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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 Sariyer and Anadolu
Kavagi—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.
So the ferry officials designated
several Bosphorus ferry sailings as Bosphorus
Tours, and reduced the number
of dock stops so that the "tour" would
not take so long.
The
voyage from Eminönü to Sariyer,
a northern Bosphorus town
on the
European shore,
takes just over one hour,
but the entire round-trip voyage
from Eminönü past
Sariyer to
Anadolu Kavagi on the Asian shore
(with a 3-hour wait at Anadolu
Kavagi), and return to the Eminönü ferryboat
docks, takes 6
hours.
Here's
the summer
schedule (15 June—23
September 2009), applicable to all
days of the week, including holidays.
Note there are three departures
each day—10:35am, 12:00 noon,
and 13:35
(1:35pm):
Eminönü |
Besiktas |
Kanlica |
Yeniköy |
Sariyer |
Rumeli Kavagi |
Anadolu Kavagi |
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
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15:05
3:05pm
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anadolu Kavagi |
Rumeli Kavagi |
Sariyer |
Yeniköy |
Kanlica |
Besiktas |
Eminönü |
15:00
3:00pm
|
15:10
3:10pm
|
15:20
3:20pm
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15:35
3:35pm
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15:50
3:50pm
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16:15
4:15pm
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16:30
4:30pm
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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 |
18:00**
5:00pm
|
18:10**
5:10pm
|
18:20**
5:20pm
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18:35**
5:35pm
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18:50**
5:50pm
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19:15**
6:15pm
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19:30**
6:30pm
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*Not applicable on Saturday & Sunday.
**Saturday & Sunday only.
Here's
the official IDO summer 2009
schedule.
(TurYol
boats do
a round-trip cruise in only
1.5 hours. More...)
Many
people cruise on the traditional
ferry for 1.5 hours, get off at Sariyer (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...
The
ferry continues beyond Sariyer to Anadolu Kavagi,
on the Asian shore,
where the route terminates.
The
ferry then waits at Anadolu
Kavagi for
three hours, giving passengers
time to have a picnic or
a seafood
restaurant lunch and/or
to climb to the ruined fortress of
seven towers on Yusa
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
Kavagi, 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.
A
one-way ticket for the special Bosphorus
cruise costs TL13,
round-trip TL20.
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.
You
can return
south by land from Sariyer.
Here's an hour-by-hour
itinerary.
Besides
the traditional ferry, a boat cooperative
named TurYol runs
smaller, faster boats on Bosphorus
cruises that take
only 1.5 hours. More...
There's also a Moonlight Bosphorus
Tour by traditional IDO ferry
from July 1 to August 21, departing
Eminönü on
Saturdays only at
19:15 (7:15 pm), arriving at Anadolu
Kavagi at 20:50 (8:50 pm), and returning
to Eminönü at 23:30 (11:30 pm). The fare is TL20,
round-trip only. Here's
the official schedule.
The Bosphorus Tour ferries have
been popular with Istanbullus and visitors
for years. Even though the Bosphorus
bridges have reduced the need
for ferries, and fast "sea
bus" catamaran ferries now
carry many of the commuter passengers,
and
the Turkish Maritime Lines has
followed its Ottoman predecessor,
the Sirket-i
Hayriye,
into the pages of history, the most
popular and useful Istanbul ferry
routes are still in business, operated
by IDO.
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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