View point

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VIEW POINT Balat, Istanbul

When in this bustling Turkish city, get off the main tourist trail and make for the north of the city and the Balat district. The historic Jewish quarter is wonderfully atmospheric with narrow, winding streets and century-old houses, painted in shades of red, blue, green and purple. A UNESCO World Heritage area, it was once dilapidated, but is now one of the city’s coolest design areas with galleries, restaurants and cafés in the streets close to the Golden Horn waterway. For a fabulous view of it all, keep walking uphill to the top.