosque across the square.
2. Walk south along the shore to the Şemsi Pasha Mosque, then take a boat from Salacak to the Maiden's Tower.
3. In the afternoon, head north to wander Kuzguncuk's lanes, adding Beylerbeyi Palace if time allows.
4. Return to the Salacak waterfront for sunset over the historic peninsula.

What to eat: seaside simit and home-style cooking

Üsküdar's food is unpretentious and filling. Around the pier, tradesmen's canteens ladle out daily pot dishes such as white-bean stew, vegetable and meat casseroles and pilaf, while kebab houses serve regional styles from across Anatolia. Tea on the seafront with a simit or a soft poğaça is practically a ritual. In Kuzguncuk, weekend breakfasts stretch for hours, and up on Çamlıca people enjoy tea and gözleme beneath the pines. Pudding shops and lokma fritters take care of dessert.

Üsküdar with children

The short boat ride to the Maiden's Tower is usually the highlight for kids. The courtyard and surrounding park at Büyük Çamlıca Mosque are spacious and easy with a pushchair. The Salacak promenade is flat and pleasant, though some stretches have no railings, so keep an eye on small children. Beylerbeyi Palace's gardens are a quiet place to take a breather away from the crowds.

Getting there from Sareban Hotel

Marmaray is the quickest way: walk or ride the tram to Sirkeci station, board a train heading to the Asian side, and it will carry you under the Bosphorus to Üsküdar, the very next stop. For the views, take the tram to Eminönü and catch the ferry to Üsküdar, a short, lovely crossing that passes close to the Maiden's Tower. Our sunset spots guide has more golden-hour ideas.