What's new in Istanbul

As Istanbul transforms itself into Europe’s coolest capital, Anthony Sattin checks out the latest hot spots

Anthony Sattin

In the hot night, lights from boats showed the course of the Bosphorus, the great waterway that separates Europe from Asia. And to my right, the sultan’s palace of Topkapi, the Byzantine basilica of Aya Sophia, and Sinan’s masterpiece, the Suleymaniye Mosque, were floodlit as though in a show of the city’s historical highlights. But behind me was an entirely different scene.

The top-floor restaurant/bar, named 360 for its views, was cool enough to have been airlifted straight out of east London or New York’s Meatpacking District. There was thick, fresh cherry juice in my vodka, and a fashionable crowd thronged the bar and scattered tables. Beside me was Sultana: neither a raisin, nor the wife of a sultan, but a very Turkish rap star. With her sweet, dark looks and glittering sheath dress, she has earned the anger of the Turkish censor with her lyrics about faltering male libido and tough city life.

Sultana could stand as a symbol of the city’s latest incarnation. Heir to old Stamboul, Constantinople and Byzantium, she is a daughter of the 21st-century city that some, in their rush to see Topkapi’s emeralds and find bazaar bargains, might overlook. But the old Ottoman capital is now one of Europe’s youngest and most exciting cities. And, like Sultana, it is determined to make itself seen and heard.

Karakoy is the city’s main maritime terminal. The waterside warehouse beside the passenger terminal now houses Istanbul Modern, the city’s gleaming contemporary-art museum, which has become the showcase of a vibrant art scene that peaks in a biennial – catch it this year, from tomorrow until November 4 (www.istfest.org).

You can see more at two of the city’s best spaces – Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center and Galerist, which shows many of Turkey’s leading artists. Both are along the Istiklal Caddesi, formerly the Grand Rue de Pera, the artery of chic in 19th-century Istanbul, now fully revived after a period of decline. The city’s hippest hangout, the 360 Restaurant & Bar, is here beside Galerist. And the steeply sloping street, which begins up at grungy Taksim Square, ends down at Tunel, home to a clutch of bars and restaurants, and to Babylon, the city’s liveliest live-music venue. To take in the new sights of Istiklal, ride the old-fashioned funicular railway, which runs end to end every 10 minutes (7am-9pm). At night, it can turn into a bar crawl.

RESTAURANTS

A gastro revival is happening alongside the style one: 360 is at the forefront, as is the Istanbul Doors group, whose Vogue restaurant is a cross between sushi bar, fashion cafe and Turkish restaurant. Even the Istanbul Modern museum has a cool bar-restaurant where you can eat mezze and salads while watching cargo being loaded onto freighters outside. But if you want modern cuisine, try the delights served up by Mehmet Gurs at his Mikla restaurant, a temple to 21st-century gastro possibilities.

BARS

If the sun is shining, the locals will be out on a terrace, preferably overlooking the Bosphorus. Dulcinea is a favourite, up at the Taksim end of Istiklal Caddesi, where you’re likely to bump into one of the artists showing at the adjoining gallery. Or there’s Anjelique, one of a string of places down by the waterside at Ortakoy, with its eye-catching view.

SHOPPING

Once upon a time, we all wanted to go to the bazaar, but these days, Istiklal Caddesi and the streets of Nisantasi, particularly Tesvikiye Avenue, are the places to shop. Istiklal, the old fashionable street, may not have the cachet, but it does have stores such as Mavi, Turkey’s sought-after denim designer. More chic is Nisantasi. Its main street may be lined with international brands, from Accessorize to Zegna, but here you will also find Beymen, Istanbul’s answer to Harvey Nichols. However, the most fun is to be had searching out the smaller boutiques of local designers. Gonul Paksoy has made a name creating silk and cotton clothes, while a few doors along, Sema Paksoy makes chunky Ottomanesque jewellery. And even the bazaar district is changing – deep in its heart is Dervis, selling a modern take on that very Ottoman item, the hammam towel, now dished up in hand-spun organic cotton, along with extra-virgin olive-oil soaps and other bath essentials.

AND THE NOT SO MODERN

For all its contemporary buzz and new attractions, a visit to Istanbul is unthinkable without seeing at least some of the old. I spent days shuttling between past and present across the Golden Horn on my way to see the ancient hippodrome, the Byzantine mosaics and cisterns, the Orient Express-era Pera Palas Hotel, the Grand Bazaar and its Egyptian counterpart.

The 19th-century French poet Lamartine thought Istanbul’s beauty lay in “its ability to embrace contradictions; ancient and modern, mystical and earthly”. Sitting on the marble balcony of Sultan Abdul Aziz’s summer palace, now the Ciragan Palace’s Tugra Restaurant, tasting a brilliant modern take on the classics of Ottoman cuisine, while looking out over a Bosphorus busy with private yachts and dinner cruises, it was impossible not to agree.

Anthony Sattin travelled as a guest of Kirker Holidays

Getting there: fly to Istanbul with BA (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com) from Heathrow; EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) from Luton; and Turkish Airlines (0844 800 6666, www.thy.com) from Manchester, Stansted and Dublin.

Where to stay: the Ciragan Palace Kempinski (00 90-212 326 4646, www.ciraganpalace.com.tr; doubles from £200) is the grandest hotel along the Bosphorus, with an excellent pool. The 65-room Four Seasons Istanbul (212 638 8200, www.fourseasons.com; doubles from £208), in a former prison up by the Aya Sophia, is one of the city’s best. The A’jia Hotel (216 413 9300, www.ajiahotel.com; doubles from £199), at Kanlica, halfway along the Bosphorus to the Black Sea, is an elegant remake of an old yali (a wooden mansion) gutted by fire. Or try the Empress Zoe (212 518 2504, www.emzoe.com), with a courtyard and spotless doubles from £71.