🇹🇷Halal Travel Guide to Turkey

Justinian's cathedral, Mehmed II's mosque, Ataturk's museum, and a mosque again since 2020. Worshippers enter free at ground level; visitors pay for the upper gallery, where Byzantine mosaics survive beside Ottoman calligraphy roundels.

Six minarets, a cascade of domes, and more than 20,000 blue Iznik tiles inside. Free, with a dedicated visitor entrance on the south side and robes provided.

Sinan's Istanbul masterpiece, finished 1557, sitting on the third hill with a terrace over the Golden Horn. The tombs of Suleiman and Hurrem Sultan are in the garden. Quieter than Sultanahmet and, most would argue, better.

Small, raised above the shops of the Spice Bazaar and easy to miss. The tile work is the finest in the city - whole walls of tomato-red and cobalt Iznik from the 1560s.

Built over the tomb of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, the Prophet's companion who died besieging Constantinople in 674. Ottoman sultans were girded with the sword of Osman here. The most spiritually significant site in the city.

Baroque, white, and standing on the water directly under the first Bosphorus bridge. Small inside; the point is the setting.

Completed in 2009 and designed by Zeynep Fadıllıoğlu - the first major mosque with a woman as lead designer. Glass, aluminium and a turquoise mihrab; a modern argument about what a mosque can look like.

Sinan called this his masterwork, built when he was over 80. A dome wider than Hagia Sophia's on eight piers, with four of the tallest minarets in the Ottoman world. Two and a half hours from Istanbul.

Twenty domes on twelve pillars, a fountain under the central dome, and 192 monumental calligraphy panels painted straight onto the walls and columns. Early Ottoman at its most confident.

Named for the green-blue tiles of the sultan's tomb opposite. Smaller and more intimate than the imperial mosques, and the clearest view of where Ottoman architecture came from.

The turquoise fluted dome over Rumi's tomb is the most recognisable building in Anatolia. The complex is officially a museum, is treated by visitors as a shrine, and is the centre of the Mevlevi tradition.

Opened 2019 on the highest hill on the Asian side, holding 63,000 worshippers, with a museum and gallery underneath and the widest view of the city from its terrace.

The Prophet's mantle, sword, bow, a tooth, a footprint and hairs from his beard, along with Moses' staff and David's sword, brought from Cairo in 1517. A reciter has read Qur'an in the chamber continuously since. No photography.

In Ibrahim Pasha's palace on the Hippodrome. The carpet collection is the best in the world, with Seljuk fragments from the 13th century, plus illuminated Qur'ans and Damascene metalwork.

Working replicas of instruments and machines described by al-Jazari, al-Biruni and al-Idrisi - clocks, pumps, surgical tools and observatory equipment. Excellent with older children.

Rumi's tomb, the Mevlevi dervish lodge, illuminated manuscripts and the cells the dervishes trained in. The sema ceremony is performed publicly on Saturday evenings.

The pool of sacred carp where, by local tradition, Nimrod's fire was turned to water when Ibrahim was thrown into it. Beside it, Göbekli Tepe is the oldest known monumental site on earth.

Southeastern kebabs from Şanlıurfa, on a rooftop looking over the Golden Horn to Galata. No alcohol, which is unusual for a restaurant of its standing. Book the terrace.

Musa Dağdeviren's project to cook the regional dishes of Anatolia that nobody else serves. The menu changes daily; point at what looks good on the counter.

Researched palace recipes from the 15th to 19th centuries - melon stuffed with lamb, almond soup, quince dolma. Beside the Chora church. Alcohol is served; ask for a table away from the bar if that matters.

Grilled meatballs, white bean salad, semolina halva. One dish, done since 1920, in a room that has not changed much. Beware near-identical imitators on the same street.

Eastern Turkish breakfast - herbed otlu peynir, kaymak with honey, murtuğa - done properly. Expect to queue at weekends and to leave two hours later.

Baklava since 1949, sold by weight at a counter. The fıstıklı (pistachio) and the şöbiyet are the ones to order. Eat it standing up like everyone else.

Turkish delight, baklava, künefe and rice pudding, in a café setting that works well for families. Reliable and everywhere, including the airport.

Southeastern kebab house open since 1912, known for its pistachio kebab and its baklava. Alcohol is available; the food is the reason to go.

A delicatessen with a breakfast room attached - you choose cheeses and mezze from the counter. Note that the deli also sells non-halal charcuterie, so read labels if buying to take away.

The family that invented İskender kebab in 1867, still serving it in the same city. One dish, one decision: portion size.

A small family-run cave dining room serving testi kebab and home-style Anatolian dishes. Booking essential - it has about eight tables.

Floor cushions, low tables and slow-cooked pots that must be ordered several hours ahead. The most atmospheric meal in the valley.

Seljuk-era recipes in a restored Konya house - etli ekmek, tirit, and Mevlevi dishes you will not find elsewhere. Konya is dry by custom, not by law.

An unassuming patisserie among the tourist restaurants, where locals actually go for tea, profiterole and rice pudding at fair prices.

Walk to Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and Topkapi. Touristy and full of touts, but unbeatable for a short first visit, and most hotels here are alcohol-free.

The conservative heart of the old city - alcohol-free by custom, Arabic widely spoken, cheaper than Sultanahmet, and the best street food. Popular with Gulf visitors.

Design hotels in restored buildings, good coffee, walkable to the tram and the Golden Horn. Livelier and more secular than Fatih.

The Asian side - the best food market in the city, far fewer tourists, and a 20-minute ferry to the historic peninsula.

Rooms cut into the tuff, with terraces facing the balloon launch fields. Uçhisar is quieter and higher; Göreme is walkable to everything.

One of the established alcohol-free resorts on the coast, with separated men's and women's beaches, pools and spas, and a prayer room on site.

A Turkish chain built entirely around the halal-concept model - no alcohol, gender-separated leisure facilities, family suites.

Another long-running alcohol-free coastal resort with a private women's beach section. The Alanya cluster is where most of these properties sit.