Istanbul Bear Guide, Turkish Gay Bears

Information about Turkish Gay Bears in Istanbul

Gay, bear, hairy and Turk !
Turkish bears form a remarkable community in Istanbul's gay life, although there are not so many bear-exclusive gay venues. Istanbul's bears are interacting with each other in several bars, clubs and via internet. There has been several very successful international bear parties in Istanbul in the last years, supported by international bear community. Turkish bears are easy going people and have less problems with the society which can traditionally absorb straight-acting males more easily. Bears from all around the world are invited to discover Istanbul's exotic bear life. Although the Turkish counterpart of the word bear (ayi) has been used to define rude and rowdy people (sometimes in a humorous way) bearness as a style has already been a part of the Turkish culture, even before it became a trend in international gay life. Turkish bears are very natural and also have advantages ethnically.

Bear Friendly Bars and Clubs in Istanbul

Stay Club (22:00-05:00)
Address: I mam Adnan Sok, No 8, Kat 3 Beyoglu, Istanbul
Web: Stay Club (Click for guest reviews, videos, pictures and more)
Stay Club is located on a by-street along the Istiklal Avenue, near Taksim Square. Please make sure to go to the right place because other clubs in the same building can be really expensive. After entering the building, climb to the upper floor by stairs and then take the elevator to the 2nd floor, where the name of the venue is written next to the elevator button. The club owners reported it as a mainly-bear club in a message sent to Istanbulgay Com in September 2021: "Stay Club recently opened its doors in Istanbul as the only bear gay bar in Istanbul. Club is open every night and visited by not only bear gays, but also by locals and foreigners."

Babel Park Cafe & Restaurant
Address: S ht. Pilot Mahmut Nedim Sokagi, No:3,Fatih, Istanbul
This cafe & restaurant under gay-friendly Babil Park Hotel is a gathering point for mostly bear gay men since 2018. It is a place where local bears, straight acting and mature gay men visit very often in early evening. Although it rather looks like a restaurant you can also go just to drink beer. The prices are average. Being on the main road, it is not an exclusively gay venue where straight people passing-by might also visit often.

Tekyon (23:00-05:00)
Address: Siraselviler Street, No: 63/1 Taksim, Beyoglu. Istanbul.
Web: IstanbulGay / Tekyon (Click for guest reviews, videos, pictures and more)
Tekyon had a considerable bear scene several years ago. It later became one of the most popular gay clubs of Istanbul, and the bears became less visible. You can still see some bears in the club, especially on busy Saturday nights. They even offer a bear go-go show sometimes and the manager and some of the bar-tenders are senior people in bear life of the city.

Club Cheeky - 01:00-07:00
Address: Tarlabasi Bulvari, No: 32 Takim, Istanbul.
Web: IstanbulGay / Cheeky (Click for guest reviews, videos, pictures and more)
Cheeky Club is not intended to welcome only bear people and it is a total mixture, but being the only morning gay club (busy after some 3 a.m) you can see many bear and mature gay guys in this club. The entrance fee is a little over average (apprx 15 Euro) and are very strict about it. You can see a mixture of gays, some bears and even few rent-boys and transvestites. It is located on very close to Taksim Square, next to Cartoon Hotel. It had a small darkroom in the previous venue which was is the main reason of its popularity. The terrace floor of the new venue (once Ekoo Club) is expected to function like that.

Durak Pub (CLOSED)
Web: IstanbulGay / Durak (Click for guest reviews, videos, pictures and more)
ATTENTION: This venue was closed completely during the Covid 19 period. We will inform if it re-opens or moves to a new place in the course of time.

Meeting Points for Turkish Bears in Istanbul

Simit Sarayi Taksim
Address: Tarlabası Bulvari, No: 6 Taksim, Istanbul.
This is not a gay venue.- There are always several venues around Taksim square which functions as meeting places for gay men in day time ear early evenings, usually before going to gay bars/clubs. This is one of them. It is a a branch of Turkish-owned tea house chain. There are many gays hanging around on the upper floor, mostly straight acting men and bears. Beware of some hustlers who also comes to this place.

EspressoLab Taksim
Address: Istiklal Avenue, No: 15, Taksim, Istanbul.
This is not a gay venue - It is the Taksim branch of coffee house chain located on Istiklal Avenue close to Taksim square. You can see several gay men sitting at the tables facing Istiklal Avenue, but the terrace floor is especially full of many gays, including many bearish types. Despite is is not a gay venue, the terrace floor may be overwhelmingly gay during weekend nights.

Other Bars and Clubs
Naturally, there may be bears in any other gay bars in Istanbul. Click here for full list of gay bars and clubs.

Bear Friendly Baths in Istanbul

Traditionally Hamams (Turkish baths) are the most popular venues among bears and mature gay men living in Istanbul. The following Turkish bath are the one where it is most likely to meet other Turkish gay bears as well as gay tourists.

Firuzagha Hamam. (10:00-23:00)
Address: Cukurcuma Cd. No: 6 Cukurcuma, Beyoglu
Web: TurkishBathGuide/ Firuzaga.htm
A small historical bath house in Beyoglu can be the one most popular one for gays and most recommended if you want to see the local ambiance. It is located at the end of the same street where (now-closed) Cukurcuma Hamam was. Cukurcuma street is actually famous with the antique shops all around it.

Yeshildirek Sifa Hamam (10:00-20:00)
Address: Tershane Cad. No:124, Azapkapı, Beyoglu, Istanbul
Web: TurkishBathGuide/ Yesildirek.htm
A mixture of various types, ages of people visit here. It is right below the eastern leg of Ataturk bridge (also known as Unkapani Koprusu). This is the second kopru (bridge) after Galata Bridge over Halic (Golden Horn) The bath house is on the Taksim/Beyoglu side of Ataturk bridge, its entrance facing the Golden Horn. You can take a short taxi or walk some 15 minutes from Karakoy, along the Golden Horn. If you come from Taksim by a public bus, you need to get off at Sishane bus-stop (after Omer Hayyam), cross the street and walk shortly down to the sea side.

Cihangir Sauna
Address: Altipatlar Sokak, No: 14. Cukurcuma / Beyoglu / Istanbul
Web: TurkishBathGuide/ Cihangir.htm
The entrance fee is 45 TL as of February 2016, which makes it the most expensive among other crusing bath houseas and saunas. It is also the most liberal, the most neclected and the least friendly compared to its alternatives. Since the gay crusing venues are usually not very well maintained and friendly in general, you can stll try this place once. It is not a traditional Turkish bath. Basically it has a sauna, some kind of a dark room, showers and a cafe-lounge area

Click here for other cruising bath houses in Istanbul, with location maps and visitor reviews
Click here for other (non-gay) saunas and historical Turkish baths in Istanbul.

Bear Cruising in Istanbul

Most of the regular gay cruising areas are also recommended to bear people as well. Just like in other big cities around the world cruising areas, especially isolated parks are where gay people should be a little careful and selective with the people they meet. These places are discovered by some thieves and pick-pockets. Especially be careful if the person you meet tries to take you to isolated places for sex. In such cases make sure there are no other people following you - a common trick to rob gay men in cruising areas. We recommend you not to carry your valuable things on you when you go to outdoor cruising places, just in case. Please also read this page for general safety warnings.

Gay cruising places are not as busy as they used to be since internet and cell phones became widespread; especially after gay mobile applications were launched. The most popular dating app in Turkey is Hornet among Turkish LGBTQ people since Grindr was banned for not filtering pornographic content. Nowadays, almost every Turkish gay men, as well as many transgender people, rent-boys and bisexual men are there on Hornet. A less popular mobile dating application especially among Turkish gay bears is Growlr as expectedly. Naturally, you should be a little careful if you date someone via gay dating applications, just like anywhere else in the world. You can also come across many rent-boys on these dating applications, some of whom may not tell it in advance. It is better to ask directly if you have such a suspicion. .

Bear cruising areas in Istanbul

Muratpasa Park, Aksaray
Muratpasa Park is a cruising and gathering spot for bears and other gay men. Unlike other cruising parks this is a busy park with straight people normally with many cafe houses in the vicinity, but mostly straight acting, bear gay man are also always around, usually sitting on benches around the pool. Action is not possible naturally.

Fatih Park
Fatih park is near Aksaray. It is across from the administrative building of Istanbul Municipality (Istanbul Belediyesi). If you are coming from Taksim, you need to stop at Sarachane bus-stop (at the underpass), shortly before you come to Aksaray. It lost its popularity since 2016 after the municipality moved out the benches and put a lot of lights in the vicinity. (see on Google Map)

Taksim Park
The park is behind the Mc Donald's, near Taksim Square. The part of the park closer to the sea-side is more cruisy especially in the evenings. There are civil and uniformed policemen in the park in recent years. Although they will be tolerating tourists to some dgree, they can give you a hard time if you get caught having sex outside. Do not go with people to lower and isolated parts of the park for safety reasons. Beware of rent-boys and thieves around, but do not be scared to walk around in the central area. Afternoons and early evening and Sundays can be recommended to meet other bears.

Click here for a complete list of gay cruising spots in Istanbul.

Bear Beaches in Istanbul
As already mentioned on the webpage dedicated to gay beaches, there are no obvious gay beach areas in Istanbul. If you are a swimming-bear no matter what, please click here for full list of of recommended beaches in Istanbul, among which the isolated beaches in Prince's Islands are still more recommendable to bear people on holiday.

Bear Dating & Internet Resources.

Turkish Gays Google Group
This is a group for meeting Turkish gay men and sharing info. The group is not particularly for bears, but there are many bears among its members exceeding 5000 people in total

IstanBears
Istanbul Bears organize local and international bear meetings, parties and events for bears, chubs, cubs, chasers and admirers to build well communication between Turkish bears,

Bears of Ankara
Facebook group aiming to bring Turkish gay bears living in capital city Ankara..

Bear Friendly Istanbul Hotels.

COLORFUL FLAT - AirBnb Apartment

Location: Harbiye, Taksim.
Rates starting from 30 / 40 Euro (winter / summer)
Completely renovated recently, this furnished apartment is in very gay friendly apartment in Harbiye, the most LGBT friendly and most popular expatriate district of the city of Istanbul. This fully furnished apartment with Air-Condition, Smart TV, Netflix, free WIFI, has a small bedroom with a double bed and two medium-size living rooms with sofa beds for extra guests.
Click here for more details about the apartment.
Click here make a reservation via AirBnb

BABEL PARK HOTEL - ISTANBUL

Hotel Babel Park is probably the most bear-ish accommodation in Istanbul, managed by bear guys and located in Aksaray, which is the district mostly popular among Turkish bears, mature man and straight acting gay men. It is also has a cafe bar at the entrance floor which is the one of the most visible gathering place for Turkish bears. The near-by Muratpasa Park is also a cruising and gathering spot for bears and other gay men.
Book Now: Make instant & Online reservation via Booking Com. Free cancellation option is available.

THE FOX TAKSIM - Recommended Hotel
Booking.com

Location: Elmadag, Sisli
Rates starting from 49 / 79 Euro (winter / summer)
The Fox Taksim is a very gay friendly hotel located 1.9 km from Taksim Square and 2.6 km from Istiklal Street. The property has a 24-hour front desk, room service and currency exchange for guests. At the hotel, rooms include a balcony. Certain rooms are contain a kitchenette with a fridge and a stovetop. The rooms at The Fox Taksim come with a TV with satellite channels.
Click here to see more details on hotel's webpage. Instant online reservation option via Booking Com is also available there for those who prefer.

ALL ISTANBUL HOTELS

You can see a complete list of Istanbul hotels and make online booking via Booking Com. You can list hotels in order of price, staring and recommendation. Real time guest ratings also will be very helpful when choose your hotel according to your needs.
Click here for Istanbul Hotels >>

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Bear Events & Discussion Forum

We will be posting important bear events in Istanbul under this section. You can also participate by starting a discussion, asking questions or by writing replies to other commentators' posts..