Up the steep lanes from the Karaköy waterfront past the Galata Tower and dervish lodge, then along İstiklal's south end into the antique streets of Çukurcuma.
Best time: Late morning to sunset, Tuesday-Sunday (several museums close Monday)
Turkey's main modern and contemporary art museum in a Renzo Piano building opened May 2023. Collection galleries cover Turkish art from the 1940s; the rooftop terrace has a…
Genoese tower from 1348 with a 360-degree balcony over the Golden Horn, the old city and the Bosphorus. The inside now has a small museum on its history.
Istanbul's oldest Mevlevi (whirling dervish) lodge, founded 1491, with the octagonal wooden semahane hall, a dervish cemetery of turbaned tombstones and exhibits of instruments…
Private museum best known for Osman Hamdi Bey's 'The Tortoise Trainer' in its Orientalist painting collection, plus Anatolian weights and measures and Kütahya ceramics; strong…
Orhan Pamuk's museum built around his novel: 83 vitrines of everyday 1970s Istanbul objects, including the wall of 4,213 cigarette butts. Works even if you have not read the book.
