Turkish Airlines recently started flying to Istanbul from Malta. Prices vary but you can find return flights that are comfortably under €200.

It’s perfectly possible to have a budget three-night stay while still experiencing the highlights of this enigmatic city, where east and west fuse over the River Bosphorus. Here’s how to do it.

Day one

Your afternoon flight will deliver you into Istanbul in the late afternoon. Take the airport bus (€3.50) to Taksim Square and a few hundred metres away, you’ll find the Buyuk Londra Hotel. It was built in 1892 for passengers arriving on the Orient Express and has housed the likes of Ernest Hemingway. The bar is still decked out in finely carved wood and upholstered chairs. Yes, the grandeur is faded (nowhere more so than in the cheapest rooms) but you can overlook the threadbare carpets for the atmosphere and price. Mesrutiyet Caddesi, Beyoglu, 53, +90 212 245 0670. Rooms from €50 B&B.

For dinner, explore the area around Taksim. Istikal Caddesi has innumerable side streets crowded with restaurants where you can get a meal for as little as €8 including drinks.

Day two

You need to cram the major sights in today, so jump on bus 83 (50c, buy your ticket in advance from the booth or a newsstand) from Taksim Square to the Topkapi Palace in the Sultanahmet area of the Old City (entrance €10). A visit to the Harem is an extra €6, but it’s worth it for a glimpse into the exotic fantasy at the heart of the Ottoman Empire.

Refuel at Sefa (Nuruosmaniye Caddesi 11a, Cagoglu), a traditional working man’s restaurant in an otherwise treacherous sea of tourist traps. Prices start at €3 for a portion (and you’ll want plenty of them), with kepabs from €7.50.

In the afternoon, see the Hagia Sophia (€10) which has been a church, a mosque and is now a museum. Don’t miss the Blue Mosque, so called for its 17 th-century blue, Iznik tiles – it’s free. Treat yourself to a glass of apple tea in between for 50c.

If you still have the time and/or energy, try to fit in a visit to the Basilica Cistern (€4). This underground reservoir stored water for the Great Palace and was built in 532; seek out the upside down heads of Medusa. Last up, the Grand Bazaar is free in theory but a purchase likely to be irresistible. Prepare for a degree of hard sell.

For dinner, head to Giritli in the Sultanahmet for a fixed price menu which includes all the wine, beer or raki you can drink. You’ll be brought around a dozen starters to try and the seafood is perfection (Keresteci Hakkı Sokak, 212 458 2270, €40)

Day three

Istanbul links Europe and Asia not just for humans but for birds too. Hundreds and thousands of raptors, storks and other birds migrate past the city every year in spring and autumn with September being one of the best months. The place to watch this spectacle from is Çamlıca Hill. Daily counts take place here so if you wander about with a pair of binos looking skyward, a member of the birding group will probably collar you to come and sit with them. The company is fun, they’ll help you to figure out what you are looking at, and as an added bonus, it’s free.

If birds don’t float your boat, swap the hill for a boat trip on the Bosphorus. (This should still be on the list for bird lovers as the river is a flyway for yelkouan shearwaters among other species.) Take a tram to the Eminönü docks (60c), board the normal ferry and cross from Europe to Asia.

The full cruise costs €10 and glides past summer palaces, classic mansions and timeless cityscapes. You have to disembark in Anadolu Kava, the last harbour before the river opens to the Black Sea, so take the opportunity to visit the Bacchus Wine House (left of the pier and up the hill) for an excellent fish lunch (€10 including wine). You’ll also have time to visit the fortress there for views of the rocks that Jason and the Argonauts successfully navigated while seeking the Golden Fleece.

Pre-dinner, enjoy a pipe in one of the nargile cafes under the Galata Bridge. Apple is the most requested flavour. The smoke is filtered through water and is so smooth that even non-smokers can partake (€4). Drink a traditional Turkish coffee while you’re at it (€2).

You can then eat either under the bridge itself or on one of the brightly lit fishing boats moored on the Eminönü side. Prices vary widely but the food is generally well done; a fish sandwich will set you back about €3. The views and people watching opportunities are the real draw anyway.

Day four

Take the bus back to the airport for your morning flight.

Is it safe?

Turkey dominated the news headlines several weeks ago when large anti-Government protests across the country were brutally broken up by police. Central Istanbul was the focal point of the demonstrations, particularly Taksim Square and the Besiktas area.

Protests continue to take place across Turkish cities, including Istanbul, but they are “broadly peaceful and sporadic,” according to the UK Foreign Office. Britain warns its citizens to avoid all demonstrations and to leave the area if one develops.