48 Hours of Drinking in Istanbul

A neighbourhood institution that has outlasted a dozen trends and remains the address every Istanbul insider gives first. Drop bags. Find a hotel-adjacent bar within a five-minute walk. Order something simple to anchor yourself to the city.

360 East draws a steady local crowd in Caddebostan. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. The polished room you'd take a first date to. Sit at the bar. Talk to the bartender. Stay one drink — you're scouting, not committing.

The Public House draws a steady local crowd in Karakoy. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Walk into the city's drinking quarter (the heart of the night, not the tourist version). Two drinks, two rooms. Pace yourself — Saturday is the long day.

360 Istanbul draws a steady local crowd in Beyoglu. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Sunset. Find a rooftop. Order whatever the house specials around sundown. Take photos but don't lose 90 minutes to your phone.

Alex's Place is a serious modern cocktail bar in BeyoÄŸlu with rotating seasonal menus. The room is intentional — leather banquettes, dim warm lighting, around 3 Eat somewhere with serious bartending built in. The right room is one you order both your dinner and your nightcap from.

Cervecero draws a steady local crowd in Karakoy. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. The bar that made you book the trip. The pre-research one. Reservation-only ideally. Stay until last call.

We recommend arriving 45 minutes before sunset. By the time the muezzin calls from the mosques below and the sky turns amber over the Golden Horn, you will have Mary, Mimosa, or whatever low-ABV house play the room runs. Eat. Pay. Walk.

Anjelique draws a steady local crowd in Ortakoy. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Find the hotel bar at your departure airport equivalent — somewhere quiet, low-volume, well-staffed. End the trip on a martini and a clean conversation.