Ways to Love Istanbul in the Winter.

From November to March Istanbul is grey, windy and occasionally snowy; but it is also a city without queues, cheaper and more like itself. The secret of a winter visit is to order the indoor places well and make short, well-chosen excursions outside in between. Museums are at their best in winter. Seeing the Treasury at Topkapı without crowds, or standing in thought before the Alexander Sarcophagus at the Archaeology Museums, is only possible in the winter months. The big exhibitions at Istanbul Modern, the Pera Museum and the Sakıp Sabancı Museum usually fall in the winter season; planning three museums in one day rescues a rainy Tuesday. The hamam makes sense in winter. Historic baths such as Çemberlitaş and Kılıç Ali Paşa, both built by Sinan, remind you that coming in from the cold to lie on warm marble has been a pleasure for four hundred years. Book ahead for the scrub and foam massage; a session lasts ninety minutes, so keep the plan afterwards light. The bazaars are covered and heated. The Grand Bazaar, the Spice Bazaar and the hans between them can be wandered for hours without getting wet on rainy days; the teahouses in the han courtyards, small rooms heated by stoves, are winter's true delight. Beyoğlu's arcades — Çiçek Pasajı, Hazzopulo, Atlas — do the same job on the Beyoğlu side. Hot drinks are winter's street food. Sahlep, hot milk thickened with orchid root and dusted with cinnamon, replaces the simit in winter and is sold from carts. Boza, a thick drink of fermented millet, is hawked in the streets in the evenings; the historic boza shop in Vefa has been open since 1876. Roast chestnuts and grilled corn call from tram stops with their smell. A bowl of tripe or lentil soup at midnight in Beyoğlu is still the best way to warm up. If you go outside, choose the moment. When snow falls, the courtyard of Süleymaniye, Gülhane Park and the streets of Balat look entirely different, and snow usually lasts a day or two in Istanbul; go at once. Ferries run in winter too and their cabins are heated; a round trip to Kadıköy can be the finest half hour even in rain. Ferry services may be cancelled on days of southerly wind on the Bosphorus, so check. In winter darkness falls at 17:00 and museums close between 17:00 and 18:00; start early. The only crowded places in winter are the jewellers' street of the Grand Bazaar and İstiklal before New Year. Everywhere else is yours.