The Bosphorus: Public Ferry or Tourist Cruise, Compared

Everyone tells you to do a Bosphorus cruise. Almost nobody tells you there are four completely different things called that, costing anywhere from the price of a bus fare to the price of a nice dinner, and taking anywhere from twenty minutes to six hours.

Pick the wrong one and you spend an afternoon you did not have, or you miss the half of the strait that is worth seeing. Here is the actual comparison.

Option 1: a commuter ferry

About 20 minutes. Costs a fare. Runs constantly.

The regular city ferries that cross between Europe and Asia are not sightseeing boats, which is exactly why they are good. Eminönü to Üsküdar, or Karaköy to Kadıköy, gets you a glass of tea, a seat outside, the old city skyline behind you and a deck full of people going to work.

It covers only the mouth of the Bosphorus, not the length of it. But as an introduction to the city it is unbeatable, and it costs almost nothing.

Best for: anyone with an hour spare, and anyone wondering whether a longer trip is worth it.

Option 2: the short public tour

About 2 hours. Departs Eminönü.

Şehir Hatları, the public ferry operator, runs a short Bosphorus tour from Eminönü up to İstinye and back, calling at Üsküdar and Ortaköy. You stay on board the whole way.

This is the sweet spot for most visitors. Two hours, no commitment to a whole day, and it takes you past the things people come to see: Dolmabahçe, Ortaköy Mosque under the bridge, the waterfront mansions, Rumeli Hisarı, and both of the bridges in the lower strait.

Best for: a first visit, a half day, anyone who wants the scenery without the afternoon disappearing.

Option 3: the long public tour

About 6 hours including a 3-hour stop. Departs Eminönü.

The full Şehir Hatları run goes all the way up to Anadolu Kavağı, almost at the Black Sea, calling at Beşiktaş, Üsküdar, Kanlıca, Sarıyer and Rumeli Kavağı. You get off at the top, have three hours in a small fishing village, and come back.

This is a genuinely lovely day and it is a day. Three hours in Anadolu Kavağı is a long time: there is a ruined castle on the hill with a serious view, a street of fish restaurants, and not much else. If that sounds good, it is wonderful. If you are in Istanbul for three days, it costs you a quarter of your trip.

Best for: longer stays, repeat visitors, anyone who likes a boat and a walk up a hill.

Option 4: a private or organised cruise

90 minutes to 2 hours, usually. Various operators.

Private companies run frequent round trips from Eminönü and Kabataş, and tour operators include a Bosphorus leg in guided itineraries.

What you are paying for is not a better view. It is a guide telling you whose yalı that is and why the fortress was built in four months, a guaranteed seat, a departure time that fits a plan, and no queue. For a first visit those are worth real money, because the Bosphorus without commentary is beautiful scenery you cannot identify.

What to avoid: the dinner cruises with live music and a show. They sail after dark, when you cannot see the shore, and the food is not the reason anyone remembers them.

Best for: first visits, limited time, anyone who wants to understand what they are looking at.

Which side to sit on

Heading north from Eminönü, Europe is on your left and Asia on your right. Most of the famous sights in the lower strait are on the European side: Dolmabahçe, Ortaköy, Rumeli Hisarı. The Asian side gives you Beylerbeyi Palace, Küçüksu and the quieter wooden mansions.

So sit on the left going up, and swap sides coming back. On the open upper deck nobody minds you moving.

What you actually pass

• Dolmabahçe Palace, the long white nineteenth-century facade just past Kabataş.
• Ortaköy Mosque, sitting on the water directly under the first bridge. The most photographed hundred metres in Istanbul.
• Rumeli Hisarı, the fortress Mehmed II built in four months in 1452 to cut the city off by sea.
• The yalıs, the wooden waterfront mansions, most of them eighteenth and nineteenth century and some of the most expensive property in the country.
• Two bridges, and on the long tour a third much further north.

Practical notes

• Take a layer. It is cold on the water even in summer, and windy at the north end in any season.
• Go late in the afternoon if you can. The light along the European shore around sunset is the reason people fall in love with this city.
• Buy tea on board. It is part of it.
• For getting to the piers, and for how the fare card works, see our guide to getting around Istanbul.

Our Istanbul Grand Tour includes a guided Bosphorus leg alongside the old city and the bazaars, which is the version that answers the question this article is really about: what am I looking at, and why does it matter.