Istanbul for The Romantics: a Friday-to-Monday weekend

Friday prayers are long over by now, so the courtyard is open; Sinan's dome and the whole Golden Horn spread out below, with the call to prayer drifting up.

Time the climb for sunset, when the tower's balcony turns copper and the Old City skyline sharpens into spires; go up before the queue builds.

A small seasonal Aegean menu, cooked with more care than the room's modesty suggests; order the daily meze plate and let the waiter choose the wine.

Walk up the ramp to the gallery for the mosaics and the light through the dome's windows; the ticket is a late start's reward, since the early crowds thin by lunchtime.

A Sinan-designed bathhouse from 1584 under a marble dome; men and women bathe in separate halls, so meet again afterwards for tea.

The splurge: a tasting menu of Anatolian ingredients on a rooftop, with the whole Golden Horn lit below; ask for a window table when booking.

Take the ferry from Eminönü to Kadıköy and walk the quiet cliff-top promenade of Moda, with the Princes' Islands faint on the horizon.

Regional Anatolian dishes laid out in steam trays, point and taste; the stuffed vine leaves and the lamb with quince are the ones couples argue over.

A small boat runs from the Üsküdar shore to the tower on its rock; arrive for the low sun, and the café terrace faces the old city.

Fish chosen from the counter and grilled plainly, in a wooden house and a cobbled back street; the garden courtyard is the table to ask for.

A forest of illuminated Byzantine columns standing in shallow water; go at opening to hear your own footsteps, and look for the Medusa heads at the far end.

A sixteenth-century Sinan courtyard of crafts studios where you can take tea under the arcades, a hush two minutes from the tourist crowd.

Baklava and Turkish delight in a shop that has sold both since 1864; sit upstairs with a Turkish coffee before the trip to the airport.