Istanbul: the Asian Side, Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul is an enormous city of 14 million people and is separated into three sections by water. The Golden Horn divides the European side into two while the Bosphorus Strait intersects the European and Asian side. Istanbul is the only city in the world to span two continents. In previous posts I wrote about the Sultanahmet (the Old City) and Beyoĝlu (the European Quarter). This post will focus on things to do on the Asian Side of the city.

First and foremost, take the ferry across Bosphorus Strait. A visit to Istanbul would be incomplete without traveling on the Bosphorus. The ferry leaves from several locations regularly, about every 10 minutes. It costs around 3.50TL with the Istanbul Kart card which may be purchased at a ferry terminal kiosk. I took a morning ferry from Eminönü on a dreary day with the forecast for improved weather after lunch. This is precisely what happened, but the mistake I made is the photography on the European side is best taken in the morning, not upon the return unless arriving at sunset. As a result, I’d consider a ride to the Asian side of Istanbul on a full, clear day.

There are two main destinations on the Asian side, Kadiköy and Üsküdar. I took the ferry to Kadiköy first. I found this area to be very local and hard to find the market despite it being nearby. After wandering around for a while and strolling through the market, I settled down for lunch at Caddê Karadeniz. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).