Istanbul After Dark: Best Late-Night Eats and Things to Do at Night

Istanbul stays up late, and the best plans after dark are built around eating. Start with meze and rakı at a meyhane, pick up kumpir on the Ortaköy waterfront, or hand the route to a guide on our Taksim evening food tour. When the pubs on Nevizade wind down, kokoreç is the classic late-night bite. Around the food, the city keeps going: Bosphorus dinner cruises, rooftop bars, atmospheric cafes, hamams that stay open late, and whirling dervishes. Here are 15 things to do in Istanbul at night, with the eating built in. For the daytime half of the trip, our Istanbul food guide covers the rest.

1. Start at a meyhane with meze and rakı

The classic Istanbul night out is the meyhane. Small plates of meze land on the table, the rakı keeps the conversation going, and nobody is in a hurry. Most meyhanes serve Turkish cuisine well beyond the cold plates, and some bring out belly dancers later in the evening. If you are lucky, one of them invites guests onto the floor for a lesson.

For picking the right room, our guide to Istanbul’s meze restaurants covers the meyhanes worth a whole evening.

2. Join an evening food tour in Beyoğlu

A food tour solves the planning for an entire night. Instead of betting the evening on one restaurant, you eat at a string of places back to back, the walking between stops helps digestion, and there is plenty of Turkish tea along the way. It also works well for solo travelers who want company at the table.

We have run food tours in Istanbul since 2013. Our Taksim evening food tour runs Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 18:00 (US$89) with a maximum of 10 guests. We meet at Taksim Square and walk the historic Beyoğlu district, with traditional Turkish drinks included. Portions are full size, so plan on the tour being your dinner for the day. Wear comfortable shoes, and bring a jacket in winter; Istanbul gets properly cold.

3. Eat kumpir in Ortaköy, then watch the bridge lights

Get to Ortaköy a little early and pick up kumpir, the Turkish baked potato. The Ortaköy versions are built on oversized potatoes and stuffed with so many fillings you may struggle to carry one. Arrive earlier still and you have time for the Ortaköy Mosque before the food.

Then, with a full stomach, walk to the waterfront and watch the lights of the Bosphorus bridge play on the water. As cheap romantic dates in this city go, it is hard to beat.

4. Book a Bosphorus cruise with dinner

A Bosphorus cruise can be a romantic evening or simply a relaxed way to have dinner on the water, and you can choose the style of cruise to match. If culture and history are the draw, some routes pass the sultans’ summer residences, the Ottoman palaces that line the strait.

You will see the sights on both the Asian and European shores, from the Ortaköy Mosque to the Maiden’s Tower in the middle of the water. Some boats continue toward the Golden Horn for views of the Blue Mosque, Topkapı Palace, Hagia Sophia, and the Galata Tower lit up after dark.

Alternatively, book a dinner cruise with a Turkish night show: live music on Turkish instruments, belly dancers, a whirling dervish performance, and enough alcohol to rival the bars on shore.

5. Dance at a rooftop bar

Istanbul’s rooftop bars put the skyline in front of you while you drink, and many bring in DJs or live music, so the night can run long. Dress up a bit; most rooftops enforce a dress code.

6. Join a pub crawl

Drinking your way through Beyoğlu is easy to do on your own, but a guided pub crawl helps you skip the tourist traps, and women traveling solo often prefer the mixed-group format. Search for an Istanbul pub crawl and several reputable companies come up.

Two ways to land the night afterward: a Turkish coffee to straighten you out, or the city’s classic late-night bite, kokoreç. Our guide to the best kokoreç in Istanbul explains the dish and where to eat it late.

7. Stroll Istiklal Street, then eat in Taksim

Any honest list of Istanbul nights includes Istiklal Street. Beyond the bars, the avenue holds churches, museums, and the nostalgic red tram running its length.

When you get thirsty, cut into Nevizade Street and join the locals for a Turkish beer in one of the packed pubs. For a proper sit-down meal before or after, our guide to the best restaurants in Taksim covers the neighborhood.

8. Smoke shisha (hookah)

Called nargile in Turkish, hookah bars are places where people gather, tell stories, and relax, like a bar without alcohol. Fiction loves them for their air of mystery; the caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland smokes a hookah on a mushroom and speaks in riddles. If this is your scene, plenty of places stay open late.

9. Visit a Turkish bath

A relaxing oil massage followed by an invigorating body wash can make you feel like a new person, and watching the steam drift around the domes above you settles a long day better than any nightcap. Some hammams in Istanbul stay open late at night, which makes them a good way to unwind after a full day of sightseeing.

10. Watch whirling dervishes

The whirling dervishes originated in the 1300s and follow the teachings of Rumi, also known as Mevlana. UNESCO recognized the practice as cultural heritage in 2008. You can watch a whirling dervish show as entertainment in several places, including some dinner cruises, but the actual ceremony usually happens at the Mevlevi lodges.

A good place to see it is the Galata Mevlevihanesi, which holds a performance every Sunday at 5 p.m. Tickets sell out fast; they go on sale Saturday afternoon through the museum directly. If you cannot make a Sunday, Hodjapasha in Sirkeci hosts daily whirling dervish performances.

11. Watch the dancing fountain in front of the Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque, also known as the Sultanahmet Mosque, is worth circling back to after dark. During the day, street vendors work Sultanahmet Park, and during Ramadan and special events the mosque and the park get decorated. In the evening, the illuminated fountain takes over, and you are within walking distance of Topkapı Palace and Hagia Sophia.

12. Watch the sunset and Maiden’s Tower from Salacak, Üsküdar

Sunset lands well almost anywhere in Istanbul, but the Salacak shore in Üsküdar gives you the Maiden’s Tower lighting up as the sun goes down. If a Bosphorus cruise is outside the budget, this is the next best thing, and it is free. The sun only takes a few minutes to set, so check today’s sunset time before you head out. For dinner on that side of the water, our guide to the best restaurants in Üsküdar covers the area.

13. Visit a shopping mall

If you missed the carpets in the Grand Bazaar or want one of the multi-colored scarves the locals wear, head to a shopping mall. Most malls stay open until 10 pm, so you can shop at night the way Istanbulites do after work. Even if you only window shop, this is one of the more underrated things to do in Istanbul at night.

14. Watch a soccer game

During a pub crawl, you can easily find a place with the game on. Getting into the stadiums to see the players live is harder, especially last minute, because Istanbul is a city crazy about soccer. Even if you do not follow sports, the game is worth watching from a pub; everyone in the room becomes one big family while it is on.

15. Visit the Pera Museum

One of the more unexpected things to do in Istanbul at night is to view orientalist paintings, learn about Anatolian weights and measures, and see the ceramics from Kütahya. If a striking artwork catches your eye in the Grand Bazaar, there is a good chance it traces back to Osman Hamdi Bey, whose work hangs in the Pera Museum. The museum stays open until 10 pm.

Final words

Istanbul after dark feeds you well. Eat meze at a meyhane, kumpir in Ortaköy, street food wherever the night takes you, and kokoreç when everything else has closed.

If you would rather have someone else handle the ordering, join our Taksim Evening Food Tour or Kadıköy Street Food Tour and we will walk you through the city’s best eating, one stop at a time.