You have a variety of ways to enjoy a Bosphorus cruise:
Bosphorus Private Yacht Cruise
Don't let the term "private yacht" scare you. If you have a group of 10 passengers, you can cruise the Bosphorus on a chartered yacht for as little as 38€ per person!
Efendi Travel, a TurkeyTravelPlanner.com partner, offers a variety of private yachts for charter for private Bosphorus cruises. Most vessels have capacities of at least 10 voyagers; several can host larger groups. Minimum charter time is 2 hours, but longer times are available, as are food and beverage services on board, and the services of a professional guide.
Dentur Avrasya
Dentur Avrasya offers a variety of Bosphorus cruises from Kabataş, Beşiktaş, Üsküdar, and Avcılar (west of Atatürk Airport). You can easily reach the Kabataş dock by the T1 Bağcılar-Kabataş tram.
TurYol
TurYol operates the most frequent 1-1/2-hour Bosphorus cruises, departing Eminönü on the hour, with additional voyages from Üsküdar and Kadıköy. The number of voyages depends on the time of year, with fewer in winter, when the few voyages will probably be in the middle of the day, and summer, when there may be hourly cruises throughout the day.
Şehir Hatları Ferryboats
These are the big traditional Istanbul passenger ferryboats beloved by Istanbullus. Take your choice of:
—The Long Tour (Uzun Boğaz Turu), a 6-hour round-trip cruise departing daily at 10:35 am from Eminönü and 15 minutes later from Beşiktaş, calling at Kanlıca, Sarıye, and Rumeli Kavağıbefore arriving at Anadolu Kavağı, the northernmost dock on the Asian shore. Enjoy lunch at one of the many seafood restaurants near the ferry dock during the 3-hour layover, then cruise back to the city, arriving at Eminönü in late afternoon.
—The Short Tour (Kısa Boğaz Turu), a 2-hour round-trip departing Eminönü and Üsküdar daily in mid-afternoon, goes north of the Fatih Bridge, making no stops en route, turns around, and returns. The Short Tour does not operate from November through March(but the even shorter cruises operated by TurYol and Dentur Avrasya do—see below.)
—The Moonlight Cruise (Mehtap Gezisi), a two-hour round-trip leisure cruise, departs Saturday evenings in the warmer months.
Boğaziçi YolTur
Boğaziçi YolTur is a smaller cruise company that launches its Bosphorus cruises from next to the Şehir Hatları temporary Bosphorus Cruise Dock just east of the Galata Bridge at theEminönü (southern end) of the bridge (map).
Boğaziçi YolTur ferryboats depart every hour on the half-hour between 11:30 am and 19:30 (7:30 pm) on a 2-hour cruise calling at Dolmabahçe, Beşiktaş, Ortaköy, Fatih Bridge, Kandilli, Beylerbeyi, Üsküdar, and Leander's Tower (Kız Kulesi) before returning to Eminönü.
Other Boats
There are yet more boats. Walk west from the Eminönü end of Galata Bridge, past the Golden Horn ferry dock (Eminönü Haliç İskelesi) and toward the big T. C. Istanbul Ticaret Üniversitesi building, and you'll see dozens of boats moored along the shore advertising Bosphorus cruises and charter trips. I don't know these boats and can't vouch for their reliability.
—by Tom Brosnahan
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