The gateway to the Orient and the commercial hub of Turkey is also the country’s most spectacular city?a melting pot of Eastern and Western influences with a twist of the Islamic for good measure. Divided by the Bosphorus, the city features the busier and more vibrant western side, while the Asian quarters in the east are charmingly quaint. Head to the ‘Blue Mosque’ for the city’s most impressive architecture or take a river trip and tell your friends you straddled the eastern frontier of Europe, or should that be the western edge of Asia? Either way, this beautiful city has a perfect combination of both East and West.