Loyalty (noun) : constancy, devotion, fealty. The act of faithfulness.

I’ve got loyalty, in order, to my husband, then the pets … and then … Turkish Airlines.

It’s a hierarchy that could change at any moment, as I’m forced to choose between my airline or the husband in some sort of Squid Game scenario.

I scream, “I love you! I’m sorry Chris! I choose mid-air mezze!!!!” Then someone in a Korean Halloween mask shoots my husband in the face with a laser.

Okay, that’s probably, maybe not, gonna happen

Regardless, Turkish Airlines has been with me for the long-haul as a professional travel writer, usually offering reasonable fares, always ready with one-stop routes from America to Asia, the most European destinations of any airline on earth, enjoyable layovers and epic lounge meals, a great return on accrued mileage and the aforementioned mid-air mezze.

What’s mid-air mezze, you ask?

If you fly business on Turkish, a dude in a ridiculously tall chef’s hat comes down the aisle with an entire cart of hummus, feta, beet salad, smoked salmon, tomato tarts, roasted red pepper spreads, dolmas, koftas, several soups, and stuffed eggplants … all in charming, tiny bowls. That’s mid-air mezze. Get everything. “Two soups, please!”

Turkish Airlines also has this other awesome perk. They will pay for you to stay a day or two in the city, if you’re on a long-haul flight to somewhere else. You can get a three or four-star hotel, for free. You earn one free night with economy tickets and two nights, if flying business. According to other travel writers who have done this, to accomplish it can be a bit complicated. You have to book/request it, on the Turkish Airlines web site, when you’re booking your flight. There’s a bit of back-and-forth, apparently. However, fellow travel writers report that the hotels are nice, include many options and are in good locations for city exploration.

I’ve never done it.

Why? Because I generally find hotels in Istanbul to be very reasonable, if you’re used to American prices. I will dive into some favorites in this post.

Istanbul is a city in love with art and architecture, with cats and cuisine, with boats and fishing, fine wines and fervent calls to prayer. There are so many neighborhoods I’ve yet to explore.

If you’re headed to Istanbul, here are six spots and several hotel suggestions, plus a tour guide, to really ramp up those romantic feelings.

You know … when you stop, take a contented, deep sigh and totally fall head over heels for a place? Yeah, that’s Istanbul for me.

Chat with Locals on the Galata Bridge

Go … mid-day to watch the fishermen set down plastic jars of minnows amongst friends. They lean, forearms out over the water, casually lifting the stub of a cigarette to mouth and back to thigh again, laughing loudly at some joke or jab. It’s not about the fishing so much as the gathering. The rote. The camaraderie. When the fish aren’t biting, some set up a milk crate and a chess board, or flip open newspaper. They join together, to forget the sea altogether.

Hotel Suggestion : The Cronton Design Hotel. Located in the Old City (Sultanahmet), this hotel is five minutes on foot from the bridge, which will connect you with the neighborhoods of Galata and Karakoy easily. It’s also steps from the spice market and an easy 15-minute walk to the Grand Bazaar. The staff here could not be nicer. I arrived once at 5am, off a long haul flight, and while they didn’t have a room for me until 10am, they gave me a pillow and happily let me take a nap in the empty lobby restaurant. We all became buddies on Instagram. It’s this type of service that makes jet lag vanish and warm memories linger. (Approximately $150/night)

See Sunrise at Ortaköy Mosque

Go … ten minutes before sunrise. This mosque dates to 1856, and sits directly on the Bosphorus, incorporating a mix of architectural styles from Neoclassical to Baroque, including ornate carved stonework.

Istanbul is incredibly safe. Don’t worry about being out, with a nice camera in reasonable places, after dark. Do be aware that there are a lot of bars and restaurants around this mosque, so the trash piles can be quite intimidating at this hour.

Hotel Suggestion: The Stay Bosphorus. Here, I would splash out for a top floor, water-facing room, and wake up before the sun breaks, to capture the magic. (Approximately $200/night for a top room)

Shop with the Cats of Galata

Go … to a street called Serdar-ı Ekrem, in the afternoon. This road/area had an influx of Italians hundreds of years ago, and their legacy remains in churches and cobblestones. However, this is true Istanbul, too, from delicate evil-eye necklaces in quaint jewelers to street cats napping in the windows of rug shops. This is a perfect place to wander, meeting street cats, dipping into ample vintage emporiums, each seemingly stuffed to the gills with treasures. A perfect afternoon ends up to a rooftop, for sunset. For more of the cats of Istanbul, also check out the Cat Museum.

Hotel Suggestion : The Georges. The rooms feature iron accents and crisp white linens, parquet wood floors and balconies overlooking a courtyard or the Bosphorus. You don’t have to splash out for the price of a water-facing room, however, because the rooftop here provides it for free and in striking detail. You sit for expert cocktails or fine European wines, as the colorful, rough-and-tumble rooftops give way to blue sky, seagulls and minarets. Say hello to Lollipop, their lovable orange cat who rules the dreamy lobby bar. (Approximately $200/night for entry level)

Have a Drink at the Çırağan Palace 

Go … at sunset. The top suite here costs $34,000 per night. This place is wild, and if you can get a tour, absolutely take it. I think they offer them daily, for non-guests. Anyone can walk around, head on a swivel, admiring the sheer magnitude of this former Ottoman palace, built by Sultan Abdulaziz and finished in 1867. The marble, the incredible white hammam, the trappings and tapestries, good lord.

Skip … their very, very fancy Tuğra Restaurant. I ate here, compliments of the hotel. Honest review? I don’t think it’s worth the money for the food. Lot of pomp and circumstance, long courses and delicate crystal. Our meat needed salt. It needed something. At this luxe level, you should feel overwhelmed with flavor. The views out across the Bosphorus are spectacular, so, I say go for a drink. Have a really special glass off the wine list. Then go have dinner somewhere cheap and cheerful and bursting with flavor.

Get a Guide, for the Kadıköy Market

Piles of sesame seeds, dehydrated peppers, carrots, cabbage, cumin and sumac, fish mongers calling out, someone butchering lamb, throwing it on a hot griddle with chilies and garlic, the sound of beers sloshing into pint glasses and octogenarians haggling over prices for paprika.

Kadıköy Market has been around since the 6th century, at first a bazaar, now an interconnected section of streets, flanked by various vendors, selling so many culinary delights, from fried mussels (they are famous here) to Turkish delights (famous everywhere).

There are two dishes I would absolutely try here. The first is the kuru patlican ve biber dolmasi, which is a type of dolma, made from small eggplants stuffed with beef, rice, sumac and red pepper paste. Heavenly, and available in many a lokantasi, which is the name for a traditional steamed lunch counter. You’ll find lokantasi counters all over Istanbul (see one below), but there’s a special one in Kadikoy. It’s called Yanyalı Fehmi Lokantası. Make time for some lunch here.

The second thing I would try is a little more daring but so flavorful, and so memorable. Kokorech is a lamb intestine sandwich. The meat (don’t think too hard, y’all) is wrapped around sweetbreads, then grilled slowly over a spit, hit with cumin, chilies and garlic and chopped into tiny crumbles. It’s served on a warm loaf of french bread. The flavor is intense, robust, and very dark-meat, in a way that any offal might be. There’s incredible balance of the chilies and cumin, cutting through the fat. Listen, this is not 101-level dining. This is a cultural moment, and it’s a late-night drinking food cornerstone in Istanbul. If you can’t handle pate, chicken livers, or blood sausage, then it might not be for you? If you’re an adventurous eater and a creative traveler, I’d say it’s a top bite in town.

To try it, I suggest Olimpiyat Kokoreç Kadıköy, which is where our amazing food-tour guide, Esin took us. Esin is incredible, and you can contact her here.

Finally, after eating your way through the market, make time to wander sweet little Moda. This neighborhood has all the charms like bookshops, coffee roasters, a nice wharf along the water and friendly locals.

Spend a Night in Balat

Go … if you’re solo traveling, done with the big main attractions and looking to chill.

Balat is a little neighborhood, about 15 minutes northwest by taxi from Sultanahmet. You could walk there in 30 from the top part of the old city. It’s definitely Instagram famous, for colorful houses, for cobblestones, boutiques facing the narrow streets, with adorable bakeries, dimly lit bars and tea houses. The population of 11,000 probably has mixed feelings on Balat’s discovery by tourist wielding iPhones, or, in my case, huge Fuji cameras. Such is the situation in so many darling enclaves around the world.

Stay : At the Petrion. Balat hides one of my favorite Istanbul secrets –– the very affordable Petrion Hotel, which is where I like to spend a quiet last night. The rooms are nothing to scream home about, but the prices might be. Beds are comfy, water pressure is good, lobby restaurant has delicious pastries and chewy, amazing Borek. If you’re American, think Holiday Inn Express level rooms for really lovely price points. You step out to buildings covered in jewel-tone paint and dripping morning glory vines, to Turkish music piping from a bar, not yet open, but being cleaned for the day’s service. Dreamy. (Approximately $50/night)