Standing at the front entrance of Pera Palace, cross the road and take the first turn off left onto Asmali Mescit Sokak, follow it straight ahead and take the second right turn off and you will find yourself in the midst of a magnificent and picturesque little winding narrow cobbled street, criss-crossed in dangling green vines and ivies dashing against colorfully washed walls of delightful old residences. Here you will find the popular Babylon nightclub and live music venue. This backstreet club hosts a varied program of live acts, including big names from the realms of jazz, house and world music.
In this area you will find a small courtyard with wooden tables where you can break for tea and coffee. Follow this path to the end and you will step in through the entrance gates of Kahve, a wonderful stop-off for a coffee, or indeed lunch, in cool and artistic outdoor environment. It is an arty little street arcade in the impressive turn of the century style just opposite the Tunel building. Access is via a large gate; step down into its shaded laneway, which houses some fashionably trendy little coffeehouses set against a backdrop of wall paintings and much leafy greenery sprouting from their pots. There is also a sprinkling of antique and art shops here.
After a rest-stop there, exit the other gate at the end and you will enter Tunel Square. The large building directly opposite is the entrance to the world’s second oldest underground metro service, fondly named Tunel, and the first and shortest one in Istanbul, built in 1875 by the French. It links the steep hill between lower Karakoy and upper Beyoglu. There are still a few remaining sights of interest up on the last section of Istiklal Caddesi, so from Tunel Square walk around to the left and re-enter the main street. Here is one of the area’s most popular restaurants for fine dining, the Four Seasons Restaurant (no relation to the hotel). Located in an old wooden building, the restaurant specializes in fine Turkish and international cuisine. Just on your right on the farther corner is the nineteenth century Swedish Embassy, graced by a small entrance park with beautiful blooming and budding garden. Now glance immediately to your left opposite the Embassy a bit further on, there is a large peeling ovular building with immense vertical pillars clinging to its facade, quite unusual in its appearance alone, an old Ottoman Han. Inside is the decaying grassy courtyard of this old stop-off point, presumably a bit more colorful and lively in its heyday, but a blissful little nook of tranquility from the bustling street all the same, where you can take the weight off your feet on an old bench and enjoy a tea served by the little shop by the entrance.
Pass further up the street again and the next embassy on the right is the Russian Embassy, a picturesque pink building in Italianate style set behind rather imposing gates, built by the Fossati brothers. Further on a little and the large gates on the right with an ascending flight of steps will take you into one of Beyoglu’s most pleasant and beautiful churches, St. Mary Draperis Church, built in 1678. Although not much to look out from its exterior, the inside is surprisingly warm and modernly decorated, very unlike an old church, with gentle pastel colors and beautiful stained glass windows. Don’t miss this little gem. Slightly further on, located off Postacilar Sokak on your right also, is a downward slope which leads to a number of interesting buildings. Going down this street you will pass the Union Church of Istanbul on the left, then a sharp right turn brings you to the doors of a little Spanish Church. You can decide from this point whether you would like to follow the vicious ascent down the cobbled street on the left (as you will have to return that way) named Tomtom Kaptan Sokak, actually another highly picturesque little lane, preceding the Palazzo Di Venezia, or Italian Consulate, the longest original survivor over centuries of destructive fires in Beyoglu, and the second foreign nation to lay roots in Beyoglu. Just opposite you can take a glimpse in through the gates of the Maison De France, formerly the French Embassy and indeed the very first one to lay it foundations in Pera and lead its subsequent development. Its grounds also house the very old Chapel of St.Louis. Now you must head back up the way you came to Istiklal Street. Continuing up again there is the Dutch Embassy on the right, currently under restoration set back from the street, built in 1855 also by the Swiss Fossati brothers. That finishes the main sights of Beyoglu and Pera, and you should now re-double your steps back down to Tunel Square and towards the old quarter of Galata to see the two final interest points.
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