The Bosphorus villages: the back story

About The Bosphorus villages: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Istanbul Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

North of Beşiktaş, the European shore of the Bosphorus is a string of former villages, each with its own mosque, quay and character: Ortaköy under the first bridge, the wooden houses of Arnavutköy, chic Bebek, the fortress at Rumelihisarı, the tulips of Emirgan and the mansions of Yeniköy.

Ortaköy to Arnavutköy

Ortaköy’s baroque mosque sits on the water beneath the Bosphorus Bridge, with a little square of stalls and cafés. Past Kuruçeşme, where Park Fora and the Mandarin Oriental face the water, Arnavutköy keeps rows of 19th-century wooden houses along its quay.

Bebek

Bebek curves around a bay with a park and a mosque, and its main street, Cevdet Paşa Caddesi, is the place for coffee by day and drinks at Lucca by night. Sankai by Nagaya brings a MICHELIN-starred Japanese kitchen to the shore.

The shore road is slow; the ferry and your own feet are the best way to see the villages.

Further north

Rumelihisarı, the fortress Mehmed II built in 1452 before the conquest, climbs the hill beside the second bridge. Emirgan Park blooms with tulips each April, and the Sakıp Sabancı Museum occupies a mansion above the water. In Yeniköy, Araka holds one MICHELIN Star, and at Sarıyer, Six Senses has restored two historic mansions.

Our advice: take a ferry up the Bosphorus and walk back along the shore from Rumelihisarı to Bebek, then stay for dinner and a drink in the village.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with The Bosphorus villages: the back story before you go.