istanbul · an area

Walks in Balat.

One editor-picked walk through Balat, plus nearby routes for the same morning if you want to keep going.

The most photographed neighbourhood in Istanbul, but only on Sunday and only if you walk the back lanes.

Nearby

Other walks close to Balat.

Sorted by distance from the start of balat & fener: stairs, colour, the golden horn. Good for stitching together a longer day.

The pilgrim's climb — mosque to cemetery to Pierre Loti's café above the Golden Horn.

The Camondo Stairs, the Genoese tower at golden hour, and the dervish lodge that closes the climb.

Sinan's masterpiece, his own tomb in the garden, and the old book bazaar to close the morning.

Sinan's apprentice mosque, a boza shop since 1876, and the Byzantine Pantokrator on the next street.