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Take the mid-morning Bosphorus
Tour ferry from Eminönü and
you get to Sariyer on
the Northern
Bosphorus about 75
minutes
later, just in time for
a nice seafood lunch at
one of the little restaurants north
of the Sariyer ferry
dock.
You can catch the ferry south
to Istanbul a
few hours later, but I prefer
to go by land along the shore
to visit
some of the sights I glimpsed on the
ferry voyage north.
Transport
Taking taxis is the quickest and easiest
way, but as it is 22 km (13.6 miles)
from Sariyer to Eminönü and the
Galata
Bridge, the fare may be around
YTL30 or so.
Bus
25E (Sariyer-Kabatas)
goes south along the western
(European) Bosphorus shore to the ferry
docks, tram terminus and funicular
at Kabatas,
the scenic route taking about two
hours (127
minutes, average) for the entire run.
Buses depart Sariyer about
every
15
to 30 minutes depending on time of
day. (Schedule)
Bus
25T (Sariyer-Taksim)
goes along the Bosphorus
shore as far as
Büyükdere (for
the Sadberk
Hanim Museum), but then
turns inland and travels through
the hills
to Taksim
Square (125 minutes, average).
This is the less
scenic,
more 'city' way to go, and
you
can't
stop to see the sights on the shore.
Buses depart Sariyer about
every
15
to 30 minutes, depending on time of
day. (Schedule)
Bus 30D (Yenikapi-Ortaköy) connects
the fast
ferry dock and suburban
train station at
Yenikapi with Eminönü, Karaköy, Kabatas,
Besiktas and Ortaköy.
It does not go north of Ortaköy,
however.
Minibuses depart
periodically, going shorter or longer
distances; many of them go up into
the hills rather than along the shore.
Mention your destination to the driver
before boarding to be sure you'll get
where you want to go. Sariyer-Taksim minibuses
go all the way to Taksim
Square, and
faster than the bus, but usually on
an inland route.
What to See
Here's the order of sights from north
to south. If you're heading in the
opposite direction (south to north),
just read upwards from the bottom! The
distances by each name are from Galata
Bridge on the Golden
Horn.
Sariyer (22
km, 13.6 mi)
The town near the northern mouth of
the Bosphorus is good for a seafood
lunch before heading south along
the shore. More...
Büyükdere (19
km, 12 mi)
Just south of Sariyer, stop here for
the fine Sadberk
Hanim Museum. More...
Tarabya (17
km, 10.6 mi)
Called Therapia by the Byzantines,
this pretty cove has been a healthful
summer resort of Istanbul's elite for
centuries. More...
Yeniköy (13.5
km, 8.4 mi)
An elite summer settlement
since Byzantine times (when it was named Neapolis,
"New Town"), it still boasts several grand old "summer
embassies."
Istinye (13 km, 8
mi)
This well-protected bay was a shipyard
in both Byzantine and Ottoman times.
A road leads inland to the district of
Levent, in which you can board the Metro to Taksim
Square.
Emirgan (12.5 km,
7.8 mi)
Noted for its April Tulip Festival, Emirgan's
gardens are a pleasant place to take
a rest and have some tea, coffee or
a light meal.
Fatih Bridge
The Fatih Köprüsü (Conqueror's
Bridge), beautifully visible from Rumeli
Hisari (and vice-versa) is named
for Mehmet the Conqueror.
Rumeli
Hisari (10.5
km, 6.5 mi)
The mighty Fortress of Europe was
built in just four months during 1452 on orders of Mehmet
the Conqueror. Commanding the narrowest part
of the Bosphorus (about 700
meters), it cut off Byzantine Constantinople from
its grain supplies from the Black
Sea coast, making it easier for the sultan to conquer
the city in 1453. More...
Bebek
The
town of Bebek, with
its pretty bay, is on Rumeli
Hisari's
south side. Bosphorus University,
founded as Robert College by New
Englander Cyrus Hamlin in
1863, shares the hillside with the
fortress.
Arnavutköy &
Kuruçesme (7.5 km, 4.7 mi)
"Village of the Albanians," as its
name says, doesn't have many Albanian
residents anymore, and the "Dry Fountain"
(kuruçesme) is long
forgotten, but
there are some seaside restaurants
and lots
of
fine
old yalis
(Ottoman Bosphorus seaside villas)
in the parks along the water.
Bosphorus
Bridge
Ever
since the Persian emperor Darius built
his bridge of boats acoss the Bosphorus
in 490 BC, rulers of Istanbul have
dreamed of a bridge between Europe and
Asia. This 1074-meter (2/3-mile)-long
span opened in 1973 on the 50th
anniversary of the Turkish
Republic and put an end to decades
of car-ferry traffic delays. Tolls paid
for it in record time, and another bridge,
the Fatih, was built to its north.
Ortaköy & Mecidiye
Mosque (5.2 km, 3.2
mi)
You've probably seen photos
of the Mecidiye Mosque (1854),
the graceful Ottoman baroque
mosque standing by the western pylon
of the Bosphorus Bridge. The quaint Bosphorus town
of Ortaköy is
now filled with chic galleries, cafes,
boutiques, bars and clubs—a
good place to stop for a drink or
a meal if you tour the Bosphorus
on land. More...
Yildiz Park & Palace (4
km, 2.5 mi)
Green
forest sweeps up the hillside inland
from Çiragan
Palace: Yildiz ("Star")
Park. At the top of the hill, hidden
in the
trees,
is the
Sale ("chalet") Kiosk, a 50-room
alpine chalet favored by the secretive Sultan
Abdül Hamit II. Smaller "kiosks" (small
palaces) are set elsewhere in the forest.
Çiragan Palace (4
km, 2.5 mi)
Finished in 1874,
the marble palace of Çiragan (CHEE-rah-AHN)
has a tragic history. Sultan Abdül
Aziz died here (1876) under
suspicious circumstances a few days after
he had been deposed. His nephew Murat
V and family were imprisoned
here in squalor by Abdül
Hamit II. In 1910, when in use
as the Ottoman parliament
building, the palace was totally destroyed
by fire. Fully restored, it now houses
meeting rooms and suites for the neighboring Çiragan
Palace Kempinski
Istanbul Hotel.
Besiktas (3.5 km,
2 mi)
A busy traffic interchange and ferry
dock just north of Dolmabahçe
Palace, this is where
you find the Naval Museum (Deniz
Müzesi) with the sultans'
elegant, long, multi-oared kayiks and
other memorabilia from the Ottoman
Empire's splendid naval past. Ferries
depart every 15 or 20 minutes for Üsküdar on
the Asian shore of the Bosphorus.
Dolmabahçe
Palace (3
km, 1.9 mi)
The façade
of this great Ottoman palace
(1853) is nearly a quarter
of a mile (400 meters) long. More...
From Dolmabahçe you
can climb the hill to Taksim
Square,
or continue along the shore road
via Kabatas and
Tophane to Karaköy and
the Galata
Bridge. A tram line goes from
Kabatas south past the Istanbul
Modern museum to Karaköy,
across the Galata
Bridge. to Eminönü,
(and its Egyptian
Bazaar),
then up the hill to Sultanahmet and
along Divan
Yolu.
Northern Bosphorus Sights
Southern
Bosphorus Sights
Bosphorus
Tour by Traditional Ferry
Bosphorus
Tour by TurYol Boat
Bosphorus
Cruise
The Bosphorus
Istanbul Sights
Istanbul
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