Exploring Istanbul in Spring: Weather, Packing Tips, and Must-See Attractions

SUMMARY: Spring is the perfect season to visit Istanbul. Learn about what to expect from the weather in each month of Spring, what to pack, and what unique things Istanbul has to offer in this mild and lovely time of year.

The world comes back to life in Spring.

After a few months of watching the winter rain from the window in my living room or a cozy cafe, I’m ready to venture out into milder weather and brighter sunshine.

By the time my birthday comes in mid-March, the days have gotten longer and buds are on the trees. The promise of Spring!

There are a few national holidays in Spring when schoolchildren perform on their school grounds.

On many 23 April National Sovereignty Day celebrations, I’ve felt sad for the kids who shiver in their short-sleeved costumes while they’re waiting for their turn on the stage.

On the other hand, some spring days are so hot that we need to pull out our summer clothes from storage!

In my 17 years here in Turkey, I’ve experienced the range of Spring weather and enjoyed lots of the food and activities that make the season special. In this article, we’ll cover what to expect from Spring weather, what to pack, and what to do in Istanbul in Spring.

Read on for expert tips to make the most of your time this season.

March in Istanbul

Turks love their sayings. There’s one about March that goes: “Mart kapıdan baktırır, kazma kürek yaktırır,” which means “March makes you look out your door and burn your rake and shovel.”

Huh?

Basically, this means that it’s still cold in March, and by this time in the cold season you’ve run out of fuel for your wood-burning stove, so you’ll even burn the wooden parts of your tools for heat.

Which is to say that, March can be cold!

Even with chiller temperatures, March is a great month to visit Istanbul because the tourist crowds haven’t yet descended upon the city. It’s easier to get around and there are shorter lines.

But you need to be ready for chillier weather (even though it’s warming up) and you might want to prefer some indoor activities. As my British friends say, there’s no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing!

things to do in March

March is a quieter month in Istanbul, but all the tourist attractions are open and eager for folks to come and explore.

Even though the weather is a brisk 50°F in March, it’s pleasant enough to have a walk outdoors and explore the city’s architecture and beauty.

Here are a few of the attractions that make Istanbul a world-class city, with an eye toward indoor activities to escape chillier weather.

Explore the Hagia Sophia

Did you know that a full Statue of Liberty (without its base) can fit under the dome of the Hagia Sophia?

As a tourist in 2024, you’re no longer able to explore the Hagia Sophia (officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque) from the ground floor, as it has recently been turned into a mosque, and the ground floor is for Muslim worshipers only.

However, the Hagia Sophia has a second floor that’s open as a museum. It’s worth exploring this 1500-year-old masterpiece of art history and architecture, even if you’re not able to get the full effect from the ground floor.

When I visited the museum in July 2024 with some friends from the States, I was a bit too animated (and loud) as I was explaining how the ancient Byzantine church became a mosque after the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453.

A security guard came over and reminded me that this was a working mosque (even on the second-floor museum area), and asked me to “Calm down, lady, please.”

My family loves to remind me of this story when my volume goes high!

There is also a new Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum, just down the square from the mosque, that showcases artifacts from the 1500+ years of this building’s history.

You can purchase combination tickets for the mosque and the History and Experience museum. If you only have time to visit one building, I’d suggest you visit the 1500-year-old edifice and save the other museum for a second visit.

Ramadan, March 2025

Each year, the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan (or Ramazan in Turkish) moves 11 days earlier in the year.

The first time I came to Turkey for a family vacation in 2003, Ramadan was in the month of November.

I can remember seeing dinner trays of plastic-wrapped food being delivered just before the evening ezan (call to prayer) to shopkeepers in the Grand Bazaar at the time of fast-breaking.

Once the call to prayer went off, it was a sight to see everyone starting their meal simultaneously! There’s a real sense of Muslim community during this month.

These days, Ramadan falls in the Spring months. In 2025, the fasting month will be from about February 28 to March 29.

During this time, tourists are not expected to join the Muslim fast, and almost all restaurants will be open during daytime hours. However, restaurants make most of their money during the fasting month at iftar (the fast-breaking meal), and will have special menus in this season.

During Ramadan, the city comes to life after sundown, with families going out for dessert or a stroll, and special night prayer times at mosques around the city.

Lots of opportunities for evening people-watching!

If you visit Sultanahmet Square around sunset (approximately 7 p.m. in the month of March 2025), you’ll see many people gathered to break the fast together.

After Ramadan ends, there is a three-day holiday (Şeker Bayramı or Sugar Holiday). In 2025, the holiday will be from March 30-April 2. Some businesses might be closed or have different opening hours during this time.

Shop Till You Drop

Weekly outdoor markets (called “pazar”s) operate year-round regardless of weather, but there are also plenty of indoor spaces to get your shopping fix.

The most notable of these is the Grand Bazaar. Who wouldn’t want to explore the oldest mall in the world?!

The shopping area that would eventually be known as the Grand Bazaar was begun in 1455 by Mehmed the Conquerer, just a few years after the Ottoman Empire took over Constantinople.

The Ottoman emperor needed a way to bring in revenue to pay off his debts from his massive military spending. The answer? Make a mall and charge sales tax!

Over time, his idea caught on, and street after street got taken over into a massive mini-city of covered shops. Currently, there are over 4,000 shops covering 37,000 square yards (about 6 football fields’ worth of shops).

When we first came to Istanbul on vacation back in 2003, I was dazzled by all the different types of shops selling everything from carpets to leather jackets to tourist trinkets to gold.

Now, we have local friends who operate stalls in the Grand Bazaar or others who will shop there for a particular ceramic piece or wedding favors for their daughter’s big day.

On the other end of the shopping spectrum, Istanbul has many shiny, modern malls (both outdoor and indoor) with many local clothing brands. Historia Shopping and Life Center is one indoor mall that’s not too far from the touristy part of town.

The garment industry is alive and well in Turkey. The local brands Mavi, Koton, and LC Waikiki are a few of my favorites.

If you didn’t take my British friends’ advice and need a few extra layers against the March chill, check out a branch of these shops for some inexpensive and practical clothing!

Weather in Istanbul March

what to pack in March

If you’re visiting Istanbul in early March, bring a winter coat and thicker layers, especially for the mornings and evenings.

There is sunshine and things are milder, but there can be a definite nip in the air.

About half the days in March have at least a few hours of rain, so be prepared with a good raincoat or umbrella, and some water-resistant shoes in case you get caught in a sprinkle.

You won’t have much opportunity to wear short sleeves unless you generally run hot. I’d suggest layers like long-sleeved shirts and sweaters or hoodies.

If you’ll be visiting a mosque (including the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque), women should bring a scarf to cover their heads.

You can read more here about how you should dress when visiting Turkey.

April in Istanbul

April is one of the best months to visit Istanbul!

The weather is comfortable during the day and chillier in the morning and evening. The Bosphorus Straight sparkles in the sun. The trees are budding and tulips fill the city.

With some allergy medicine in hand, April is one of the mildest months to enjoy the best of the city.

Check out this post on how to navigate pharmacies in Turkey if you do need some Zyrtec or Claritin.

Notable April Events

In addition to the tried-and-true tourist attractions, April has a few different festivals and holidays to set it aside from the rest of the year.

The Tulip Festival is a riot of color in Istanbul’s parks and public spaces. More on that below, but April also has a few lesser-known events that are worth checking out.

IKSV 44th Istanbul Film Festival

You might have heard of Sundance or Cannes, but did you know that Istanbul has its own yearly film festival?

The IKSV (Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts) Istanbul Film Festival is held in April each year. For 2025, the 44th festival’s dates are April 11-22.

You can catch one of over 100 feature films and short films in theaters spanning the Beyoglu, Sisli, and Kadikoy neighborhoods of Istanbul.

Each of these neighborhoods has its own flair, points of interest, and yummy restaurants to try before or after the show.

The festival showcases films by experienced and young directors alike, from Turkey and around the world. Take a few hours during your visit to see the world from these filmmakers’ perspectives!

23 April National Sovereignty and Children’s Day

If you happen to be visiting Istanbul on April 23, you might see schoolchildren walking around in traditional Turkish dress or with matching t-shirts with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk on them.

When my girls were little, they were part of that crew! Elementary-aged children all over the country prepare all year to perform dances and read poems at the April 23 assemblies held on their school grounds.

They are celebrating that day in 1920, which was the opening of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (sort of like the Congress). The Turkish War of Independence was raging, and this was the first meeting of a new post-Ottoman government in Turkey.

Since 1927, this day has been celebrated as a Children’s Day as well. It’s an important day for the children of Turkey to understand their history.

My girls have performed traditional Turkish folk dances, contemporary moves to “Greased Lightening” in yellow dresses, Spanish dances with fans and big red skirts, and dances in camo to remind the crowd of the struggle that made Turkey independent.

Sometimes the dances are just fun, and sometimes they are deeply patriotic. If you can find a local elementary school on April 23, I’d encourage you to go and catch a performance or two.

Istanbul Tulip Festival

One of the best things about Istanbul in April is the Istanbul Tulip Festival. Each year from April 1-30, the city is full of tulips in a wide variety of colors and shapes. It’s breathtaking!

Even in 2020 when the city was locked down and parks were closed, I walked around the perimeter of Goztepe Park to take in the beauty of the many-colored tulips. It was healing for my soul at that time.

Each spring I make sure to visit at least one of the parks that have dazzling displays of different tulips: Emirgan Park or Khedive Palace in the northern part of the city, Sultanahmet Square or Gulhane Park in the historic peninsula, and Goztepe 60. Yil Park or Kucuk Camlica Park on the Asian side of the city.

Weather in Istanbul April

what to pack in April

With average highs of 61°F, April weather is generally mild in the day, and slightly chillier in the mornings and evenings.

Bring lots of layers to adjust for the variation in temperature. You might want to pack a few short-sleeved shirts alongside long sleeves and sweaters.

Some days can get pretty warm, and even I (who generally run cold) might be seen in a short-sleeved shirt in April.

There’s less of a need for a heavier winter coat, but a lighter down jacket and a few warm layers should be fine.

There is less rain than in March, but about a third of the days in April have at least a bit of rain. Good to have an umbrella or a waterproof layer.

May in Istanbul

The figs on this tree will be ripe in August, but in May they’re just starting to make their way into the world.

May in Istanbul is a lovely month, with warmer weather (but not sweltering like the summer). Occasionally we will have a colder spell in May, but generally, people put away their wood-burning room stoves and don’t look back.

Usually by May, our allergies subside and we can just enjoy the green of the world around us.

May’s Events of Note

May is a fabulous time to be outdoors and enjoy all the historical sites and cute neighborhoods of this city.

A Bosphorus cruise or even just a ferry ride across the water is particularly nice in this warmer month.

Istanbul also hosts some special events in May that are worth catching.

IKSV Istanbul Music Festival

The Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts is busy in the spring! In addition to hosting the film festival in March, they also host a music festival at the end of May and the beginning of June.

What’s particularly fun about this festival is the variety of venues and music styles that are highlighted.

You can catch an acapella concert in a park, a full orchestra concert at the Ataturk Cultural Center in Taksim, and many other things in between.

I even “participated” in the music festival one year by playing “Fur Elise” on a piano that was set up for the public to play on. There might have been some off-notes, but it was still fun to play.

19 May Commemoration of Ataturk, Youth and Sports Day

May 19, 1919, is the day that Turks consider the start of the Turkish War of Independence.

On that date, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and a band of revolutionaries traveled from Istanbul to Samsun on a boat called the Bandirma. Four years and many battles later, Turkey was a new and independent republic.

This day is celebrated by the youth of Turkey in performances, sporting events, and historical reenactments.

Pro tip: Since it’s a national holiday, the banks and government offices are closed.

Some elementary and middle schools will have assemblies with dances and poems, but generally high schoolers participate in sports events or are too busy preparing for national exams to look up from their books.

If you’d like to participate in a cultural event that day, ask around and a hospitable and proud Turk will show you the way.

Weather in Istanbul May

what to pack in May

With warmer days and slightly chilly nights, it’s good to pack lighter layers for the month of May.

I generally like having my light jacket or sweater for the mornings and evenings, but during the day I’m often in jeans and a T-shirt.

Occasionally there are colder spells, so it’s certainly worth bringing some sweaters or sweatshirts to keep warm. Toward the end of May, however, it starts to get quite warm and the sun starts flexing for its summer showing.

As always, having a spare scarf is a good idea for women who might want to visit a mosque.

Check out my list of travel essentials for women

Spring Food

Spring has some special culinary delights in Turkey.

As the earth comes out of its winter slumber, it starts to yield some early fruit that gets incorporated into local dishes.

The Promise of Spring Produce

My daughter just started college in the US, and she noted the other day that the vegetables in the dining hall are always the same.

In America, with food being shipped in from all over the world, you can find broccoli in the summer or strawberries in the winter without thinking about the fact the produce is out of season for the Northern Hemisphere.

We’ve lost much of the seasonality of produce in the US.

Turkey is an agricultural producer, and there is very little fruit or veg that’s imported here. That means that spring fruits like strawberries are a welcome change from the apples and oranges of the winter.

If you get to visit a weekly pazar (fruit and vegetable market), or just browse the shelves of a produce section in a local grocery store, you might see some spring fruit that’s not familiar to you.

In the photo above, unripe nectarines are being sold as a crunchy, sour, refreshing spring fruit. You’ll also see small green unripe plums and slightly fuzzy unripe almonds for sale in the Spring.

These unripe fruits are eaten as-is, or sometimes with a sprinkling of salt. They’re worth a try!

One other fun spring fruit is the light orange loquat (pronounced lo-kwat, also in the picture above). It’s a soft, sweet-tangy fruit with a thin skin, with three or four large brown seeds in the center.

You can eat it with the skin or peel the skin with your fingers and just enjoy the fleshy fruit (my preference). It’s worth a try if you’ve never had one before!

Restaurants Featuring Spring’s Offerings

Menus at kebab places tend to be the same regardless of the season, but there are a number of restaurants that take advantage of Spring’s unique bounty.

Here are three restaurants that are worth a visit in Spring.

Karakoy Lokantasi, Karakoy

Karakoy Lokantasi is a Michelin-recommended white tablecloth restaurant in the Karakoy neighborhood, serving authentic Ottoman-style Turkish food.

Among their 80 meze (small appetizers), their spring offerings include seasonal yummies like braised artichoke or Spring broad beans.

This is one of my foodie friend’s favorite places, and it does a great job taking advantage of Turkey’s agricultural cornucopia.

Kanaat Lokantasi, Uskudar

If you take a quick commuter ferry to the Asian side of the city, Kanaat Lokantasi is ready to receive you with open arms.

When you walk into the bustling restaurant, you’ll see cold mezes on the right, and then you can walk across the dining area to the left side of the restaurant where you can see the hot dishes.

You can also order straight from the menu at your table.

I recently took some friends from out of town to try some of Kanaat’s offerings. We ordered 5 or 6 half-portions of the cold mezes, including purslane, cranberry beans, and chard in yogurt sauce.

We also ordered a few hot dishes to share, including an interesting dish called Kadin Budu, or “Lady’s Thigh,” named for the shape of the fried meat patty. So many tasty things to try and share, and many of them are specific to the season.

Çiya Sofrası, Kadıköy

About 15 minutes down the Bosphorus from Uskudar is a lively neighborhood called Kadikoy.

Ciya Sofrasi is a staple in the area for both locals and visitors to the city. In the Spring, they offer some delicious dishes such as loquat kebabs (meatballs stuffed into the center of a loquat) and stew with green plums.

They have a meze bar when you first enter the restaurant, where you can pick what looks good to you and they will price your plate based on weight.

They have some unique greens from the southeastern part of the country and other favorites like hummus that aren’t always easy to find in every restaurant.

FAQs on Spring in Istanbul

Final Thoughts on Istanbul in Spring

Paris in Springtime, move over; Istanbul in Springtime is glorious and romantic.

Spring is an ideal time to visit this city. The city comes to life after the chill of winter. Tulips fill the city, history fills the air, and there are wonderful things to eat and experience.

With mild weather and occasional rainy days, light layers and an umbrella will be your best bet for fully enjoying all that the city has to offer. If it gets chilly or wet, you can the architecture of an ancient building, catch an independent film, or shop for some souvenirs.

What are you looking forward to enjoying most?

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