Karakoy is where Istanbul’s independent makers ended up. The streets behind the ferry terminal hold ceramic studios, jewellery workshops, concept stores and paper shops, most of them small and most run by the people who make what they sell.
It is a different kind of shopping from the old city: nothing is haggled, nothing is pressed on you, and the pleasure is in looking. Two or three streets are enough to fill an afternoon, particularly if you stop for coffee, which here is taken seriously.
The area is also the most photogenic part of the shoreline, with Galata Tower above and the water below. From Romance Istanbul Hotel it is around twenty minutes on foot across the bridge.
Category:
Shopping