The Galata Tower

A Genoese watchtower of 1348 at the top of the hill across the Golden Horn, and for centuries the tallest thing in the city. The balcony runs all the way round, which is why everyone wants to be on it.

The Genoese built it as the high point of their own walled colony, which was a separate city from Constantinople across the water, with its own government and its own law. Beyoğlu is still the part of Istanbul that feels least like the rest of it.

What it costs

Ticketed, and the price rose sharply when it was taken over by the culture ministry. For what it is — a lift, a stair and a narrow balcony — it is among the least good value in the city, and it is still worth doing once.

When to go

The queue is the whole story. It is long from mid-morning to late afternoon, it is outdoors, and the balcony at the top is narrow enough that they let people up in batches. Go at opening or in the last hour.

Getting there

Karaköy on the T1 tram, then either the Tünel funicular — the second-oldest underground railway in the world, and a ninety-second ride — or a steep ten-minute walk up. From İstiklal, walk down through Galata, which is the nicer direction.

If you only have an hour

If the queue is bad, do not join it. The view from the tower is of a city that does not contain the tower; the view of the tower, from the Galata Bridge or from a ferry, is the better photograph, and the terrace at Süleymaniye gives you the panorama for nothing.

What people get wrong

Booking a timed ticket and assuming it means no queue. It means a shorter one.

And expecting the balcony to be quiet. It is about two metres wide, it goes all the way round, and everyone on it is trying to do the same lap in the same direction.