Gezi Hotel Bosphorus

Istanbul’s equivalent of New York’s Times Square, Taksim Square is home to the Atatürk Cultural Center, the city venue for shows, opera, ballet, concerts, and the Biennial (the country’s most important art event). The hectic Istikal Caddesi, which ends at the square, is a long, pedestrian shopping street with everything from clothing, bookstores, and bars, to daytime music performers who fill the air with jazz, didgeridoo, and Turkish folk music. The Gezi Taksim Park has also become metonymic of Turkey’s proactive temperament in recent years as its hosted peaceful protests that have drawn international attention. The Gezi Taksim Park and the surrounding Cihangir neighborhood are now politically vibrant due to the community of intellectuals, students, artists, and internationals who live, work, and party in the area. Although protests are less frequent now, the Gezi Taksim Park is best viewed from a distance on national holidays, when demonstrations are more likely to take place. Politics aside, the area around the park is gloriously free-thinking, intellectually fertile, and rife with bars and cafés offering fresh coffee and optimistic attitudes.

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IST - Istanbul Airport

Sirkeci Railway Station