Büyükada: wooden mansions and the monastery climb

Stops along the way

Things to notice.

1. 01

   1

   Büyükada İskelesi

   Ninety minutes from Eminönü on the Adalar Hattı; fifty from Bostancı or Kadıköy on the Asian side. Step off the ferry and the pier opens onto Birlik Meydanı. The walk's a loop back to this point — last ferry around 8pm in summer, sooner in winter.

   ◉Street View

   01

   Büyükada İskelesi

   Ninety minutes from Eminönü on the Adalar Hattı; fifty from Bostancı or Kadıköy on the Asian side. Step off the ferry and the pier opens onto Birlik Meydanı. The walk's a loop back to this point — last ferry around 8pm in summer, sooner in winter.

2. 02

   2

   Birlik Meydanı

   The clock tower and the Belle Époque Splendid Otel — the entrance to the island. Head south down Çankaya Caddesi; the wooden mansions start within a hundred metres. Phaetons used to wait at this square for fares around the island; they're gone since 2019, replaced by small electric vans.

   ◉Street View

   02

   Birlik Meydanı

   The clock tower and the Belle Époque Splendid Otel — the entrance to the island. Head south down Çankaya Caddesi; the wooden mansions start within a hundred metres. Phaetons used to wait at this square for fares around the island; they're gone since 2019, replaced by small electric vans.

3. 03

   3

   Yanaros mansion (Trotsky's house)

   On the right side of Çankaya, the late-19th-century wooden mansion where Leon Trotsky lived in exile from 1929 to 1933, expelled from the Soviet Union and writing his autobiography. The house is private and unmarked but visible from the road. The neighbourhood around it is the island's most photographed.

   ◉Street View

   03

   Yanaros mansion (Trotsky's house)

   On the right side of Çankaya, the late-19th-century wooden mansion where Leon Trotsky lived in exile from 1929 to 1933, expelled from the Soviet Union and writing his autobiography. The house is private and unmarked but visible from the road. The neighbourhood around it is the island's most photographed.

4. 04

   4

   The pine-forest path

   South of the village, the road becomes a path through the pine forest. The trees are mostly red pine, planted in the 1920s. Take it slowly; pilgrims walk up barefoot on Aya Yorgi feast days (April 23 and September 23), and you can see why — the path is the climb.

   ◉Street View

   04

   The pine-forest path

   South of the village, the road becomes a path through the pine forest. The trees are mostly red pine, planted in the 1920s. Take it slowly; pilgrims walk up barefoot on Aya Yorgi feast days (April 23 and September 23), and you can see why — the path is the climb.

5. 05

   5

   Aya Yorgi Manastırı

   Small white monastery, two hundred metres up, the highest point of the island. The terrace gives you the Sea of Marmara, the smaller Princes' Islands, and Istanbul on the mainland horizon. Pilgrims traditionally unspool a thread on the way up and make a wish; tie one if you want, or don't.

   ◉Street View

   05

   Aya Yorgi Manastırı

   Small white monastery, two hundred metres up, the highest point of the island. The terrace gives you the Sea of Marmara, the smaller Princes' Islands, and Istanbul on the mainland horizon. Pilgrims traditionally unspool a thread on the way up and make a wish; tie one if you want, or don't.

6. 06

   6

   Back at Büyükada İskelesi

   Return the way you came, or take the longer eastern loop back through the residential streets if your knees agree. Check the ferry board on arrival — schedules thin in shoulder seasons. The boat back is the second half of the walk.

   ◉Street View

   06

   Back at Büyükada İskelesi

   Return the way you came, or take the longer eastern loop back through the residential streets if your knees agree. Check the ferry board on arrival — schedules thin in shoulder seasons. The boat back is the second half of the walk.