Istanbul is the largest and one of the most impressive cities in Turkey. Although it is not the capital, some of the fundamentals of Turkey's culture and history originate here. It was listed as the European Capital of Culture in 2010 and nearly 12 million tourists came here in 2012. All major airlines fly to this Turkish city and direct flights to Istanbul are available from Manchester, Paris and Amsterdam. If you are looking for a direct Istanbul flight from London, you will benefit from using our online comparison tool. You will be able to compare the prices of several operators and find yourself a cheap flight to Istanbul from London. A flight to Istanbul will allow you to explore this historic and mesmerising city where the sights, sounds and other attractions here are vast in quantity. Renowned largely for its Ottoman and Byzantine influence, many of the buildings in this city reminisce the empires that have previously ruled including the Romans. Genoese influences remain too. This city is one of the region's artistic centres and both European and Middle Eastern artists have been coming here for over a century.