Istanbul Full Day Cruise: 2-Hour Bosphorus Boat Ride

Small groups cross the Bosphorus by bus, then sail it for two hours from the water

You're picked up from your hotel at 8am and returned by 7:30pm. The tour covers Camlıca Mosque and Hill, Beylerbeyi Palace, the Bosphorus Bridge crossing, Eyüp Sultan Mosque, Pierre Loti Café with cable car descent, Balat neighborhood, and a 2-hour Bosphorus boat cruise showing Dolmabahçe Palace and Rumeli Fortress. Lunch with three protein options is included, as are all entry fees and a multilingual guide.

Step-by-step itinerary

Istanbul city tour and Bosphorus cruise

• Hotel pickup at 8:00 AM
• Visit Camlıca Hill for panoramic views
• Drive to Camlıca Mosque
• Explore Camlıca Mosque
• Drive to Beylerbeyi Palace
• Tour Beylerbeyi Palace
• Drive across Bosphorus Bridge
• Lunch break
• Drive to Eyüp Sultan Mosque
• Visit Eyüp Sultan Mosque
• Drive to Pierre Loti Café
• Enjoy coffee at Pierre Loti Café
• Cable car ride down from Pierre Loti
• Explore Balat neighborhood
• Free time and light snack
• Two-hour Bosphorus boat tour
• Return to hotel

Stops and time spent at each 10 stops

1. Camlica Hill Entry included 1h
2. Camlica Mosque 1h
3. CamlIca Kulesi - Camlica Tower Entry included 1h
4. Eyup Sultan Mosque Entry included 1h
5. Pierre Loti Hill Entry included 1h
6. Bosphorus Bridge 1h
7. Istanbul Cable Car 30m
8. Fener & Balat 30m
9. Halic Koprusu Entry included 2h
10. Istanbul 1h

What’s included

• Hotel pickup and return from centrally located hotels.
• guide service in French, English, Arabic, Spanish, or Russian.
• entry fees to Camlıca Mosque, Beylerbeyi Palace (or Çamlıca Tower on Mondays), Eyüp Sultan Mosque, and the Bosphorus boat cruise.
• lunch with three protein options, appetizers, and dessert.
• cable car ride from Pierre Loti Café.
• transportation throughout the day in a comfortable bus.

Times

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• Every day 08:00

Information

Full-day Istanbul tour with hotel pickup, Camlıca Mosque, Beylerbeyi Palace, lunch, and 2-hour Bosphorus cruise past Dolmabahçe Palace and Rumeli Fortress.

Group Private 11 similar group tours ›

Live guide English, Spanish, French, Arabic and Russian Another language? ›

Meeting point and pickup You can choose: pickup at your hotel, or go straight to the meeting point. Ends back at the starting point. When you book, you choose your hotel from 2,937 pickup locations; if yours isn’t listed, you can type in your address. Pickup is about 30 minutes before departure. See the exact addressSee the pickup points

Book up to the start time

Ages Adult (7 and older) · Child (3 to 6 years) · Infant (under 3): free

Cancellation and refunds Free cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.

Good to know

Low physical effort Wheelchair accessible Accessible transport Stroller-friendly Public transport nearby Infants must sit on laps

More information The exact meeting point address, the operator’s instructions and every other detail are in the full listing. See the full listing

Traveler reviews

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The experience

The bus arrives at your hotel at 8am sharp. By 8:50 you're standing on Camlıca Hill with the whole city spread below you. The Golden Horn catching light, the bridges threading across water, the Asian side rising in the distance. Thirty minutes here, and your guide is already pointing out the neighborhoods you'll walk through later. Then it's ten minutes to Camlıca Mosque, Turkey's largest, where an hour inside the pale stone and high ceilings gives you the scale of the place without the rush. The architecture does the talking. Your guide fills in the history of Ottoman devotion and why this matters to Istanbul.

By 10:45 you're at Beylerbeyi Palace. The Ottoman summer residence built in 1861, all opulent rooms and gardens that take an hour to absorb. (If you're going on a Monday, the palace closes and you visit Çamlıca Tower instead, same views, different angle.) Then comes the Bosphorus Bridge crossing, about thirty minutes of driving that doubles as sightseeing. You're literally moving between Europe and Asia, and the suspension bridge itself, opened in 1973, is the thing you came to see. Lunch follows: an hour at a restaurant with three options (tender meat, chicken, or fresh fish) each with appetizers and dessert included. You eat, you breathe, you're halfway through the day.

After lunch, Eyüp Sultan Mosque gets an hour of your time. It's one of Islam's most sacred sites in Turkey, built on the tomb of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, and the reverence in the air is real. Then a thirty-minute drive to Pierre Loti Café, where you sit with tea or coffee overlooking the Golden Horn for thirty minutes. The kind of pause that makes a long day feel unhurried. A cable car ride down takes about an hour, offering views the whole way. By 4:30 you're in Balat, the neighborhood of stone houses and narrow streets on the western shore, thirty minutes to wander and photograph. Free time follows for a light snack or just sitting.

The 2-hour Bosphorus boat tour starts at 5:30pm and is the centerpiece. You're on the water now, watching Dolmabahçe Palace slide past, the Rumeli Fortress on the Asian side, Ortaköy Mosque, the Galata Tower, waterfront mansions that belong to another era. It's the view of Istanbul that makes sense only from the strait itself. The bus returns you to your hotel by 7:30pm, and you've crossed the city twice, climbed two hills, sat in two mosques, eaten lunch, had coffee with a view, and spent two hours on water. That's the shape of the day.

Top questions

Can I be picked up at my hotel?

You can choose: pickup at your hotel, or go straight to the meeting point. When you book, you choose your hotel from 2,937 pickup locations; if yours isn’t listed, you can type in your address. Pickup is about 30 minutes before departure.

What languages is the tour guided in?

Live guide in English, Spanish, French, Arabic and Russian.

Can children come?

Yes. Ticket types: Child (3 to 6 years); Infant (under 3): free.

What time does the tour start and end?

Hotel pickup is at 8am. You return to your hotel by 7:30pm.

Is lunch included?

Yes. You have one hour for lunch with three options: tender meat, chicken, or fresh fish, each with appetizers and dessert.

What happens if Beylerbeyi Palace is closed?

On Mondays, when the palace closes, you visit Çamlıca Tower instead, located on the Asian side of Istanbul.

Does the tour include the Bosphorus boat ride?

Yes. A 2-hour Bosphorus cruise is included, departing at 5:30pm. You'll see Dolmabahçe Palace, Rumeli Fortress, Ortaköy Mosque, and the Galata Tower from the water.

Are entry fees included?

Yes. All entry fees for the historical sites are included in the tour price.

Is the tour wheelchair accessible?

Yes. Transportation is wheelchair accessible, and the tour is suitable for all physical fitness levels.

Can you accommodate dietary restrictions?

Yes. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and other dietary requirements can be accommodated if indicated when booking.

Is there free time during the tour?

Yes. After the cable car ride and Balat neighborhood visit, there is free time around 5pm for exploring or enjoying a light snack before the boat tour.

Operated by Eternal Turkiye Travel. Explorevia does not run this tour: we compare it with similar options, and you book it with our booking partner.

Prices and times updated 7 days ago