Most people who come to Galata see the tower and leave. The neighbourhood itself is in the streets around it, and those are free.
Serdar-ı Ekrem. The street running downhill from the tower, lined with nineteenth-century apartment houses. The façades have been restored and the ground floors hold designers' shops and small cafés. It is the most photogenic street in Galata and it takes the afternoon light well.
Galip Dede. The climb from Tünel up to the tower, and the street of instrument makers: bağlama, oud, guitars, drums. Looking in the windows is an outing in itself; if you want to go in and play something, nobody minds.
Camekân and Büyük Hendek. Directly behind the tower. The Galata Mevlevihane is on this side — open as a museum, with sema ceremonies. One street away from the crowd.
Şah Değirmeni and around. Our street and its neighbours: quiet, steep, full of cats. Being off the tourist line is exactly why real neighbourhood life is visible here — the grocer, the tailor, the coffee house.
The tower square. Where the crowd collects. If you do want to go up, go at nine; by the afternoon the queue is an hour. If you are not going up, walk through and carry on — you lose nothing.
A suggested route: start at Tünel, climb Galip Dede, cross the tower square, come down Serdar-ı Ekrem and finish in Karaköy. An hour and a half, and downhill nearly all the way.