Finding the right spot for a sunset in Istanbul is not enough; you also need the right hour. Most people assume the best moment has passed once the sun touches the horizon, and they leave. The real part begins after that.<\/p>\n
The hour before.<\/strong> The light drops low and comes in sideways, picking out the texture of the buildings. This is the best time for photographs.<\/p>\n The sunset itself.<\/strong> It lasts five or ten minutes. The sky turns orange while the city is still light.<\/p>\n The forty minutes after.<\/strong> What photographers call the blue hour. The sky is still bright but sliding into deep blue, and the city’s lights come on during it. Because the two light sources balance, the silhouette of the Historical Peninsula is at its sharpest in this window. Most people miss it.<\/p>\n Sunset in Istanbul shifts by more than three hours across the year:<\/p>\n December\u2013January:<\/strong> around 16:40. Because it darkens early, the view is already lit by the time you sit down to dinner.<\/p>\n March\u2013April:<\/strong> between 19:00 and 19:45.<\/p>\n June\u2013July:<\/strong> stretching to 20:30. Dinner has to be planned early in this period, or you miss the sunset before you are even seated.<\/p>\n September\u2013October:<\/strong> around 19:00, and usually with the clearest skies of the year.<\/p>\n The sun sets in the west, but in Istanbul the sun is not the thing to watch. The view is on the sides facing east and north: the setting light strikes the Historical Peninsula, Galata and the mouth of the Bosphorus from across the water. Turning your back to the sun and looking at the city gives a better result than looking at the sun.<\/p>\n Watched from sea level, the far shore looks compressed. A high vantage point layers the view: park and rooftops in front, water in the middle, the opposite shore behind. This is why the terraces on the ridge of the Historical Peninsula are sought out.<\/p>\n One expectation worth correcting: a completely clear sky is not actually the best. Scattered cloud reflects the light and gives richer colour. Full overcast, of course, hides the sunset altogether.<\/p>\n Being at the table forty-five minutes before sunset is a good rule. That way you catch both the last light and the blue hour, and your order arrives without costing you the view.<\/p>\n Our terrace opens to the view on every side, so you do not have to claim a particular table \u2014 though in the evening they fill quickly. Since the roof and sides open, in winter you watch the same view from a heated room. For bookings, see our Contact page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It is not the moment the sun goes down that matters but the forty minutes after it. Seasonal times, which way to face, and where to watch from.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-istanbul-guide"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverestaurant.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverestaurant.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverestaurant.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverestaurant.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/oliverestaurant.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverestaurant.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliverestaurant.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverestaurant.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliverestaurant.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Times by season<\/h2>\n
Which way to face<\/h2>\n
Height and weather<\/h2>\n
Practical planning<\/h2>\n