balat istanbul

Balat Istanbul: An Ethical Visit To The Colorful Houses Of Balat

In this age of social media, traveling has become so straightforward and convenient for everyone. The terms such as ‘hidden gem’ and ‘off beaten track’ no more make any sense to me as there is barely any place left on the planet, which has not been shared on social media or Instagram to be precise. However, just like this accessibility to everywhere has made life easy for the travelers, on the other hand, it has costed a huge price for the locals living in these places.

Balat Istanbul is one of the many ‘Instagram finds’, which has now become a popular tourist spot in Istanbul. However, unlike the other tourist places, Balat in Istanbul is not a tourist attraction but a residential area where real locals of Istanbul lives. The area rose to popularity due to the colorful houses in Balat, which suddenly became everyone’s favorite place to get that best shot for the gram the moment their pictures were circulated on social media. Though there is nothing so wrong in exploring all the nooks and corners of a city or clicking pictures of it, however, it should be done with some ethics at the least, especially if the place is a residential area like Balat in Istanbul.

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How To Get To Balat in Istanbul?

Here is a map of Balat, so save the coordinates if you plan to visit the colorful houses of Balat while in Istanbul.

There is no direct tram connection to Balat from the touristy center of Sultanamet and Eminonu. However, there are two alternate ways to reach the colorful houses of Balat.

  • The fastest way to reach Balat without much walking or hassle is to take a taxi to Balat.
  • If you would like to use the public transport instead, you can take a tram to Eminonu and then walk to ferry terminal at Karakoy. From Karakoy, take a ferry directly to Balat.

What Made Balat Istanbul Every Tourist’s Favorite Place?

Balat in Istanbul is located in the non-touristy neighborhood on the European side of the city. Much like the rest of Istanbul, Balat is also built on a hill, with ascends and descends throughout the area. There is a street called the colorful houses of Balat Street which have the most Instagrammed houses completely painted in yellow, orange and blue.

Since the area has gained popularity, just a short stroll away from the colorful houses of Balat, there are streets filled with cute and tiny decorated cafes and antique shops. I absolutely loved the café streets as it is colorful and vibrant! Some of the shops are even underground but the owners have maintained and decorated them so well. The old and rusty walls of the area are beautifully painted with graffiti by the locals. Some of the graffiti is very eye-catching!

The locals of Balat seem to be quite creative people who happen to love colors. There is a flight of colorful stairs called the Rainbow Stairs, which was supposedly painted by the locals as they wanted the area to look beautiful and colorful. The municipality painted it back to the boring grey color, but the locals protested and painted the steps again. Little did they know their desire to make their neighborhood colorful would result into making it an ‘influencer magnet’ with tons of influencers and tourists hanging around and taking turns to get a picture on the stairs.

How The Popularity Negatively Affected Balat in Istanbul?

During my recent trip to Istanbul, I added Balat in my must-visit list, however, what I saw there left me really sad and disappointed. My purpose of visiting Balat was to ‘see’ the place and take a couple of pictures just for memory. Upon reaching the colorful houses of Balat, I saw tons of people, mostly women, who were getting them photographed right in the center of the road not minding any vehicle or humans or even cats!

Mind you, it is not a very wide street where all of this photography was happening. What was going on there were full-fledged photoshoots with all the angles possible. To get the perfect angle, the photographers were not minding blocking the entrance to someone’s house. I even saw an old resident struggling to park his car due to these Instagram models photoshoots. It was a weird sight and a very disappointing experience to see people forget all ethics and go crazy just to get what? A freaking picture!

This photography session was happening since before I reached there and it continued till I left the place, some twenty minutes later. Yes, that lady still didn’t get her perfect shot even after twenty minutes of continuous posing and a billion pictures until I was there.

balat istanbul
People gathered for taking pictures in front of the colorful houses of Balat

Ethical Ways To Take While Visiting Balat Istanbul

After my sort of horrible experience in Balat, I have listed down the following ethical measures to follow if you are visiting Balat or any other residential turned tourist place in the world.

Don’t Invade People’s Privacy

Can I have an amen for this? When visiting a place like Balat, the first and foremost thing to take care of is to respect the fact that those buildings are real people’s houses and not public monuments. Taking a picture in front of it is not that big of a crime unless it is done without bothering anyone. Be mindful that your pictures should not capture any personal activity those residents must be doing. Definitely, I would never like to be a backdrop of anyone’s picture while I am mowing my lawn or sipping a coffee in my balcony. If you see those residents doing any such activity, which could be captured in your picture, just abort mission!

Don’t Block The Way

Considering the colorful houses of Balat Street is pretty narrow, for your own safety and the sanity of others passing by, please don’t pose at a spot which might block the way. Try to find a corner spot as angled pictures often turn out to be better than the centric ones. The most basic thing to do here is to just wait for the street to be clear of any cars or people and then do your business quickly. As it is not a tourist attraction but someone’s home, try to be as quick as possible. A couple of pictures will suffice for your memory log; you clearly don’t need hundreds of them at the same place.

narrow streets of Balat Istanbul
Congested streets of Balat

Don’t Get Too Close To The Houses

I feel very sorry while writing this, but sadly people have completely forgotten all the basic ethics of being a tourist. In order to get a great photo, I have seen people getting as close as possible to the houses. Some of them have the audacity to literally pose right in front of the houses entrance door. This is something very absurd and I would never encourage anyone to do it. Please maintain a fair distance from the houses while clicking the pictures. Posing at the entrance door is a big fat NO!

Visit As Early As Possible

The best way to visit Balat in Istanbul is to plan your visit as early in the morning as possible. In this way, you could get empty streets and the residents might not have started their daily chores, so your visit to the colorful houses would not bother anyone.

Avoid Visiting The Colorful Houses Altogether

After my experience at the street of the colorful houses, I somewhat regretted visiting there. However, my purpose was to only explore and see the place and not take a million pictures in front of it. Nonetheless, I still felt guilty of contributing to the negative impact of tourism those locals are experiencing. There is so much more to do in Balat, things which have been built just to facilitate the tourists. It includes things like the many cafes, antique shops, and some spectacular wall art.

These are the things which are deliberately done by the municipality for the tourists, but not the houses. Those local didn’t paint their houses to be a picture background of every tourist visiting Istanbul. They are just houses painted in a bright color, nothing else, and nothing fancy. Believe me, there is no harm in avoiding visiting the colorful houses of Balat altogether. 

Some Positives For Locals From Balat’s Popularity

I have discussed enough negatives which the locals of Balat Istanbul have faced; however, there are some positives as well, which have turned out to be beneficial for the locals. As mentioned already, Balat is a congested area with small alleys and streets; therefore, it can get completely impossible to take a car inside if you are on a self-driving trip.

As I struggled to find parking for myself near the cafes, I noticed local boys running valet services. A guy standing with a small desk and a chair on the corner of the street waved at me to stop as soon as I entered Balat. Upon inquiring, he told me he offers valet service. Initially, I was a bit skeptical about handing over my rented car to him but then I saw every other tourist doing the same. Well, then I knew it was completely safe to do so.

The guy handed me a receipt and I just paid 30 Turkish Lira (USD 5.3) for unlimited hours of parking. Isn’t that cool? Apparently, these guys use their personal house parking spots for valet parking. It was great to finally see the locals making side earnings from all the trouble caused to them by the tourists. I won’t be surprised if the owners of the colorful houses will also start charging a fee from the tourists to take a picture in front of their properties.

Also Read: A Photo Guide of a Day Trip To The Princes Island From Istanbul

General Tips On Visiting Balat

Balat is a cobbled street neighborhood built on a hill, which requires a sufficient amount of walking if you want to visit all the cafes, cute shops, and colorful houses. Therefore, be equipped with the following essential things when visiting Balat:

  • Comfortable shoes
  • A hat and sunglasses if visiting during the afternoon
  • Wear plenty of sunblock
  • Carry water especially in summer
  • Some snacks if you don’t wish to spend money dining in the cafes

Places To Stay In Balat

Balat is a great alternative to stay in Istanbul away from the tourist crowd of Sultanahmet and Eminonu. As Balat is still not a full-fledged tourist hub, therefore, the accommodation options are fairly limited. Troya Hotel and Balat Residence are the two best places to stay in Balat.

Still confused about where to stay in Balat? Compare hotel prices and check reviews here:

Save on your hotel - hotelscombined.com

If you don’t plan to stay in Balat, then your best bet is to visit the colorful neighborhood with a guided walking tour. Balat is made up of small and confusing alleys so it is very easy to get lost in the identical small streets. Book any of these guided walking tours in Balat before they are sold out!


To discover more about fascinating Turkey, how about one of my other posts?

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Balat is Istanbul is a colorful residential neighborhood. Therefore, visiting there requires some basic ethical concerns to be taken care of. To know more about how to visit Balat in Istanbul, read this post #balat #balatinistanbul #colofulhousesofbalat #colorfulhouses

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