Sakip Sabanci Museum

Not prominent in guidebooks but one of my favourite museums in Istanbul. It is in a former prince's palace in beautiful gardens with magnificent views over the Bosporous. The museum is attached to the Sakıp Sabancı University. There are three levels for temporary exhibitions and one level preserved in the state of the original Ottoman palace. When I was there, there was an exhibition of work by David Hockey, touring from the Royal Academy in London, an exhibition of work by an Ottoman Prince and last Caliph of Turkey, and a fascinating exhibition of Ottoman-period calligraphy. The restaurant is run by the university catering students and serves the best food I had in three months Istanbul. They also serve cocktails including gin and tonic made to your own specification: type of gin, type of tonic and type of garnish (find the menu on line). Get there by taking a ferry to Ermirğan. It is a short walk from the quay and adjacent to Ermirğan park.

Very interesting museum in Emirgan which deserves being visited. I went there many times and saw many temporay exhibitions. Nice garden.

We took the ferry from Eminonu to Emirgan, and from there is was a short walk to the museum. There is an entrance fee which for some reason the credit card machine was not working, so we had to pay in cash. We started our visit by viewing the current exhibition by David Hockney, and then went to the bottom floor to look at the exhibition on the life and art of Abdülmecid Efendi which was more interesting. The house itself was a bit underwhelming, but walking outside in the garden was more pleasant.

The museum's website lists free entry on Wednesdays. But show up at the museum and they'll tell you this is out of date info and you need to pay entry. No explanation, no apology. Obviously I wasn't the first person to have this experience, but they're happy to let people know only at the door that they've been misled. Terrible communication over cancelled Marina Abramovic tickets. Decent small collection, but I won't bother with them again.

Grossly mismanaged museum. As you enter the gates the sign directs you up a steep hill to the museum. As you enter the museum and with security screening you will be asked for a ticket to enter by the security guard, not by someone to direct to the ticket counter. Oh, the ticket counter is at the bottom of the hill you just lumbered up! There is no indication to this ticket counter as you enter the museum grounds. Nothing starts my afternoon better than a screaming and inarticulate security guard.