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Istanbul at Its Most Intriguing: The Asian Side

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The Hagia Sophia. The Blue Mosque. Topkapi Palace. There’s more than enough in Istanbul’s historic center to dazzle a first-time visitor. Maybe tack on some nightlife in Karakoy or some shopping in the Grand Bazaar or along Istiklal Street and there’s your itinerary. There never used to be much reason to cross the Bosphorus and explore the Asian side of the city.

That’s changed in a big way. Now the Asian side is a destination unto itself. It’s full of leafy avenues, lively taverns (it’s easier to get liquor licenses over here), schmancy cafés and cooperative art galleries. It’s full of ordinary life. What it’s not full of is tourists.

The eastern shores of the Bosphorus are now home to many of Istanbul’s globally minded intellectuals, having been priced out of or disillusioned with conservative Cihangir on the European side. Counterintuitive as it is, the east has become the more liberal part of the city.

Like all of Istanbul, the sheer size of it can be dazzling and daunting. You could have a lovely wander on your own, but as in so many places, it’s more fun to have a local show you around. While “Asian side tours” aren’t a thing that are commonly marketed, some of quality tour companies can arrange them. My guide, whom I found via Crystal Concepts, had been part of the first wave of arrivals here, some 25 years ago, before the gentrification began. (Full disclosure: The company, and some of the others here, hosted me.)

He pointed out the Baylan bakery, the first Western-style cake shop in the area, where his parents used to go on dates; the fish vegetable markets where they shopped; the pickle shop where he would drink mugs of pickle juice as a kid; and the new yoga studios, hipster fabric-printing classes and gluten-free vegan cafés that his family frequents now. And he gave me something that can sometimes feel rare: an honest perspective on his long experience.

A good starting point for exploring the Asian side is Kadikoy, the area south of the bridge, which appears on many tourist maps. It started trending about a decade ago, when cheap rents and easy transit drew young creatives to live here and restaurants, bars and galleries sprung up soon after.   

(Although it could be said that people became wise to Kadikoy much earlier. Its ancient name, Khalkedon, is from a Greek word that translates as “land of the blind.” An explorer arrived and was amazed that his people had been blind to the civilization that existed here.)

Now it’s a place with the beautiful Sekerci Cafer Erol pastry shop (known for the beauty of the sweets and for the building itself), hyper-specific food markets, long pedestrian streets lined with bustling restaurants, and old-style eating institutions like Yanyala, which serves “things your grandmother used to make,” and the internationally known Ciya, a counter-service joint that lives up to the hype.

Further signs that Kadikoy is an atypical place: There is an Armenian church not too far from a Greek Orthodox church, and no one much seems to mind either. And one of the most prominent pieces of the neighborhood’s street art depicts a famous mathematician.

From there, it’s a short walk to the posh, leafy district of Moda, at the southern tip of the Asian side overlooking the Sea of Marmara. My guide said it has always been an upper middle class neighborhood for pedigreed intellectuals—when it was their summer home—but now it’s a full-time place for young intellectuals with money. It is home to the “Champs Élysées of the Asian side,” the long Baghdad Avenue, which lined the whole way with expensive office space, luxury boutiques and restaurants that are full most of the day.

Aside from that it’s somewhat residential, but throughout, there are busy restaurants and bars, wine shops, the trendy Ali Usta ice cream shop, chichi brunch spots and an adorable menagerie of street animals. (Turks don’t like animals in their homes but care for the outdoor ones as if they were beloved pets—there’s even a neighborhood “cat lady” to make sure all the animals are accounted for and well.)

On the main drag, the parking barriers are painted in vivid colors as a show of solidarity with a resident across town whose stairs were repainted gray after he turned them into the rainbow (it’s not a symbol of anything; the world just needs more rainbows). Down the hills, by the sea, there’s a lovely tea garden that has drawn families for 30 years. Further east along the water, there’s a seaside promenade with a bike-share program and a beach where bikinis are allowed.

That creative and globally minded energy is a draw, but right now the most interesting neighborhood in Istanbul is Kuzguncuk. When my guide moved here 20 years, it was practically rural. At first, it attracted intellectuals, architects and poets. Now it’s the capital of cool (with prices to match—although the rich and famous who live here tend to be those with low profiles).

There are now some 60 cafés in the neighborhood, mostly of the sort that sort Chemex coffee but still plenty of old-style spots that welcome the neighborhood’s longtime residents. Sometimes the more noted ones sip beneath their own portraits on the walls. There’s cosmopolitan diversity and tolerance here, not just of ages and wealth, but in houses of worship, with mosques, churches and synagogues in close proximity.

More so than many neighborhoods in the world, Kuzguncuk began as a village and held onto that identity. Locals work to protect it. It wasn’t young activists from across town protested a proposed building on their park. It was the residents. They know they have an enclave worth fighting for. And that’s one worth visiting.

Getting There: Turkish Airlines connects 12 North American gateways with Istanbul, with new airplanes, award-winning cuisine and in-flight wellness programs. Business class is worth the splurge, as it has modern full-flat seats, luxe new bedding sets, free WiFi, a first-rate entertainment system, noise-canceling headphones, amenity kits from Versace and Mandarina Duck, and gourmet meals served by Flying Chefs.

Once you’re in Istanbul, you can reach the Asian side by ferry or train, though if you organize a guide through Crystal Concepts, they’ll handle the logistics. And a good choice among high-luxury hotels is the Raffles Istanbul, which is situated in the up-and-coming Zorlu Center near the entrance to the bridge across the river. Along with all the luxuries one would expect from Raffles (stylish rooms, lavish breakfast buffet), it has an impressive art collection with dozens of works inspired by Istanbul’s past and present, starting with the massive Dolmabahce by Jean-Francois Rauzier, which creates a fantasia across an entire wall in the lobby.

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