Galata & Şişhane

Above Karaköy the ground climbs steeply to the Galata Tower, a fourteenth-century Genoese watchtower that still fixes the skyline from every angle. The streets around it are the opposite of İstiklal's straight rush — a knot of stepped lanes and nineteenth-century apartment buildings, and along Serdar-ı Ekrem Caddesi in particular, a run of ateliers, design studios and small galleries tucked behind ornate façades. SALT Galata sits at the foot of the hill in a monumental former Ottoman bank, all stone and vaulted ceilings. The Camondo Stairs curl down toward the water nearby. This is art at walking pace, found by looking down side streets.