Sunset Spots
Golden hour in Istanbul — the best rooftops, waterfront promenades and hilltop terraces to watch the sun set over the city.
Stops (8)
Nevizade Street
The most famous meyhane strip in Istanbul — a narrow lane off Çiçek Pasajı where every building is a restaurant or bar. On Friday and Saturday nights the street fills with drinkers and diners, waiters
Buyukada (Princes' Islands)
The largest of the Princes' Islands, where no cars are allowed and horse-drawn carriages (fayton) clatter along pine-scented lanes past ornate Victorian-era wooden mansions. Take the ferry from Kabata
Mikla Restaurant
This is the classiest bar and restaurant in town. Sink into the Alvar Aalto-designed chairs and watch the twinkling lights of Beyoğlu while you sip a wonderfully dry martini or good-quality glass of h
Galata Tower
This cylindrical stone tower has watched over the Golden Horn since 1348, when Genoese merchants built it as the apex of their fortified colony. Climb to the top for a 360-degree panorama that takes i
Ortakoy Mosque
Right at the water's edge, framed by the Bosphorus Bridge soaring overhead — this is the photograph of Istanbul. The small baroque mosque, designed by the same architects who built Dolmabahçe, is a ma
Hamdi Restaurant
It's a hard call to make in a city with so many fabulous eateries, but Hamdi would certainly be one of them. Its rooftop setting on a hill near the Spice Bazaar with panoramic views across to Galata,
Rumeli Fortress
Mehmet the Conqueror built this mighty fortress in just four months in 1452, at the narrowest point of the Bosphorus, to strangle Constantinople's supply line from the Black Sea. Three massive towers
Buyuk Camlica Hill
The highest point in Istanbul — a hilltop park crowned with pine trees where the entire city unfurls before you in every direction. You can see both bridges, the minaret-filled skyline of the Old City