Istanbul in summer is a city teaming with both sensory delights and horrors. Humidity is high and walking through the streets on a hot summer’s day can be unbearable but as soon as you hit the coast the cool breezes off the Bosphorus are a sweet relief and sipping tea onboard a ferry is a [...]

Why I Went: To visit my friend Ugur and his coterie of stylish hangers-on.
Most Surprised By: The crowds of people wandering along İstiklal Caddesi (Independence Avenue) Istanbul’s main shopping thoroughfare at midnight on a Tuesday at midnight.
Best Early Evening Bar: Sugar Club Cafe Address: Sakasalim Çýkmazý no:7, Tunel- Beyoðlu. [...]

Article by Marion Hume
Photos by Amber Rowlands
Istanbul is one of the world’s great cities. It is mystical, magical yet modern; hip yet ancient; secular and yet multi-faith - predominantly Islamic with its magnificent mosques and yet also with its churches (both Christian and Greek Orthodox) as well as synagogues.
I stayed in the Pera [...]

You can lie in your comfortable bed at the Bebek Hotel, Istanbul and hear the deep boom of the giant ships making their way up the Bosphorus Strait to the Black Sea. By day, the view out over the water from your balcony is sublime and there’s a great bar downstairs where you can sit [...]