Walks · Turkey
Real places, told on your phone by someone who was there, as you walk to them.
Free · GPS-guided · works offline · your own pace
Sultanahmet · 65 min · 1.7 km · 8 stops · ★ 4.0
Told by Evliya Çelebi
the sultan’s runaway page
A 17th-century traveller walks you from the Hippodrome to the spice quays.
Blue Mosque, Istanbul
Basilica Cistern
Hagia Sophia
Topkapı Palace
Obelisk of Theodosius
Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum
“Peace be upon you. I am Evliya, son of the sultan’s goldsmith, born within a bowshot of where your feet are now. Everything I own fits in a saddlebag, and everything I know is in ten volumes nobody has finished reading — but there is one thing I never wrote…”
Blue MosqueHagia SophiaTopkapı Palace
This month: A fine month for walking, mild and golden, with the plane trees by the Golden Horn beginning to turn — I have always thought October forgives the city its summer sins.
When to go: Early morning or after 5pm — the Hippodrome square has no shade at midday. Avoid prayer times at the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia; Topkapı is closed on Tuesdays and the Spice Bazaar shuts by 19:00.
Istanbul's old city rewards walking more than any bus route can. In under two kilometres you pass the Blue Mosque, the ancient Obelisk of Theodosius, the Basilica Cistern, Hagia Sophia and the gates of Topkapı Palace — a stretch of history too dense for a moving window. On foot you notice the tilework, the worn steps, the way one courtyard opens onto the next, things a guidebook can only list.
Walk & Tell turns this route into a self-guided audio walk narrated by Evliya Çelebi, the 17th-century traveller who was born near the Hippodrome and wrote ten volumes about his journeys. GPS cues start the story as you reach each stop, so there's no schedule to keep and no group to follow. The walk runs about 65 minutes, is free to try, and downloads for offline use, which suits a first visit to Istanbul, a spare afternoon, or someone walking alone or as a couple who wants Istanbul in a few hours rather than a checklist.
Walk & Tell is a self-guided audio walking-tour app. Walks are free to try; download one for offline before you set out. All cities