|
You have a variety of ways to enjoy
a
Bosphorus
cruise:
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, Sarıyer and Rumeli
Kavağı before 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 fare is TL15
single/one-way, TL25
return/round-trip.
From April through October an
identical cruise departs Eminönü at lunchtime,
returning in time for dinner.
—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 enroute, 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.) Fare
is TL10.
—The Moonlight Cruise (Mehtap
Gezisi), a two-hour round-trip
leisure cruise, departs Saturday
evenings in the warmer months. Fare
is TL20.
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.
The TurYol fare,
which started at TL2
a few years ago, is now up to
TL12,
and I guess the sky's the limit....
May through September,
Dentur
Avrasya Bosphorus
cruises depart from Kabataş, Beşiktaş, Üsküdar, and
Avcılar (west of Atatürk
Airport).
October through April,
Dentur
Avrasya cruises depart
reliably from Kabataş and Beşiktaş,
but cruises from Üsküdar and Avcılar
may be suspended due to low demand.
Kabataş is probably the most convenient
dock to board the cruise as it is at
the end of the Kabataş-Bağcılar
tram line. Boats depart Kabataş at 10:30
am and 14:45
(2:45 pm) daily, with an additional
cruise added many afternoons at 16:45
(4:45 pm).
As with TurYol,
the round-trip cruise takes about 1-1/2
hours. Fare
is TL12.50.
Other Boats
Many other boats are ready to take
you on a Bosphorus cruise.
Two smaller companies, EMTUR and Boğaziçi
YolTur, launch
their cruises (TL10)
from next to the Şehir Hatları temporary
Bosphorus Cruise Dock
just east of the Galata Bridge at the
Eminönü (southern end) of the bridge
(map).
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 advertisingBosphorus
cruises and charter
trips. I don't know these boats
and can't vouch for their reliability.
|
