A day and a night in Istanbul???

Top 3: Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace.

Lunch at Pandelli's. Up the spiral stairs and you are over the Spice Market. Great food.

Can't advise on restaurant/bar/club. I don't won't to be found dead from some Turkish con artist.

No so much quirky, as fantastic...the Cistern, just across the street from Hagia Sophia.

Yes, I would have a bath, although I would find one someplace that was authentic. If they are co-ed baths, they aren't true Turkish baths.

• topkapi palace, hagia sophia and blue mosque
  -lunch @ konyali restaurant within topkapi palace / great view
  -turkish bath @ cemberlitas hamami / very relaxing
  -on mondat night you can try reina or sortie on ortakoy coast / both restaurants are by Bosphorus but a little bit expensive but make sure that it is worth it
  -you can take a half day bosphorus tour

a Day and a night in Istanbul!
it is e bit short in time - the city is as big and wonderfull you would need a livetime to see the most part.
a wonderfull place is also eyüp area at the end of the golden horn!

sincerly
vincent

my favourite restaurant in istanbul is 360 - as its name suggests, it has 360 views of istanbul, and is beautiful - the food's pretty good too! and it is in the heart of Beyoglu where you have a million bars to choose from for after dinner partying - bit like the Istanbul equivalent of the west end of London.
Must do sights as listed above are aya sofia, blue mosque and yerebatan sarayi which are conveniently all within spitting distance of eachother and can be covered in one afternoon. Another nice thing to do is to take the boat (from eminonu) and cruise up to the top of the bosporus, which takes about four hours -a day trip if you do there and back.

My pick for the top three sights would be Aya Sofya, Top Kapi Palace, and an imperial mosque. Everyone says the Blue Mosque, but if it's high season (May-September) the Blue Mosque is so packed with tourists the experience is mostly ruined. Try the New Mosque (Yeni Camii) or the Suleymaniye. Both are just as nice and only get about 10% of the visitors. The Basilica Cistern (across the street from Aya Sofya) is really cool as well.

Konyali at Top Kapi is a very nice venue for lunch with spectacular Bosphorus views.

For the evening, head to Taksim and place called Nevizade Sokak. Skip the places with the touts and pick and good bar (not restaurant/bar) and either sit outside and people watch (it'll be busy even on a Monday) or go up to the terrace and get some nice city views with your drinks. Reina and other Ortakoy clubs are very expensive, so don't go there unless you have plan on dropping some serious cash.

A further tip. Avoid anyone who stops you in Sultanahmet with an offer to sell you carpets. They may tell you the Aya Sofya or Blue Mosque is closed when it isn't or offer to guide you through only to give you a five-minute tour followed by a high pressure sales pitch for some rugs. And remember, anything you can buy on the street is as cheap (or cheaper) in a store. And if a shoe-shine boy drops his brush in front of you don't pick it up unless you want your shoes shined (and they will offer to shine them even if you're wearing flip flops).

Second to #5 re: the Blue Mosque - spent most of our time getting out of people's way or waiting for people to get out of ours. New Mosque and Suleymaniye were far more atmospheric and agreed on about 10% of the crowds. And bang on on #6 as well - they wanted to shine my flip flops until I told them that I won't pay them. Also, just come out and say you're not buying any carpets today - this is the biggest hassle in an otherwise wonderful city IMO.

Agree about the Blue Mosque. I hardly saw any of it because this guy kept following me around trying to pick me up. He claimed he was working in the US as a doctor. Anyway, he was so persistent and annoying that a tour guide shoved him away - and then I had to get rid of the tour guide.