24 hour layover

Hi Shane, if you are planning to explore Istanbul, I suggest you do it on Wed evening. It’s a fascinating place and your family might enjoy an evening boat ride on the Bosphorus to see the city illuminated. I don’t have a specific recommendation, but it would be nice if you could find a way to do a short bus/shuttle ride around the city then do a 1 hour boat ride. Looks like the Motto hotel is located very close to the Blue Mosque and other sites. Enjoy your trip!

Hi Shane, it looks like you have done your homework. With the length of your layover, I would probably make the effort to go to Sultanahment.

I agree with Donna that a sunset Bosphorus cruise would be a good idea. Also, the Basilica Cistern, which I imagine the kids would enjoy, is open until 6:30 pm. I don't know how late the Blue Mosque is open. If there are no lines at the Blue Mosque, it would be worth it to take a peek inside.

Sultanahmet --- the exterior of the Blue mosque, in particular -- is quite beautiful in the early morning. You could take a quick stroll over there before breakfast. (I can't help but recall an early (7 a.m?) picture I took of the Blue Mosque during one of those overnight layovers. https://mariematthews.smugmug.com/Turkey/i-kcqKvbD/A )

I think 9:30 AM is too late to leave a Sultanahmet hotel for a 1:25 PM flight. I believe my airline (Turkish Air) recommended I be at the airport 4 hours before the flight. That was last October. Definitely do some Googling to see what the arrival-time expectation is. As you know, Istanbul traffic is really bad; it's difficult to say what is a safe amount of time to allow for the trip out to the airport.

Another possibility is to check into Yotel upon arrival and then make your way into Istanbul via taxi or guide. See some sights, have some dinner, then return to the Yotel to spend the night. In the morning, it’ll be an easy return to the airport for your flight.

Thanks for all the advice!

I'm leaning towards going for it and just take my chances and explore Istanbul. Never know when we'll be back.

Regarding departure check-in, I'm taking Singapore Airlines back and I believe counters don't open until 3 hours before departure. So, I should target to get to the airport by 10:25am. How bad is the jam from Sultanahmet to airport on weekdays? An hour should suffice right?

I looked into staying at Yotel at the airport and found that the prices are super inflated. With that amount of money, I can book airport transfers back and forth with a stay in a hotel in Sultanahmet, and after all that have quite a substantial amount of change left to spare. 2 rooms at Yotel for the 5 of us cost roughly €525 a night.

I think you are pretty good with a hotel departure at 9:30. Turkish currently recommends being at the airport three hours before departure, and I have never had an issue following their arrival advice. Please keep in mind that there is an extra security line at the gate for flights departing for the US. They will examine the contents of all your bags, and give you a body pat down. Don't lollygag around the airport thinking that you can just walk up to the gate at the last minute. An hour is a good ballpark guess for the travel time from the hotel. Your hotel may be able to give more accurate advice.

I have stayed at the Yotel a couple of times. It was a godsend for me when the Turkish border shut a few hours before we arrived during the March 2020 Covid shutdown. I agree that the prices are high. It's nice enough, but I would definitely pick an overnight in Sultanahmet for your situation.

I understand that it'll take roughly 90+ minutes from the time we
touchdown to get to the hotel

Unlikely a 90 minute time frame to get to your hotel. Even if your flight is on time, IST is an enormous airport. Your flight could take 20-30 minutes just to taxi to the terminal (mine did). Then deplaning process (not always fast) and a likely pretty decent walk to immigration (I timed mine - 15 minutes from plane to immigration). Once you get through that, then another wait if you have checked luggage. Then meeting a driver or taking transport to town. I'd plan at least an hour midday driving from airport to Sultanahmet area, traffic is a nightmare and even if you get lucky on the freeway, the historic area is simply a traffic jam all the time. Since you have kids to wrangle as well, I'd say two hours from landing to hotel is an optimistic estimate.

How bad is the jam from Sultanahmet to airport on weekdays? An hour
should suffice right?

Traffic in Istanbul is a nightmare kind of all the time. An hour might be enough, and it might not.

Another option would be to find a different airport area hotel than the Yotel, take a taxi there then hire a driver/guide to take you to and from city center on your arrival late afternoon. There have been some recent questions in the forum about long-ish layovers, guides, and airport hotels, there may be some helpful info there: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/turkey