Istanbul is a city that spans great bodies of water, joining the continents of Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus. Although to most people "Old Istanbul" means the historic European peninsula with Topkapı Palace, Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and Byzantine Hippodrome, the first known settlement in this area was actually at Chalcedon (Kadıköy) on the Asian shore. Today the Asian districts of Istanbul, including Üsküdar (Scutari), Kadıköy and other districts along the eastern Sea of Marmara shore, are more than just residential suburbs.
Üsküdar
Beylerbeyi and Kadıköy
Go north from Üsküdar by bus or taxi to Beylerbeyi to visit the gem of an Ottoman palace of that name.
Go south from Üsküdar by bus, taxi or Marmaray and Metro to Kadıköy, a bustling suburb with active ferry docks, city bus station, and a Metro station. Wander through the market, just inland from the ferry docks and Metro station, and the Moda neighborhood, just a few minutes' stroll south, for its pleasant tea gardens offering wonderful views of Old Istanbul.
Marmara Sea
Farther southeast along the Sea of Marmara shore are some of Istanbul's nicest garden suburbs: Fenerbahçe, Suadiye and Bostancı, reachable by Metro, bus, or by fast seabus catamaran ferry from Kabataş or Yenikapı. The Princes Islands in the Sea of Marmara are also reachable from Bostancı, and from Pendik a car ferry sails to Yalova on the Marmara's southeastern shore.
—by Tom Brosnahan
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