any recommendations/suggestions?

Perhaps you could be a little more expansive about what you're looking for? Budget? Interests?
Also, I would suggest you try doing a search. There are multiple threads in this forum about what to do in Istanbul.
After you've done that, perhaps you might then have a more specific question(s) that folks could help you with.
Without doing a search and just scrolling through the first two pages of this forum, I counted six threads relating to Istanbul and/or Turkey.

thanks. Typically search, but recently noticed that I have to have 180 posts to access certain parts of the site even though I've been a member since 2005. So I thought I'd just post. I'm flying LHR-IST on a Friday AM. I arrive around 1PM and depart Monday so I'll have two full days. Pretty much opened for anything. Traveling with one co-worker and we tend to like an adventure. Good food. I'll likely be back with my wife at some point so I want to do thing I wouldn't likely do on that trip.

Your number of posts has nothing to do with your ability to do a search in a forum. If you scroll down a few threads, you'd find http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/europ...-istanbul.html. Also http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/europ...kish-bath.html

thanks

This made me laugh. How is anyone here supposed to know what you would/wouldn't do with your wife? Are you saying your wife doesn't like adventure or good food? If so, too bad for her...and maybe too bad for you for having to deal with that.

haha. My wife is actually very adventurous. I suppose I meant I was looking for recommendations outside of the normal guidebook recommendations (Blue Mosque) since I'll likely be back.

You might find inspiration here:

3 Perfect Days in Istanbul - from UA's Hemisphere Magazine, published this month

Buy her a present at Gonul Paksoy

Explore the ferry system, then it will be easier the second time around.

Browse the Grand Bazaar: the smaller bazaar near the Blue Mosque is much nicer though.

Dinner at Meze by Lemon Tree

Rustem Pasha mosque near the Spice Bazaar. Worth many visits.

Good advice from mmack there. A trip on an ordinary commuter ferry is a great way of seeing Istanbul and the Bosphorus. Who cares if you do it on this visit and do it again with your wife! The busiest ferry terminal is probably Emin�n�; explore some of the routes and go on a trip up the Bosphorus. There are some delightful restaurants along the waterfront on the European side of the Bosphorus, at places like Ortak�y, Sarıyer and Bebek; stop off an explore some of these suburbs.

The R�stem Pasha mosque, which is up the hill from the wharf at Emin�n�, has some of the most exquisite İznik tilework you'll ever see. It is a little hard to find, but believe me it's worth it. So you could spend an interesting half-hour or so finding it on this visit and then be able to take Mrs Marzomarz straight there when she comes along next time. As I say, it warrants a second visit.

St Saviour in Chora, just outside the old walls of Constantinople, is worth visiting for a different type of artwork and is a stunning example of a Byzantine church, still extant.

If you're ever planning a trip in the tulip season, try the Emirgan Park at Sarıyer for the most fantastic display of the flowers. The Tulip Festival is held in April every year. And the views over the Bosphorus are pretty good too. Nearby is the Sakıp Sabancı Museum, which hosts some interesting touring art exhibitions.

Just a few ideas...

I would recommend restauarnt Bes Kat when you're there with your wife. the food is frankly only so-so but the views and the ambiance more than compensate...

I am at the IST Hilton right now. Blue Mosque is worth the trip. You are given a disposable plastic bag to carry your shoes around. The Hagia Sophia Museum is more of a showcase of the architecture rather than artifacts. 25 TL for that tour. Weather is great, bring good walking shoes. Buy a transit pass "istanbulkart" from a kiosk (look for one advertising "AKBIL") see http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/g...anbulkart.html for info if you plan to get around a lot on mass transit (it's clean and quick). Best exchange rate I've seen is at the Grand Bazaar 179.2 for US.

The Hilton is near the Hyatt, Intercontinental and Ritz-Carlton (I can see the last two from my window), but all these hotels are in a business / residential district.

Have fun!
-outoftown

For a lot of ideas, check Tom Brosnahan's excellent Turkey Travel Planner website, lots of free and good information. (Tom wrote the original Lonely Planet guides to Turkey - 1st - 7th edition, as well as Frommer's, served there as a member of the US Peace Corps, etc.)

We eschew the tours up the Bosphorus and laze up on the Şehir Hatları traditional big ferryboats and maybe go to Anadolu Kavağı, northernmost town on the Asian side, with a ruined castle with lovely Bosphorus and Black Sea views, lunch at a seafood restaurant, or maybe visit Sariyer, lunch and visit the Sadberk Hanım Museum just south (Sadberk Hanim Museum website).

It's more costly than in the early days when we did it, but we still enjoy, meet nice Turkish people (some families will want to share tea and simit bread. Mmm!)

Of course, there's tons to do in the old quarter, ferry to �sk�dar for lunch, etc. (This slightly naughty song about a businesswoman taking her male secretary to �sk�dar makes good listening whilst you think of taking the ferry across... Though American singer Eartha Kitt sang it with an interesting approach and here. LOL!)