Cihangir is what's left of bohemian Beyoğlu — the residential pocket on the hill above the Bosphorus where writers still live, antique dealers still trade, and the cats are still in charge.
Three and a half kilometres of climbing, gently, from the water up. Start at Tophane and head into Çukurcuma — the antique district, where Orhan Pamuk built his Museum of Innocence into an actual house. From there the climb begins. Stepped streets, bay windows, a cat asleep on every other stoop.
Firuzağa is the middle — the small mosque with cafés ringed around its courtyard, the right place for an aperitif and a sit-down halfway up. Then north through Susam Sokak — yes, that does mean Sesame Street — lined with antique shops you can pretend to browse.
End at Cihangir Camii at golden hour. The terrace looks straight across the Bosphorus to the Asian side; the call to prayer is timed almost exactly for sunset. After: five minutes through Sıraselviler to Taksim, or stay in the neighbourhood for dinner — Cihangir doesn't lose its evening shape after dark.
