Gulhane Park, Istanbul

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Close to the Hagia Sophia, the Istanbul Archeology Museum, the Blue Mosque, and the Underground Cistern, Gulhane Park is the oldest and largest park in Istanbul and is the perfect place for a sight-seeing pause with its glorious view over the Bosporus.

Originally the gardens of the next door Topkapi Palace, which was built in 1459 (and housed four centuries of sultans until the end of the Ottoman Empire in 1923), the Park was opened to the public in 1912.

Also remarkable are the trees, which date back to the 18th century. Many are completely hollow as a result of a fungus but remain standing. In the second courtyard, a fig tree has grown in the hollow of another tree and grafted with it.

Look out for one of the oldest monuments in Istanbul, the Column of the Goths which dates back to the 3rd century CE.

Stroll down to the Lake or the Tea Garden, where you can enjoy a cup of Turkish tea or pop into The Museum of The History of Science and Technology in the former stables of the Topkapı Palace. It has 140 examples of inventions spanning the 8th to the 16th centuries, including almost everything to do with anything, from astronomy to warfare.