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Decades ago, officials
of Istanbul's
ferryboat system noticed
a strange thing: foreign tourists were
riding the ferryboats up the Bosphorus,
all
the way to the Black
Sea at Sarıyer and Anadolu
Kavağı—and sometimes
they rode them all the way back to
the Galata
Bridge on
the Golden
Horn without getting off!
(The tourists may have gotten the
idea from a guidebook.)
Of course, these smart travelers were
getting a good cruise-tour
of the Bosphorus,
guidebook in hand, for a fraction of
the price they'd have paid to a tour
company to take them in a private boat.
Fast-forward to today: there are now lots
of boats embarking on
this Bosphorus
cruise. My favorite is still
thetraditional Şehir
Hatları Istanbul ferryboat.
View Bosphorus Cruise, Istanbul, Turkey in a larger map
The
voyage from Eminönü to Sarıyer,
a northern Bosphorus town
on the
European shore,
takes just over one hour,
but the entire round-trip voyage
from Eminönü past
Sarıyer to
Anadolu Kavağı on the Asian shore
(with a 3-hour wait at Anadolu
Kavağı), and return to the Eminönü ferryboat
docks, takes 6
hours. More...
The Şehir
Hatları 10:35
am departure
runs year-round, so
this is the most reliable one.
The
13:35 (1:35 pm) Şehir
Hatları departure
runs from spring (from mid-April)
to autumn.
The 12:00 noon departure
may run in high summer, when
demand for these cruises is greatest.
| 10:35am |
10:50am |
11:15am |
11:30am |
11:45am |
11:55am |
12:05pm |
12:00
noon |
12:15pm |
12:40pm |
12:55pm |
13:10
1:10pm |
13:25
1:25pm |
13:35
1:35pm |
13:35 1:35pm
|
13:50 1:50pm |
14:15 2:15pm |
14:30
2:30pm |
14:45
2:45pm |
14:55
2:55pm |
15:05
3:05pm |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
15:00
3:00pm |
15:10
3:10pm |
15:20
3:20pm |
15:35
3:35pm |
15:50
3:50pm |
16:15
4:15pm |
16:30
4:30pm |
16:05
4:05pm |
16:15
4:15pm
|
16:25
4:25pm |
16:40
4:40pm |
16:50
4:50pm |
17:15
5:15pm |
17:30
5:30pm |
17:00
5:00pm |
17:10
5:10pm |
17:20
5:20pm |
17:35
5:35pm |
17:50
5:50pm |
18:15
6:15pm |
18:30
6:30pm |
Many
people cruise on the traditional
ferry for 1.5 hours, get off at Sarıyer (23
km/14 miles north of Istanbul by
road), have lunch (especially
seafood), then take a bus, minibuses
or taxis southward to return to the
city, stopping at various
sights along the
way. More...
If
you continue to the end of the line
at Anadolu
Kavağı, you'll have three
hours for a picnic or
a seafood
restaurant lunch and/or
to climb to the ruined fortress of
seven towers on Yuşa
Tepesi (Joshua's
Hill), reconstructed by the Genoese
in 1350, and repaired thereafter
by Byzantines and Ottomans.
Frankly,
if you've done the cruise from south
to north, you needn't do north to
south. But if you end up at Anadolu
Kavağı, it's a longer trip back to
the city along the Asian
shore by
bus, minibus or taxi, so most passengers
wait for the
Bosphorus Tour ferry to depart
for its return trip to the Eminönü ferryboat
docks.
To take this Bosphorus cruise, get
to the Eminönü ferryboat
docks at least 30
minutes before departure if possible,
buy your ticket and board the ferry
in order to get a good seat. (In
May 2009, I got to the dock 45 minutes
before departure and there was already
a crowd. By 20 minutes before departure
all the choice seats were filled;
and it wasn't even a weekend.)
Ignore
the guys asking "Bosphorus
tour?"
as you approach the docks. Buy your
ticket from the clerk in the ticket
booth.
Here are alternatives to
the full-day cruise.
Thank goodness! I've
always loved the short intra-city voyages
on these
great old boats. Sitting on the rear
deck of a traditional Istanbul ferry
on a fine summer's day with a glass
of
Turkish
tea at
my lips is a living example of the
title of my humorous travel memoir, Turkey:
Bright Sun, Strong Tea.
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