How To Spend A Perfect Spring Weekend In Kadıköy, Istanbul

Saturday morning, 10am, and I’m sitting at a café table on a cobbled street in the Beşiktaş neighbourhood of Istanbul, sipping a glass of çay (Turkish tea) and waiting for breakfast. By the café entrance, a plump, grey-haired man in a crisp white apron is sharpening a knife, before slicing through what is generally acknowledged to be the largest doner kebab in Turkey. The kebab weighs 100kg, a meaty monster slowly cooking from the outside in. Our guide, Sinan, tells us that Black Sea (Karadeniz) doners from this area are always the best – all of it will be gone by mid-afternoon.

Istanbul has one of the most beautiful skylines in the world—there’s no denying it. The sky itself seems to be in a permanent state of golden hour periwinkle blue while the mosques and monuments that dot the landscape offer endless picture-perfect sights to soak in.

There’s a reason why Oʻahu is nicknamed the Gathering Place – it’s the Hawaiian island that has everything.

Finding a great bookstore while traveling can be just as satisfying as spending the day at a beloved museum or sacred monument—and that’s certainly the case in Istanbul. The city is packed with hidden second-hand bookstores and flea market-style book alleys. The thing is—the majority of these places sell books written in Turkish, which, while beautiful to look at, mightn’t be the most practical if you’re looking for something to bring back to your hotel and read (unless of course, you speak Turkish).

Türkiye has become the latest country to launch a digital nomad visa for foreign remote workers.

After scoring tickets to see Madonna at American Airlines Center last month, my two friends and I decided to spend a long weekend in Dallas – a city none of us had visited since before the pandemic and one that we were eager to get back to after learning it has the largest contiguous arts district in the country and the most buildings designed by Pritzker Architecture Award winners.

There are plenty of great spots to eat all across Istanbul—it’s arguably one of the best food cities in the world. You could spend your entire trip eating your way across Turkish cuisine, both modern and traditional, but we all know that sometimes a good slice of pizza calls… especially after a couple of glasses of rakı or Turkish wine.

A budget vacation on Royal Caribbean's new wildly popular Icon of the Seas is possible. Just be prepared to stay sober, repeat meals, and pay at least $265 a day.

Turkey is one of the oldest wine-producing countries in the world—so it only makes sense that its largest city would be home to some pretty decent wine bars and wine-focused restaurants with great local wine.

Istanbul probably doesn’t immediately come to mind when thinking up vegetarian- and vegan-friendly cities—and that’s fair. The city isn’t the most vegetarian friendly in Europe or Asia but certain neighborhoods are going to be a lot more progressive in the plant-based department than others. Kadıköy on the Asian city of the city is one of those residential parts of town with a relatively young population. Here you’ll find a lot of great bars, pubs, trendy cafes, and, you guessed it, vegetarian restaurants.

What’s the secret to a perfect guacamole recipe? Tequila — more specifically, a fine blanco that adds an earthy, citrusy, peppery zest to the beloved guacamole dip.

I spent the first few years of my life in Greece and then moved to the US.