The Cheapest Bosphorus Tour

Guys, don’t worry, I haven’t started a business selling cheap Bosphorus tours online 🙂 It’s just I would like to tell you that you do not have to do a Bosphorus tour with tour companies to get a complete tour. Some of those tours sold by tour companies are overpriced. If you want a tour of your own, with you family and friends, the private tours might make sense. But if you do not mind having locals around you, you can do the complete tour by public sea transportation and save money for better things.

If you are on Anatolian side, start with Uskudar-Anadolu Kavagi ferry and then pass to the European side again by ferry (Anadolu Kavagi – Rumeli Kavagi) and then hop on the Rumeli Kavagi – Eminonu ferry. If you are on European side, do those things in reverse. Easy-peasy!

Uskudar – Anadolu Kavagi Ferry

This ferry starts from Uskudar and goes all the way along the Anatolian side of Bosphorus and do the trip in reverse as well. The stops of this ferry are in the following order: Beylerbeyi, Cengelkoy, Anadolu Hisari, Kanlica, Cubuklu, Pasabahce, Beykoz, Anadolu Kavagi. You pay the regular transportation fees to use this ferry.

I personally love to see the mansions, Beylerbeyi Palace, Kuleli High School, Kucuksu Pavilions, Anatolian Fortress during this trip. I have my favorite spots in almost each stop, if you like you can get off and then get on to the next ferry but beware of the timeline as this ferry takes off in every two hours until the evening. The total duration of the trip lasts approximately 1,5 hours. In the evenings, there are more ferry trips. You can check out the up-to-date prices and timeline on Şehir Hatları website which is the official website of public sea transportation in Istanbul.

Rumeli Kavagi-Anadolu Kavagi trip takes only 10 minutes and you are on the European side so quick 🙂

Rumeli Kavagi – Eminonu Ferry

This ferry goes all the way along the European side of Bosphorus. The stops in this ferry are in the following order: Rumeli Kavagi, Sariyer, Buyukdere, Istinye, Emirgan, Bebek, Arnavutkoy, Ortakoy, Besiktas, Eminonu. My favorite spots to see from the ferry are Galata Tower, Galataport, Dolmabahce Palace, Ciragan Palace, Esma Sultan Mansion, Mecidiye Mosque, colorful houses next to the Arnavutkoy pier, Valide Pasa Mansion (Egypt Consulate), Rumeli fortress, Sait Halim Pasa Mansion.

This trip takes almost 2 hours to complete and the ferry has more frequent trips throughout the day compared to Uskudar Anadolu Kavagi ferry, almost every hour.