We found Rick Steves' book on Istanbul useful to organize our stay.

Have you thought about the Grand Bazaar? There are more than 4,000 shops, with about half of them (my experience) selling rugs.

Take a cruise on the Bosphorus, visit the Egyptian Spice Market.

There are tons of things to do.

> Will do a full day tour on Sunday seeing the main tourist sites, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Hippodrome Topkapi.

While it depends on your preferred travel pace, that seems to me a LOT to try to see in one day.

Have you consulted guide books to see which sites most interest you?

Hi valerieg, I am in Istanbul at the same time. Please be advised that Monday the 29th is a national holiday. I think most things are open but be prepared to go with the flow There will be crowds everywhere from what I understand.

Discover the Bosphorus with ring ferry or visit Ortakoy square if weather decent.

Spend afternoon and evening at upscale Nisantasi/Tesvikiye area, people watching, at cafes, walking.

Discover side streets of istiklal the junk and antique shops at Cukurcuma, interesting shops like arkeopera at galatasaray. the churches, neve shalom synagogue, the bohemian area of Cihangir.

Discover the totally middle-middle class neighborhood of Besiktas with its shopping streets, fast food and small restaurants. (see my review on Trip Advisor) Take a ferry across to Uskudar or to Kadikoy on the Asian side and do a similar walk there to compare the people the shops etc in the different districts with Besiktas and possibly the historic area you would have visited the day before and write an interesting sociological article on that.

Istanbul shouts, "Vive la difference" not only in relation to gender. Life styles, architecture,shops and shop windows, physical characteristics, values, colors, clothes, make-up styles, strides, glances, stares, hand bags, all have many differences.