The 6 Best Things to See and Do on Istiklal Street, Istanbul

The Flower Passage is a historical arcade containing cafes, restaurants and wineries. The arcade originally contained a theatre, which was destroyed in a fire. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, many formerly wealthy Russian women sold flowers here, giving the area its name. This is an exquisite feat of architecture that you can enjoy either by strolling through or by sitting and enjoying a meal or a beverage under the domed roof.

These beautiful ruby-red trams are as much a fixture of Istiklal Street as the cobbles on the road. No trip would be complete without boarding one of these vehicles that have carried shoppers and tourists up and down the bustling avenue for decades. This is one of the many examples in Istanbul of the past working seamlessly into the unique modern culture of the city.

Want to sample the best food on Istiklal Street? Look no further than Saray Muhallebicisi. The patisserie offers well-known and lesser-known Turkish sweet treats, from baklava (a rich pastry layered with chopped nuts and covered in a sweet syrup) to lokma (fried, crispy balls of dough in a sweet syrup, both at once crisp and deliciously gooey). You’ll leave his landmark shop besotted with Turkish cuisine.

This museum was built in tribute to the ceremony conducted by the Turkish order of Whirling Dervishes. The ceremony denotes an ancient practice of spinning in a deep prayer trance, arms raised in praise of God. It is a ceremony that only those admitted into the order can perform and is one of the most fascinating spectacles that travellers can witness in Turkey. This museum archives many artefacts and documents from the long history of this ceremony, including the origins and its outlawing in the 1920s.