İstiklal Avenue (İstiklal Caddesi, often called İstiklal Street) is the pedestrian spine of Beyoğlu: about a kilometre and a half of shops, arcades, churches, consulates and patisseries between Taksim Square and Tünel, with a red tram edging its way through the crowds. It is 19th-century and 21st-century Istanbul at once: the Pera of the European embassies, and the street of concerts and demonstrations.
Millions of people walk it every year, so it is hardly a secret. But there is a good way and a bad way to do it. Here is how I show it to travellers in Istanbul, with the detours that are worth it and the ones that aren't.
A little history
In the 19th century this was the Grande Rue de Péra, home to the embassies of France, Russia, Sweden and the Netherlands (consulates today) and to the grand hotels, theatres and department stores that arrived with the railway and the Orient Express. The Levantines, Greeks, Armenians and Jews of Pera lived here in European style, with trams, gas lighting and shop windows.
Under the Republic it was renamed İstiklal, "Independence". After decades of decline it was pedestrianised in 1990 and the historic tram returned. Today international chains sit alongside bookshops, old cinemas and arcades that have survived against the odds.
What to see on İstiklal Avenue
Taksim Square and the Republic Monument
The starting point: the largest square in the city, with the 1928 monument showing Atatürk and his companions, the new Taksim Mosque and Gezi Park behind. This is where Istanbul comes to celebrate, and to see in the New Year.
The nostalgic tram
It runs the whole length of the street and you can ride it with your Istanbulkart, the city's transport card. It is slow and usually packed; I would rather watch it pass in front of St Anthony's Church than get on.
The Church of St Anthony of Padua
The largest Catholic church in Istanbul, neo-Gothic, completed in 1912 and set back in a courtyard open to the street. The future Pope John XXIII preached here when he was apostolic delegate to Türkiye. Entry is free.
The Flower Passage and the fish market
Çiçek Pasajı is an arcade from 1876 with meze-and-beer restaurants under a glass roof, which I cover in detail in my article on the Flower Passage. Next to it are the Galatasaray fish market and the lanes selling stuffed mussels (midye dolma) and kokoreç, grilled lamb's intestines, which I write about in my guide to Istanbul street food.
Galatasaray High School and the arcades
Halfway along the avenue, behind its iron gates, stands Galatasaray High School, a historic French-language lycée and one of the oldest schools in Türkiye. Around it are the arcades: the Atlas Passage with its cinema, the antique dealers' arcade and the Hazzopulo Passage, with tea tables in its courtyard.
The patisseries and Tünel
Towards the lower end come the historic patisseries serving profiteroles, and the shops selling lokum (Turkish delight). At the very end is Tünel, the underground funicular opened in 1875 and often described as the second-oldest underground railway in the world, which takes you down to Karaköy in a minute and a half. From here the Galata Tower is five minutes' walk away.
Tips for your visit
Allow half an hour to walk it end to end, or two hours with stops. It is flat and wide, so easy going for everyone, although the side streets are steep.
- By day you see the buildings; by night, the people. If you can, do both: the afternoon for a stroll and the evening for dinner in the side streets.
- Avoid bars and restaurants whose touts approach you in the street: the good ones don't need to.
- On Sunday afternoons it is a river of people; on weekday mornings it is almost empty.
Tickets and prices
It is a street, so it is free, and everything you can visit along it (St Anthony's, the arcades, the market) is free to enter. You pay for the tram with your Istanbulkart. On my tours we walk it together, and I tell you the story behind each building.
Where it is and how to get there
Taksim Square has a metro station and a funicular up from Kabataş, where the tram from Sultanahmet ends: about 30 minutes in all. The Tünel end can be reached from Karaköy on the historic funicular, or on foot up the Galata hill.
İstiklal on my tours
It is the backbone of the afternoon walk on several of my day tours, such as Gems of Istanbul, and of the evening on Istanbul by Night. For more ideas for an evening out, see my guide to Istanbul at night.
If you'd like me to plan an afternoon in Beyoğlu around your interests, message me and let's design your tailor-made trip.