by Anna Selby

Half term is both a boon and a challenge. A wet week at the British seaside is not particularly enticing - and with the exception of the May half term, wet is probably what's on offer - while any serious sun is too far to travel for such a short holiday. It makes more sense to concentrate on a place that's interesting in itself with lots to see and do and not too far away - and what fits this bill best is undoubtedly a city.

In spite of the fact that short city breaks tend to be very good value, families rarely consider them. This is a pity because a foreign city can offer a real sense of adventure and total immersion in a fascinating and very different culture. Clearly, you need to do your research and choose your city carefully - some are going to appeal than others to a young imagination. So Christian (aged eight) and I decided to start with the exotic in our top cities test - with a visit to Istanbul.

Oriental carpets, onion-domed mosques, a sultan's palace and a grand bazaar - Istanbul plunges you straight into the Arabian Nights and Christian was amazed that such a place actually existed outside the film Aladdin. Both culturally and geographically, Istanbul is the place where east meets west and, from our hotel window, where we stood in the last outpost of Europe, we could look across the Bosphorus at the coastline of Asia.

As we were staying for just four days, I had made a definite plan of action to see all the unmissable sights. Like all such plans, though, it was swiftly jettisoned as the city carried us along at its own pace and enticed us to discover its secrets. We arrived at our hotel, the Arcadia, in the old Sultanahmet area of town in the late afternoon. Shown to our room, the porter flung back the curtain with a flourish to reveal the Blue Mosque almost close enough to touch and the pink domes of Haghia Sophia outlined against the sky. We plunged back out into the city where, grubby from our travels, I decided to go literally for cultural immersion - in the hamam.

The Cemberlitas Hamami in the old city is an historic Turkish bath, built in the 16th century and a baffling combination of a prosaic local swimming baths and the sensuality of the east. You undress, wrap yourself in a stripy sheet, put on slippers and make your way into the hot room. There an extraordinary sight awaits you. On a vast heated marble dais, sprawled on their sheets, are twenty or so naked women of all shapes and sizes (there is strict segregation of the sexes - though Christian was allowed in with me on the grounds of youth!). The heat is so overpowering that your muscles - and embarassment - melt away and by the time it's your turn to be massaged you are already relaxed. The massage itself begins only after you've been sweating out impurities for around half an hour and it's a vigorous and invigorating experience, which includes lots of soap, having your hair washed and a good scrub with a loofah mitt!

In spite of the extraordinary architecture, this is no chic spa. The masseuses are naked, too, except for a uniform of black pants and continually drink and splash themselves with water to cool down. Meanwhile, back on the slab, everyone chats and steams and you can't help but wonder if life in the harem was like this.

Clean but hungry, we find our way to the nearest restaurant, where we sit at a low table on carpets and cushions on the floor and eat Turkish pancakes and kebabs and try delicious apple tea. It's not just the seating arrangements that highlight the cultural differences. At the evening call of the muezzin for the faithful to pray, everything stops for a quarter of an hour. Outside, we buy a tiny purple and gold spinning top from two children no older than Christian. 'But where's their mummy?' asks Christian, anxious that they are out alone after dark. Back in the hotel, I open a drawer in our room and find a copy of the Koran instead of Gideon's Bible and we look out at the minarets of the Blue Mosque illuminated against the night sky.

Istanbul is only the latest in a series of names. The city was founded as Byzantium in 660BC by Byzas the Greek and became part of the Roman empire 500 years later. The Emperor Constantine renamed it Constantinople in AD330, making it the capital of the eastern Christian empire. Haghia Sophia was built in the sixth century and remained the greatest church in Christendom for a thousand years. Its final service took place on 28 May 1453, the day before Mehmet the Conqueror led the Turks into the city, renaming it Istanbul and making it the capital of the Ottoman empire for the next 500 years.

All of these empires left their mark. The Roman hippodrome was where the citizens watched the chariot racing and set up an obelisk imported from Egypt and made in the 16th century BC. Haghia Sophia - the dome is 100ft across and 180ft high - was the engineering marvel of the early Christian empire. Most of the original decoration has disappeared but there are a few remnants of the glowing golden mosaics that would have once covered the interior, magically lit by flickering candlelight. The Blue Mosque was built at the beginning of the 17th century to rival the splendours of Haghia Sophia and is named for the 20,000 turqoise tiles that decorate its walls and columns. There are yet more columns in the underground palace of a cistern built 1500 years ago to supply early Constantinople with fresh water. Low lights pick out the water, the sound of Vivaldi echoes through its cavernous interior and one column grants wishes - if you are brave enough to put your hand inside it.

And then, of course, there's the Topkapi Palace itself, home of the sultans and their courts and a place heaped in equal measure with treasure and gruesome stories. We boggled our way round rooms filled with evil looking weapons, jewel-encrusted golden thrones and precious stones - there's one room dedicated just to emeralds, some as big as a hand. One section contains the relics of the Prophet - his mantle, his swords, even his beard and his footprint. There are shady gardens, fountain courtyards and the best views - naturally - in Istanbul. Best of all is the harem - an interesting concept for an eight-year-old, particularly when the guide starts to explain about the intrigues, the poisoned turkish delight and the black slaves brought as eunuchs?

It's not just the history and architecture of Istanbul that inspire our sense of wonder - there is also the strange world of eastern commerce. The Grand Bazaar was built in 1755, the world's largest covered bazaar with around 4,000 shops. Christian's eyes grew round at the glistening brass and copper, silken carpets and sparkling jewellery. The fascination was mutual, small blond boys being in short supply around here. People stroked his hair, held his face, even kissed him with cries of 'Beautiful boy' which, after a period of acute embarassment, Christian decided was just the way it was here. But his favourite placs were the carpet shops, where he was enticed in with the patter - 'just come and look', 'special price for you', 'you're my first customer today' and even 'please buy it's my birthday'. The carpet sellers unrolled their rugs with a flourish or even twirled them in the air to show how they caught the light. Christian continually dragged me into carpet shops which he regarded as a brilliant entertainment. (Yes, I did buy one - guess whose room it's in?) There was one shop in the bazaar that horrified even Christian. It was selling knives and pistols. 'But they're illegal!' he said. 'No, no,' replied the vendor proffering a jewel-encrusted but nevertheless lethal-looking dagger, 'very nice for children.'

Anna and Christian travelled with Bridge Travel, staying at the 4-star Arkadia Hotel in Istanbul. Sample package price: 3 nights (5 January-15 March) at Arkadia Hotel from £426 per adult, £391 for children aged 2-11 sharing their parents' room, including scheduled flights from Heathrow or Stansted. 3 nights at the 2-star Ferhat Hotel from £404 per adult, £369 per child.

For more information please call Bridge Travel on 0870 727 5917