Sirkeci Station was built in 1890 as the eastern terminus of the Orient Express, and the building has changed less than the journey it once served. The main hall keeps its stained glass, its clock and its long wooden benches; trains no longer arrive from Paris, but the platforms are still in use for suburban services.

There is a small railway museum inside, free to enter, with timetables, uniforms and station equipment from the Ottoman period. The station restaurant on the platform side has been operating since the 1890s.
It takes twenty minutes to see and costs nothing. From Hotel Sultania it is a walk of five or six minutes down towards the water.