Beside the waters of the Bosphorous, East truly meets West. The great mosques, colourful bazaars and tangled streets of Istanbul will guarantee you an excitingly different experience. You may visit for the monuments and museums, to see the sultan's jewels or the gold of the Byzantine mosaics, or simply to watch the sunset over the skyline of minarets and domes. But take time to watch the street life, for this is the real Istanbul, for which the mosques and palaces are merely decoration, and the people of the city have had centuries to cultivate this life of Istanbul into an art form.
On the European bank of the Bosphorus - which flows through Istanbul's history and heart - Four Seasons gives a 19th-century palace a fresh, eclectic spirit.
This extraordinary hotel has been created from a century-old neoclassic Turkish prison, steps from the fabled Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace.