When we were researching Istanbul and trying to decide where to stay, we were overwhelmed with options. A hundred people claimed their stay/home district was the best.

Istanbul’s Districts

Eminönü had the hostels and easiest access to the main sites (Hagia Sofia and the Grand Bazaar), the Asian side had loads of good looking food, views over the Bosphorus, and the Galata/Beyoğlu district was full of cobbled streets and pretty, narrow lanes. The choices were many and we were clueless. In this situation, we have a strategy to break out of choice paralysis. We resorted to Google Street view. We virtually wandered up and down around each of the districts, before cross referencing with the accommodation available. A combination of a small, but within budget, whole flat on AirBnB and a pretty virtual wander around, had us settling near the Galata Tower in the Istanbul district of Beyoğlu.

A colourful and steep street in the heart of the Beyoglu district of Istanbul. — *Our pretty (but steep) Street*

We cannot comment if this was the “best” district as it was the only one we stayed in, but after seven days in Istanbul we had firmly fallen in love with Beyoğlu. Its charming cobbled streets, plethora of eating and drinking options, and its many cats won us over.

Getting to Beyoglu

We arrived via taxi from the airport (we know, not a great start to the budget backpacking) and were dropped off somewhere relatively near our AirBnB (our taxi driver had no idea where our AirBnB was, or at least had no intention of going any further than he had). A short, but very steep walk up a cobbled street, through an alleyway and then a courtyard brought us to our accommodation. We immediately liked the area, this may have been due to the large bundle of kittens that greeted us in the courtyard. Our AirBnB was very small and split over two floors. The bedroom on the bottom and the kitchen and bathroom on top. Although highly compact, this space proved to be perfect for our needs during our seven day stay. Bags unpacked, sweaty t-shirts changed and we headed out to explore.

A courtyard outside our AirBnB in the heart of Beyoglu district in Istanbul — *Our cosy courtyard*

Food and Drink in Beyoglu District

The Gelata Tower peeking through the picturesque streets of the Beyoglu district in Istanbul

Over the course of our stay, we discovered the Beyoğlu district and neighbouring Galata (we can’t tell if Galata was a separate district or interchangeable with Beyoğlu) had everything close at hand we could ask for.

As you may have realised if you follow our stories on Instagram (if you don’t already please do), we very much enjoy our food. Beyoğlu did not disappoint on this front. Kebabs, wraps, stews, falafel, pide, you name it, you could quickly find it. Just up the (near vertical) street from our AirBnB, was Falafel Koy. This little hole in the wall joint was near comedically cheap, 60 Turkish Lira each (£2.82 or $3.38) for a main meal and bottle of water. We went for menu 1, which consisted of three falafel, tabouleh, humus, bakla (a salad of beans and tomatoes) and fatus (crispy shards of something or other) all served with a basket of fresh tissue thin bread. It was fresh, delicious and a welcome break from the heavier fare we had been enjoying. Falafel Koy really doesn’t look like much from the outside (or indeed the modest inside), but we really enjoyed our food there.

Another excellent restaurant we ate at was Tavanarasi. Directly opposite one end of the street we referred to as “Bar Street” (but was actually called Sofyali Sk), is a small door leading to the restaurant. Enter through the door, take the tiny lift to the top floor and you will find yourself in Tavanarasi. The views out of the open rooftop windows were spectacular, especially if you timed your dinner as the sun was setting. The food was hearty, generous, and very, very tasty. They serve all manner of Turkish fare from grilled meats through to salads and casseroles (also pasta for some reason). John really enjoyed the grilled chicken and Ellie loved her choice of a chicken and aubergine casserole which came slathered in cheese. We enjoyed our first meal there so much that we returned for a second sunset supper. The prices were very reasonable; for two mains, a salad and two beers we paid 255 Turkish Lira (£11.98 or $14.38).

Sunset over the rooftops and skyline of Istanbul. Taken from the rooftop restaurant of Tavanarasi in the Beyoglu district of Istanbul. — *The sunset view from Tavanarasi*

Late night bars and neon lights line the streets of the Beyoglu district in Istanbul at night.

Following most dinners, we would seek out frosty beverages in the form of beer. Istanbul’s most common (at least from what we saw) local lager was Efes. Whilst Efes will never dethrone our favourite lagers, the Beyoğlu locations in which we enjoyed it were excellent. Near our accommodation, on the other side of the main street between Taksim Square and the Galata Tower, was a little warren of pubs, bars, live music venues and cafes which we have previously referred to as “Bar Street”. We switched up our choice of venue most evenings, and enjoyed excellent live Turkish music, fantastic hospitality and very cold beers wherever we chose. We are not experts at the relative cost of beer in Istanbul, but this area seemed to be very reasonable if not the cheapest we saw around the city, with prices typically about 45 to 55 Turkish Lira for a large beer (£2.11 or $2.45 to £2.58 to $3.10). Coming from London, this was a very welcome change in price for a drink. Most days, after the sun had slunk beneath the horizon and we had filled our bellies, you would most probably have found us somewhere on this street. We did have a posher night out in Beyoğlu and if you haven’t already, you can read about it here.

Things to Do in Beyoglu District

Istanbul's iconic red tram taken in the Beyoglu district of Istanbul

We have already written about the Galata Tower but Beyoğlu contains some other notable features. The whole area is a warren of picturesque cobbled streets, craft coffee shops, vintage clothes, and bespoke craft stores. Beyoğlu also has the famous old tram that runs down the length of Istiklal Street. This street seemed to be the Istanbulian equivalent to Oxford Street except local people still shop there and the restaurants wouldn’t cause you to remortgage your house. Whilst we didn’t ride the old tram, we saw it on multiple occasions and snapped the obligatory photos. Another unique form of transport in the district is the Tünel, an underground railway/funicular that connects the port of Karaköy to Beyoğlu. We did ride this, and although interesting to read about and see, we’re not sure if it actually saved us much time over walking, although those with mobility concerns can use it to avoid a very steep walk.

One of our favourite finds in the district was the Şışhane Park or as we called it the “Sunset Spot”. Although it calls itself a park, it isn't very green. It’s more a series of stone steps leading down to an almost auditorium-like space. As the day begins to fade, the square fills up with families, couples, and beer drinking friends all there to enjoy the ambience and a fantastic view of a skyline set on fire by the setting sun.

A sunset selfie of Jellie taken at the Şışhane Park in Istanbul — *Obligatory sunset selfie at Şışhane Park*

Hanging washing above the colourful streets of the Beyoglu district of Istanbul

Our time in Istanbul was brilliant. The area we stayed was perfect for our needs. Fantastic food, good bars and a tangle of pretty streets. We could have wandered through and around the district for days and not seen a tenth of it. A brief note about wandering this district - it is very hilly, particularly between the sea and anywhere along Istiklal Street. Those with issues with mobility should bear in mind that getting between just about anywhere will require a lot of walking and some very steep ascents. Leg workouts aside, our main issue to reaching our destinations was the sheer number of picture perfect cats and kittens. Every 5 metres John would turn around to find Ellie 3 metres behind snapping photos or attempting to scritch another cute kitty.

Beyoğlu provided us with our perfect home base in Istanbul, other than a boat trip to the Princes Islands, we had been able to walk to every attraction, restaurant or drinking hole we had wanted too. Our cosy little AirBnB was in the perfect location, and just big enough for us to chill out there when not exploring, eating or drinking. From our experiences we can highly recommend staying in the Beyoğlu district.

We loved our days in Istanbul and as they came to a close, we looked forward to our next destination, Sri Lanka…