Event: Turkey - Istanbul

Leander's Tower (Kiz Kulesi)

When:	Daily; not Mon
Where:	Leander's Tower (Kiz Kulesi)
Costs:	Various
Opening Hours:	Various

If you saw the James Bond movie The World is not Enough you may recall the location where M (Judi Dench) was imprisoned and James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) killed the lovely Elekra (Sophie Marceau). If you'd like to pay it a visit, you now can, thanks to renovations which took place in the year 2000.

Leander's Tower, or Kiz Kulesi as it is called in Turkish (don't bother using the English name with a taxi driver), has had a long and eccentric history. Its location on an island in the middle of the Bosphorus (the narrow strip of water which divides Europe and Asia) made it useful to the customs deparment - for quarantining people and animals and even as a cyanide depot.

The romantic position of the Tower led Ovid to stage the tragic love story of Hero and Leander here (hence the English name) and a Byzantine Emperor's daughter apparently met her Maker in its confines, no doubt thanks to a dose of the cyanide stored therein. Nowadays, it welcomes visitors with a smile and a cup of Turkish tea or coffee. In the evenings there are live Turkish musical performances with a banquet thrown in.

Whether you go by day or by night, there can be nowhere more atmospheric to enjoy the views of Istanbul's incredible skyline - does a romantic drink at sunset beckon?