One of 2 self-guided walks in Istanbul. See every walk.
In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Start at Eminönü and finish on Taksim Square: 3.3 km, about 45 minutes of walking and half a day with the visits. Go from Tuesday to Sunday: SALT Galata and the Galata Mevlevi Lodge are shut on Mondays, and SALT opens at 11:00. The Galata Tower is €30, open every day from 08:30 with the ticket office closing at 18:14, and its security queue is the wait. The Lodge is €7; the Museum Pass Istanbul covers both. The streets, the bridge and SALT are free. Or book a tour: the Galata Tower, Istiklal Street and Karaköy walkad is from €15, with the tower ticket extra (GetYourGuide).
The route
Map of the walk numbered stops in walking order
Open the whole route in Google Maps - all the stops in walking order, set to walking directions, which is the version to put on your phone.
The walk crosses the Golden Horn to Karaköy, climbs to the Galata Tower and the Mevlevi Lodge, and then follows İstiklal Caddesi, the main street of Beyoğlu, to Taksim. The Galata Tower tickets page has the tower’s queue and night session in detail; this page puts the sights in walking order with the days they are open. Prices are the foreign-visitor rate from each operator.
| Stop | Entry | Open |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Eminönü | Free | Always |
| 2. The Galata Bridge | Free | Always |
| 3. SALT Galata and the Kamondo Steps | Free | SALT Tuesday to Saturday 11:00 to 19:00, Sunday 11:00 to 18:00; shut Mondays |
| 4. The Galata Tower | €30 | 08:30 to 18:30 daily, ticket office 18:14; night museum 18:30 to 22:00 |
| 5. The Galata Mevlevi Lodge | €7 | 09:00 to 18:30, ticket office 17:30; shut Mondays |
| 6. Tünel and İstiklal Caddesi | Free; ₺46.20 on the nostalgic tram | The street always; the tram on its timetable |
| 7. Çiçek Pasajı and the Fish Market | Free | The restaurants keep their own hours |
| 8. Taksim Square | Free | Always; metro M2 and funicular F1 06:00 to 00:00 |
Walk it with a guide
A guide adds the stories, and the Galata Tower ticket is the question. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices, per person.
- Istanbul City Walk: Galata Tower, Istiklal Street & Karaköyad: from €15, 4.7 stars from 157 reviews, 2 hours, by TOURMANIA. It meets at the MADO café on the Karaköy waterfront and covers Karaköy, İstiklal Caddesi and the tower. The tower stop is an additional fee, so the €15 does not include the €30 ticket.
- Istanbul: Fener Balat Half-day Guided Walking Tourad: from €17, 4.9 stars from 2,151 reviews, 3 hours, in Fener and Balat on the old-city shore of the Golden Horn.
- Istanbul: Asian Side Walking Tour with Ferry Ridead: from €25, 4.3 stars from 262 reviews, 1 hour 30 minutes, from Eminönü.
Istanbul walking tours compares them with the free and the other paid walks.
1. Eminönü
Free · T1 Eminönü stop · the ferry piers, the Spice Bazaar and the New Mosque
The T1 tram, the ferries and the Galata Bridge meet at Eminönü. The Spice Bazaar and the Yeni Cami, the New Mosque, stand by the ferry piers, and Bosphorus cruises board here, at Kabataş and at Karaköy. The Sultanahmet walk ends at the T1 Gülhane stop, which is two stops back, through Sirkeci, or 1.35 km on foot.
- The Yeni Cami: a working mosque, so cover as for worship and take off your shoes. Mosque visiting rules in Istanbul has the dress and the prayer times to check.
- The Spice Bazaar: shops close on the first day of each bayram. It was shut for all three days of the March 2026 Ramazan Bayramı.
The Bosphorus cruise guide compares the boats that leave from here.
Walk to the Galata Bridge: it starts at the water’s edge, beside the tram stop.
2. The Galata Bridge
Free · always open · Eminönü to Karaköy
The bridge crosses the Golden Horn from Eminönü to Karaköy, and the T1 tram runs over it. Local fishermen line the rail. The Süleymaniye Mosque stands on its hill above the water behind you, and the Galata Tower on the hill ahead. The best views in Istanbul counts the bridge among the free ones.
- On foot or by tram: from the Eminönü tram stop to the Karaköy stop is 940 m on foot. One stop on the T1 does it for a fare of ₺46.20 on an Istanbulkart.
Walk to SALT Galata: 560 m from the middle of the bridge, through Karaköy and onto Bankalar Caddesi.
3. SALT Galata and the Kamondo Steps
Free · Tuesday to Saturday 11:00 to 19:00, Sunday 11:00 to 18:00 · shut Mondays · Bankalar Caddesi 11
SALT Galata fills the former headquarters of the Imperial Ottoman Bank, designed by Alexandre Vallaury, which the bank used from 1892 to 1999. SALT has run it since November 2011. A permanent exhibition shows documents from the Ottoman Bank Museum Collection, there is a library, and the first floor looks over the Golden Horn and the historic peninsula. The café and the Robinson Crusoe 389 bookshop on the ground floor keep SALT’s visiting hours.
A griffin relief on the façade at Bankalar Caddesi 11, the former Imperial Ottoman Bank. Photo: Dosseman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- The Kamondo Steps: a curved flight built by the banker Abraham Salomon Camondo in the late 19th century, a few metres along Bankalar Caddesi.
- Hours: shut on the first and second days of both bayrams, on 1 January and on 1 May.
- Evenings: Neolokal, the restaurant in the building, serves dinner. See Where to eat.
The Kamondo Steps on Bankalar Caddesi, Karaköy. Photo: Yair Haklai, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Walk to the Galata Tower: 260 m uphill, by Camekan Sokağı and Büyük Hendek Caddesi.
4. The Galata Tower
€30 · daily 08:30 to 18:30, ticket office closes 18:14 · night museum 18:30 to 22:00 · Museum Pass covers the day visit
The Genoese built the tower in the middle of the 14th century as part of the walls of their Galata colony. The Ottomans used it as a dungeon and then as a fire lookout. It is a Ministry of Culture museum with objects from every period of Istanbul’s history, and the view from the top floor is the visit. The price is €30 and rises to €35 on 1 April 2027.
- The queue: tour operators put the security queue at 20 to 40 minutes, depending on the season. No ticket skips it, so a resale ticket buys only the ticket queue. Allow 45 to 60 minutes inside.
- Tickets: the ministry’s e-ticket on muze.gov.tr or the ticket office. Children under 18 go up with a parent.
- The night museum: 18:30 to 22:00, with the ticket office open to 22:00. The Museum Pass is not valid for it after 19:00.
The Galata Tower tickets covers the tour options and the night session.
Walk to the Galata Mevlevi Lodge: 450 m, by Galip Dede Caddesi.
5. The Galata Mevlevi Lodge
€7 · 09:00 to 18:30, ticket office 17:30 · shut Mondays · Galip Dede Caddesi 15
The lodge of the Mevlevi order was founded in 1491 and stands at the Tünel end of İstiklal Caddesi. The ministry calls it the most significant Ottoman monument in Beyoğlu. The ground floor is the Sema hall, a floor of walnut with the prayer niche and the pulpit at the back. The lodges upstairs show marbling by Mustafa Düzgünman, calligraphy, the Hilye-i Şerif sheets and the instruments of the Ottoman army band, and the tomb of Sheikh Galip, built in 1819, is in the grounds.
- Tickets: €7, free with the Museum Pass Istanbul. The tower and the lodge cost €37 together at the desks.
- The ceremony: the Sema hall is a museum visit. Whirling dervishes in Istanbul compares the venues that stage the ceremony.
Walk to Tünel: 80 m, down Galip Dede Caddesi to the foot of İstiklal Caddesi.
6. Tünel and İstiklal Caddesi
Free · the street always open · the nostalgic tram ₺46.20 on an Istanbulkart · from Tünel to Taksim
İstiklal Caddesi runs from the Tünel funicular up to Taksim Square, and the nostalgic tram runs along it, ending at Tünel and at Taksim. It counts as one ride, with the bus, tram, metro, funicular and the Tünel: ₺46.20 on an Istanbulkart for the first boarding, ₺65 on a contactless bank card. The 1.4 km from Tünel to Taksim takes about 20 minutes at an easy pace, and the street is free at every hour. The shops, cafés and cinemas keep their own hours.
- New Year’s Eve: in 2025 the city closed the roads to İstiklal Caddesi from 14:00 and put barriers round Taksim Square. The 2026 to 2027 plan is announced in the last days of December.
Istanbul public transport has the fares and the Istanbulkart.
Walk to the Çiçek Pasajı: 680 m up İstiklal Caddesi.
7. Çiçek Pasajı and the Fish Market
Free · the restaurants keep their own hours · İstiklal Caddesi
The Çiçek Pasajı, the Flower Passage, was built as the Cité de Péra. It is a covered arcade of restaurants and meyhanes on İstiklal Caddesi, with a side entrance to the Fish Market (Balık Pazarı). Nevizade Sokağı, the street the food lists send people to for a meyhane evening, is behind the market.
The Çiçek Pasajı, once the Cité de Péra, on İstiklal Caddesi. Photo: Jorge Franganillo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
- Eat here: the meyhanes of the arcade and of Nevizade Sokağı. See Where to eat.
- What to know: a meyhane is a tavern where meze, fish and rakı are shared over a long evening. The warnings in Istanbul scams apply to an evening out here: use a registered taxi and decline an invitation to a bar.
Walk to Taksim Square: 760 m up İstiklal Caddesi.
8. Taksim Square
Free · always open · metro M2 and funicular F1 06:00 to 00:00
The Republic Monument stands in the middle of the square, and Taksim station is a single complex for the M2 metro, the F1 funicular and the nostalgic tram. The F1 reaches Kabataş in 2 minutes 30 seconds, where the T1 tram goes back through Karaköy and Eminönü to Sultanahmet. The M2 stops at Şişhane, close to the Galata Tower, on its way to Yenikapı.
Taksim Square, with the Republic Monument at the left and the Taksim Mosque behind. Photo: Ninara, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
- From here: the first ride is ₺46.20 on an Istanbulkart, and a change within 120 minutes costs ₺34.40.
Where to eat
The café at SALT Galata
Bankalar Caddesi 11, Karaköy · Tuesday to Saturday 11:00 to 19:00, Sunday 11:00 to 18:00 · shut Mondays
A café on the ground floor, open during SALT’s visiting hours, with a bookshop beside it. It suits a stop before the climb to the tower.
Neolokal
SALT Galata, Bankalar Caddesi 11, Karaköy · dinner · one Michelin star · neolokal.com
Chef Maksut Aşkar’s restaurant in SALT Galata, which examines traditional recipes and blends in endangered foods of its heritage. Book through its website. Where to eat in Istanbul lists the Michelin restaurants with their prices.
Nevizade Sokağı
Behind the Fish Market, Beyoğlu · the street of meyhanes · evenings
The street the lists send people to for a meyhane evening, a minute from the Çiçek Pasajı. Ask the price of the fish before you order. Where to eat in Istanbul has the rest of the meyhanes.
The best day to go
| Day | What changes on the route |
|---|---|
| Monday | SALT Galata and the Galata Mevlevi Lodge are shut. The tower and the streets are open |
| Tuesday to Saturday | Everything is open. SALT is open 11:00 to 19:00 |
| Sunday | Everything is open. SALT closes at 18:00 |
The timing that works: the order of the stops follows the opening times. The tower opens at 08:30, the Lodge at 09:00 and SALT at 11:00, so start at Eminönü at about 10:30 and reach SALT as it opens, then take the tower with its queue at about 11:30. The tower’s ticket office closes at 18:14, the Lodge sells its last ticket at 17:30 and SALT closes at 19:00 on Tuesday to Saturday. The tower’s night session runs to 22:00.
Dated closures: SALT Galata is shut on 1 January, 1 May and the first two days of each bayram, 9 and 10 March and 16 and 17 May 2027. On the first day of a bayram the Spice Bazaar’s shops close. The Galata Tower goes from €30 to €35 on 1 April 2027. What does not close: the bridge, the Kamondo Steps, İstiklal Caddesi and Taksim Square.
Getting there and back
- To the start: the T1 tram stops at Eminönü between Sirkeci and Karaköy, and from Sultanahmet it is three stops. The Havaist coach from Istanbul Airport to Sultanahmet calls at Eminönü: Istanbul Airport to the city has the fares.
- From the end: the F1 funicular from Taksim to Kabataş and the T1 from there back to Eminönü and Sultanahmet. The M2 metro runs from Taksim to Şişhane and on to Yenikapı. Both run 06:00 to 00:00.
- Fares: the first ride is ₺46.20 on an Istanbulkart, a transfer within 120 minutes ₺34.40, and a contactless bank card is ₺65 a ride. No cash is taken. Istanbul public transport has the rest.
What to do with the rest of the day
- Sultanahmet: the Sultanahmet walk ends at the T1 Gülhane stop, two stops from Eminönü, with Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and Topkapı on it.
- Fener and Balat: 3 days in Istanbul lists it as one choice for the third day, and Istanbul walking tours compares the guided walks there.
- Museums: the Museum Pass Istanbul covers the tower and the Lodge, and Istanbul’s museums has the Pera Museum and Istanbul Modern, which are shut on Mondays.
- Evenings: whirling dervishes in Istanbul lists the ceremonies, and the Bosphorus cruise guide the boats from Karaköy and Eminönü.
- Free: free things to do in Istanbul lists what else costs nothing.
- The days: 3 days in Istanbul and Istanbul in one or two days fit these sights into a plan, and what to book before you go to Istanbul has the closed days for every sight.
- Where to sleep: where to stay in Istanbul compares Beyoğlu with Sultanahmet.
Common questions
How long is the Galata and Beyoğlu walk?
3.3 km from Eminönü to Taksim Square, measured along the streets: about 45 minutes of walking, and uphill from the bridge to the Galata Tower. The visits fill half a day, because the tower queue is 20 to 40 minutes by the tour operators' reckoning and the tower itself takes 45 to 60 minutes.
Where does the walk start and finish?
It starts at the T1 Eminönü tram stop and finishes on Taksim Square, beside the M2 metro, the F1 funicular to Kabataş and the nostalgic tram. The F1 and the T1 take you back to Eminönü and Sultanahmet.
Which day is best for the Galata and Beyoğlu walk?
Tuesday to Sunday. SALT Galata and the Galata Mevlevi Lodge are shut on Mondays, and SALT closes at 18:00 on Sundays. The Galata Tower is open every day, from 08:30.
How much does the walk cost?
The streets, the bridge, SALT Galata and the Kamondo Steps are free. The Galata Tower is €30 and the Galata Mevlevi Lodge €7, and the Museum Pass Istanbul covers both.
Do I need to book the Galata Tower?
No. The ministry sells tickets on muze.gov.tr and at the ticket office, which closes at 18:14. No ticket skips the security queue.
Does the walk link up with the Sultanahmet walk?
Yes. The Sultanahmet walk ends at the T1 Gülhane stop, and this one starts at Eminönü, two stops on, or 1.35 km on foot.
