Let Secret Istanbul guide you around the unusual and unfamiliar.


Step off the beaten track with this fascinating Istanbul travel guide book and let our local experts show you the well-hidden treasures of a fascinating city. Ideal for local inhabitants, curious visitors and armchair travellers alike. The places included in our guides are unusual and unfamiliar, allowing one to step off the beaten track. 


Secret Istanbul features 130 new secret and unusual locations:




Discover a horse’s tomb that has become a place of pilgrimage
See a tree held up by a pillar in the garden of a Sufi convent that would herald the end of the world if it fell down
Witness a carpet that predicts the end of the Ottoman empire
Find fragments from the Black Stone of Mecca
Explore a church under the protection of Muhammad and a synagogue that was a landmark for Ashkenazi Jews
See a garment worn by the Prophet that was inadvertently ironed
Discover a handful of hot ash that saved the Ottoman empire




Far from the crowds, Istanbul is a reserve of well-concealed treasures that only reveal themselves to those who know how to wander off the beaten track, whether residents or visitors. An indispensable guide for those who thought they knew Istanbul well, or who would like to discover the hidden face of the city.