Istanbul Railway Museum — Attraction in Fatih

Located on the tip of the Historic Peninsula east of Eminönü and northwest of Gülhane Park and Topkapı Palace lies the Sirkeci Terminal Station. Whether you take a stroll downhill from Sultanahmet or uphill from the Spice Bazaar, you can follow the tramline to easily find it.

Built to connect Europe and Istanbul, German architect and engineer August Jachmund was commissioned by Sultan Abdülhamit II for its construction between 1888-1890. Since 2013 the lines were suspended for the creation of the new Marmaray commuter rail line, traveling under the Bosphorus connecting Europe to Asia. So whether you take the Marmary to the Sirkeci stop, eat at the Orient Express restaurant (pictured below) or purely visit the station that once inspired Agatha Christie’s novel ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ – it’s a great spot along the way to see some of Istanbul’s rich...

A really nice way to spend the afternoon. Free to enter. I’m not even a train person and I really loved learning about the history of trains both in Europe and in Turkey. They have an audio guide you can download onto your phone and it was very good. I stayed there for an hour listening to the whole thing. This station is at the end of the Orient Express so any Agatha Christie fans will enjoy learning more about its history. They even have an old train right in the front your kids can play on. Afterwards I recommend visiting the Orient Express cafe and grabbing a...

It is located on the territory of the station, in the old building, where the Orient Express departed from. A railroad enthusiast can spend an hour and a half here, while mere mortals can do it in 15-20 minutes. Entrance to the museum is on the first platform, opposite the yellow automated lockers. Admission is free. Exposition is a single room with random things somewhat related the the railway. But it is worth going in, moreover the adjoining door is the waiting room for the...