Galata: Camondo Stairs and the tower at golden hour
The Camondo Stairs, the Genoese tower at golden hour, and the dervish lodge that closes the climb. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Karaköy tram (T1)
The waterfront stop. Galata's hilltop is straight up from here, but the walk takes the long way through Bankalar Caddesi for the Camondo Stairs. Pace yourself; the climb is real.

2. Bankalar Caddesi
The old banking street — late 19th-century stone, the building that housed the Imperial Ottoman Bank now SALT Galata when it's open. Check before going; SALT's Galata venue has been on-and-off for renovations. Continue west to find the stairs.

3. Camondo Stairs (Kamondo Merdivenleri)
Built in the 1860s by the Camondo banking family — story goes they wanted their children to walk to school more safely. Two curved staircases that meet in the middle and split again. Climb them slowly; the engineering is the point.

4. Serdar-ı Ekrem
The lane that circles Galata Tower at hilltop level — coffee roasters, small galleries, boutiques. Two or three of the cafés do an espresso as good as anywhere in Istanbul. Take one before the tower; the queue at the door has its own pace.

5. Galata Kulesi
The 1348 Genoese tower, six and a half centuries of standing watch. The 360-degree balcony is the climax of this walk — pay the entry, time it for the half-hour before sunset, watch the lights of the Golden Horn flick on below. Queues are real; the view doesn't disappoint.

6. Galata Mevlevihanesi
The whirling dervish lodge, founded 1491, now a small museum about the Mevlevi order. The garden is the lovely part; sema ceremonies are still held in the lodge hall on certain evenings. Şişhane metro is two minutes' walk away — or the F2 funicular drops you back to Karaköy.

Galata: Camondo Stairs and the tower at golden hour