One day in Istanbul: an itinerary that survives contact with the traffic

Be at Hagia Sophia when it opens. The queues at eleven are not the queues at half past eight, and the light in the Blue Mosque courtyard is better before the coaches arrive.

Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the Hippodrome are all within a few minutes' walk of each other. Topkapı Palace deserves two hours on its own — if your day is short, choose between Topkapı and the Basilica Cistern rather than rushing both.

Eat in Sultanahmet or drive ten minutes to Eminönü for fish by the water. This is the hinge of the day: the drive from the Old City to the Bosphorus shore is short in the late morning and long after four o'clock.

Take the European shore north through Ortaköy, Bebek and Emirgan. Stop at Ortaköy for the mosque against the bridge, at Bebek for coffee by the water, and at a viewpoint above Emirgan if the day is clear.

If you have energy left, cross to the Asian side for Çengelköy and Kuzguncuk. If you do not, turn back — an unhurried afternoon on one shore beats a rushed one on two.

Aim to be heading back towards your hotel by six. The alternative is watching the second half of your day pass through a car window on the coastal road.

The Grand Bazaar closes in the early evening and is the natural casualty if the day runs long. It is also the stop that survives being cut to forty minutes.

Booking each leg separately means waiting for a new vehicle at each stop, in a city where hailing one at the wrong moment can take twenty minutes. Hourly hire keeps the same car and chauffeur with you, luggage and shopping locked inside, and turns the itinerary into a suggestion rather than a schedule.