Maçka Park entrance

©Jennifer Hattam/Lonely Planet

Maçka Park

Nişantaşi, Bomonti & Harbiye


On a sunny weekend afternoon, you’ll find this slender green oasis in central İstanbul full of picnicking families, canoodling couples and slackline-balancing teens. Year-round, it’s beloved by neighbourhood dog-walkers, joggers and anyone else seeking a bit of open space and fresh air as a respite from the city’s crowds and chaos. The park’s facilities include a well-equipped children’s playground, some outdoor exercise machines, a small dog run and a public toilet.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Nişantaşi, Bomonti & Harbiye attractions

1. Military Museum

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This sprawling museum located in a former 19th-century military school 1km north of Taksim has a huge collection of militaria dating from the 13th century…

2. Dolmabahçe Palace

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These days it’s fashionable for architects and critics influenced by the less-is-more aesthetic of Bauhaus masters to sneer at buildings such as…

3. Palace Collections Museum

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Occupying the warehouse-like Dolmabahçe Palace kitchens, this museum exhibits items used in the royal palaces and pavilions during the late Ottoman Empire…

4. National Palaces Painting Museum

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5. Beşiktaş Çarşı

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The beating heart of Beşiktaş, this bustling backstreet area packed with shops, restaurants, bars, cafes – and the neighbourhood’s youthful crowd – is…

6. Republic Monument

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7. Taksim Meydanı

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8. İstanbul Naval Museum

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Established over a century ago to celebrate and commemorate Turkish naval history, this museum's architecturally noteworthy copper-clad exhibition hall…