If you love Turkish treats and Ottoman-style home decorations, visit Beşiktaş, where modern malls and many specialty shops will delight you. This bustling neighborhood is commonly considered to be one of Istanbul’s safest entertainment and hotel hubs.

A good place to start is Beşiktaş Square as this is the local transportation hub. In the adjacent Barbaros Park, view the Tomb of Hayreddin Barbarossa, the mausoleum for the admiral of the 16th-century Ottoman naval fleet active in the Mediterranean Sea.

Check out the sultan’s wooden boats in the adjacent Istanbul Naval Museum. While there, enjoy the magnificent views of the Bosphorus Strait.

For a leisurely lunch break, walk to Abbasağa Park on the hill with a picnic basket full of goodies from the Saturday markets.

Beşiktaş is the home of the Beşiktaş JK soccer team and you can cheer them on in Vodafone Park. This is an ultra-modern, multi-purpose stadium, but it is the Dolmabahçe Palace next door that really stands out. The Ottoman building with its imposing façade and lavish interior was built for Abdülmecid I in 1856. A succession of sultans lived here until the Turkish Republic was established in 1923.

The area’s famous Yıldız Palace is even older, but this vast complex is closed to the public nowadays. Fortunately you can still visit Yıldız Park, one of the largest urban parks in Istanbul, from where you can catch a glimpse of the palace.

To get a feel for how the sultans lived, book a room in the adjacent Çırağan Palace. This five-star hotel has yacht and helicopter access, for those wanting to avoid Istanbul traffic altogether.

Dolmus minibuses, bigger city buses, ferries, airport trains and taxis all service Beşiktaş and the hop-on-hop-off Big Bus has stops here too. Because Beşiktaş is located next to the Istanbul City Center you are also never far from the transportation hub of Taksim Square.

With good transportation connections, a lively fresh produce and fish market, and a wide range of restaurants, bakeries, bars, cafés and nightclubs, Beşiktaş is a great place to base yourself.

Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district is cosmopolitan and traditional, European and Middle Eastern, comfortable and practical.