Beşiktaş

About Beşiktaş

Beşiktaş runs along the European shore of the Bosphorus, and almost everything that makes it expensive follows from that single fact. The district climbs from the water at Ortaköy and Arnavutköy up through Bebek and Etiler to Levent, where Istanbul's tallest office towers stand. Within a few kilometres you move from nineteenth-century waterfront houses to glass corporate headquarters, which is why the buyer profile here is so mixed: executives on relocation packages, returning Turkish families, and overseas buyers who want a sea view they can see from the sofa. Transport is unusually good for a hillside district. The M2 metro serves Levent and Gayrettepe, the M6 runs up to Etiler and the university at Hisarüstü, the M7 terminates at Yıldız, and ferries cross from Beşiktaş pier to Üsküdar and Kadıköy in about fifteen minutes. Bebek and Etiler have supported an international community for decades, so English is widely spoken, international schooling is close, and the cafés along the Bebek waterfront stay busy year-round. Expect to pay for it. Beşiktaş is consistently the most expensive of the districts we cover, and genuine Bosphorus-view stock is priced far above the rest of what we list there. Buyers working to a tighter budget usually look at the inland streets around Levent and Gayrettepe, where the same transport links apply without the water frontage.

• Known for
• bosphorus
• waterfront
• expat friendly
• business district
• nightlife