Bosphorus cruise from Eminönü

What it is

The Long Bosphorus Tour is Şehir Hatları's own scenic ferry, running the full length of the strait from Eminönü, on the historic peninsula, north to Anadolu Kavağı near the mouth of the Black Sea, then back the same way.

Şehir Hatları — City Lines — is the municipal ferry operator, not a tour company: it began in 1851 as the Şirket-i Hayriye, was nationalised in 1937, and passed to the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality in March 2006. The Long Tour runs on the operator's regular published timetable rather than a seasonal charter, which is why it turns up on every list of things to do in Istanbul: it is a scheduled public service, priced like one, that happens to be the single best vantage point over the strait the city is built around.

A Short Bosphorus Tour and separate Sunset Cruises also run from the same operator; this guide covers the Long Tour, the one that reaches Anadolu Kavağı.

Checked 2026-08-24 · Source

What's inside

Sit on the right-hand side going north — the European shore — for the palaces and the bridges; the return leg then shows the Asian shore from the same seat.

Out of Eminönü the boat passes under the Galata Bridge and along the Beşiktaş waterfront, where Dolmabahçe Palace's white facade runs straight to the water. Further north the strait passes under both suspension bridges — the 15 July Martyrs Bridge and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge — and beneath Rumeli Hisarı, the fortress Mehmed the Conqueror built on the European shore in 1452 to control the crossing before the siege of Constantinople.

The strait itself narrows as the boat goes: it runs 31 km between its two lighthouse limits, widens to about 3,420 m near Büyükdere, and pinches to its narrowest point, roughly 700 m, between Kandilli and Aşiyan — close enough there to see individual windows on the wooden yalıs lining both banks. The tour's northern end is Anadolu Kavağı, a former fishing village under the ruined Genoese Yoros Castle, with a line of fish restaurants along its quay.

Checked 2026-08-24 · Source

How long to spend

A half-day at minimum: the sailing runs the full 31 km strait to Anadolu Kavağı and back, with a stop ashore at the far end before the return sailing.

The exact one-way sailing time and the length of the stop at Anadolu Kavağı are not published on the source this page uses, and are not estimated here; the operator's timetable page names the departure and return times for the day travelled and should be checked before planning around it.

Most travellers use the stop at Anadolu Kavağı for a fish lunch and a climb up to Yoros Castle before rejoining the boat; skipping the climb shortens the stop but not the sailing itself.

Checked 2026-08-24

Season and crowds

A clear morning, for the light on the water and the shore; the tour runs year-round on the operator's regular timetable rather than a seasonal schedule.

Overcast days flatten the view of both shores and a strong meltemi wind from the north can make the open stretch above Rumeli Hisarı choppy. Summer weekends draw the largest crowds at both ends of the journey, at the Eminönü pier and at Anadolu Kavağı's restaurant quay; a weekday sailing avoids most of that without changing the route.

Checked 2026-08-24

Tickets

Paid the same way as any other Şehir Hatları line: an Istanbulkart tap at the turnstile, or a single-journey token bought at the pier if no card is carried.

The current fare is not published in a form this page can verify and is not reproduced here; the operator's price-tariff page, linked from the timetable, lists the fare current on the day of travel. There is no separate reservation and no assigned seating — a ticket buys a place on the boat, taken on a first-aboard basis.

Checked 2026-08-24 · Source

Getting there

Eminönü pier, on the Golden Horn side of the historic peninsula, directly under the Galata Bridge and a five-minute walk from the Sirkeci tram stop on the T1 line.

The pier serves several Şehir Hatları lines side by side, so the boarding gate for the Bosphorus Tours is signed separately from the inner-city ferry gates at the same pier — arriving with time to find the right gate matters more here than at a single-line pier.

Checked 2026-08-24

What to watch out for

The boat is open to the weather on its upper deck; there is no shade and, on the water, wind that is not felt on land. A layer for the return leg is worth carrying even on a warm day.

The best seats on the upper deck fill first on a busy sailing, and there is no reserved seating to fall back on — arriving at the pier with time before departure is the only way to choose a side rather than take whatever is left. At Anadolu Kavağı, the fish restaurants along the quay are priced for the passing trade rather than for locals; checking a price before ordering avoids a surprise.

Checked 2026-08-24

Photography

The fortress-and-bridge sequence between Rumeli Hisarı and the two suspension bridges is the shot most passengers come for, best taken from the European-side rail with the boat's own wake out of frame.

At the narrowest point, between Kandilli and Aşiyan, the two shores are close enough that a standard lens holds a wooden yalı on each side in one frame. From Anadolu Kavağı, Yoros Castle sits on the hill above the village and is worth the short climb for the view back down the strait the boat has just sailed.

Checked 2026-08-24

Where it is

• 30 min

  3 min walk · Fatih

  Hidayet Mosque

  • High · Heritage site
  • Place of worship
• 1 hr 30 min

  3 min walk · Fatih

  Istanbul Railway Museum

  • Must see
  • Museum
• 45 min

  3 min walk · Fatih

  Istanbul 4th Vakıf Han

  • Must see
  • Historic monument

External links