6 Best Sights in The Asian Shore, Istanbul

At the upper end of the Asian shore, Anadolu Kavağı is the final destination on the full Bosphorus cruises. A pretty little fishing village, it gets enough tourists to have a large number of seafood restaurants, waffle stands, and ice cream shops. The main attraction is the dramatically situated Byzantine Castle (aka Yoros Castle), a 15-minute walk uphill from the village. The hill was once the site of a temple to Zeus Ourios (god of the favoring winds), which dates back, legend has it, to the days when Jason passed by in search of the Golden Fleece. The castle, built by the Byzantines and expanded by their Genoese allies, is today in a fairly ruined state, but the climb up is still worth it for the spectacular views over the upper Bosphorus from the cafés and restaurants just below its walls.

Built as a summer residence for Sultan Abdülaziz in 1865, this palace is like Dolmabahçe in that incorporates a mix of European and Turkish styles, but it is smaller, less grandiose, and has a more personal feel. You must join a tour to see Beylerbeyi, which has ornately painted ceilings, Baccarat crystal chandeliers, gold-topped marble columns, and intricately carved wooden furniture. In addition, its central hall has a white-marble fountain and a stairway wide enough for a regiment. The magnolia-shaded grounds on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, underneath the first bridge, are also pleasant. Two waterfront bathing pavilions (one was for men, the other for women) stand out for their fanciful architecture.

With recently uncovered visible evidence of its beginnings as the ancient Greek colony of Chalcedon, the relaxed, suburban neighborhood of Kadıköy is a pleasant area to explore on foot once you get away from the busy area near the ferry. The area just up from the Kadıköy dock, to the south of busy Söğütlü Çeşme Caddesi, is known as the Çarşı, or "market"—a grid of narrow, pedestrian-only lanes filled with a small open-air food market, shops, cafés, nightlife venues, and a few modern churches. Güneşlibahçe Sokak, home to an assortment of fish restaurants and some bars, is particularly lively. Several streets up and farther to the right, Kadife Sokak, dubbed Barlar Sokağı, or "bars street," is the center of Kadıköy's nightlife, lined with small, wooden rowhouses occupied by bars with a casual, laid-back vibe. A tiny, nostalgic tram runs in a clockwise direction up General Asım Gündüz, from where it loops down to the lovely waterfront neighborhood of Moda before stopping at the Kadıköy dock. If you've come this far on foot, it's nice to ride the tram back to the dock.

Just north of the second Bosphorus bridge, this village-turned-suburb has been famous for its delicious yogurt for at least 300 years, and small restaurants around the square by the quay serve this treat. Nearby, white, 19th-century, wooden villas line the waterfront. Kanlıca is the first stop on the Asian shore on the full Bosphorus cruises leaving from Eminönü.

Fortified since Byzantine times, this little islet off the Asian shore guarded busy shipping lanes and has a restored, lighted, 18th-century tower that is now the star of the lower Bosphorus. Leander's Tower, as it was known in antiquity, ties the island to the legend of Leander, who was said to have swum the strait each night guided by the lamp of his lover, Hero—though this myth was, in fact, set in the Dardanelles to the southwest. The Turkish name "Maiden's Tower" comes from another legend, this one associated with several offshore castles. As the story goes, a princess was placed on an island to keep her safe after a prophecy foretold her death from a snakebite. Despite this precaution, she was bitten anyway, when a snake came ashore in a basket of fruit. The current tower is still undergoing some renovations, but it usually houses an expensive (and not all that impressive) café and restaurant.

One of the oldest inhabited areas on the Asian shore takes its name from the 7th-century BC settlement of Scutari, though nothing now remains of that ancient town. Today, Üsküdar is a conservative residential district with a handful of noteworthy Ottoman mosques. Though still rather chaotic, the waterfront area has undergone substantial renovation to accommodate the Marmaray, a rail tunnel under the Bosphorus that transports passengers from Üsküdar to Sirkeci in just four minutes. The ferry landing is dominated by Sinan's pretty, if somewhat dark, Mihrimah Sultan Camii, also known as the İskele Camii (built 1548). The large Yeni Valide Camii from 1710 and another Sinan mosque, the small, beautifully situated Şemsi Paşa Camii, are a short walk southwest along the waterfront.