Forum Istanbul

Forum Istanbul sits in Bayrampaşa, north-west of Taksim, and the honest framing is this: it is not on your doorstep. Seven kilometres, and the M1B from Taksim to Bayrampaşa is the sensible way in, with a ten-minute walk from the station to the mall. Allow thirty-five minutes each way.

What earns the trip is not the shopping. Forum is a large, well-run complex with a genuinely big car park, and up on the upper floors there is a multi-screen cinema, a bowling alley, and a range of restaurants and a food court that will keep a group of mixed ages occupied for an afternoon when the weather has turned.

The retail is mainstream: Mango, H&M, LC Waikiki, Boyner and similar, plus a decent selection of Turkish brands and a few homewares and electronics stores. Nothing you cannot get at Cevahir, and Cevahir is two metro stops away. But if your group includes someone who does not want to shop, Forum is easier for them than a mall of boutiques.

There is also the metrobüs, which runs along the same corridor and is faster than the metro at rush hour. If you are going, going early in the day — before two — makes the difference between a pleasant hour and a fight with the car park.