Galata’s Genoese street plan predates any notion of the automobile: stepped lanes three meters wide falling steeply to the Golden Horn, walled by five-story 19th-century apartments. The geometry self-shades — most of the descent sees direct sun for less than two hours a day — and the water at the bottom supplies the breeze.
These picks run the descent, the Karaköy arcade fragments, and the Istiklal passage network — the covered çarşı galleries that let you cross Beyoğlu out of the sun.