Bosphorus Panorama: Istanbul's Iconic 2-Hour Cruise

The landscape is breathtaking. The view of Asian and European sides. This experience is a must to have in Istanbul. We really enjoyed.

This boat tour's starting point was convenient to our hotel in Sultanahmet, and the price seemed reasonable (advertised at 20 Euros/person, but was reduced to 30 Euros for both of us). The start was rather disorganized because we had to wait a lot longer for the boat to arrive, and then there was a crush of people trying to get on the boat at the same time. The boat seats were not very comfortable and it was very crowded, but it was lovely to cruise the Bosphorus from the Golden Horn to the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge along one side and then return along the other side of the strait. The brochure of the tour included a map with pictures, which was useful. However, the map showed that we would sail under the Galata Bridge into the Golden Horn, but we just sailed up to the bridge and turned. I would have like to see the neighborhoods along the Golden Horn from the boat's perspective.

Pick up arrangements were good and on time, group size was bigger than I expected. Getting on the boat was very hectic- 200 people trying to file through a small space between 2 fences. Everyone in a rush trying to get the best seats. Was a bit dangerous. No seating around the sides of the boat on the out side of the lower level. Tour long enough and at a good pace to see everything. The shoreline is beautiful

The good bits - The boat was not overly packed and there was lots of seating. The bad bits... We had to meet in the tour companies shop 15 mins before the tour. We then left the shop and walked with a small group of people to another meeting point in the square where we waited for about 15-20 mins to catch up with a large group of people. We then walked about 1km with this massive group through the streets to the ferry. Why didn't we just meet at the ferry? There was a commentary on the boat but it was barely audible and very disjointed. The trip itself was basically just a big sales pitch. Food. Drinks. More Food. The adverts to food and drinks over the tannoy was much more audible than the actual tour commentary. Then someone trying to sell some photos of you dressing up in traditional clothing. Then more food and drinks sales pitches. Then someone trying to sell photos of you on the both. Then more food sellers. (We succumbed to this one - 100TL/£5 for a chocolate crepe which you could buy for about 30TL on land). Then the traditional clothing photo sellers came back around again. Then more food/drink sales pitches. The tour itself was not too bad for the most part. It went up one side of the river and came back on the other. Although it turned around before actually getting anywhere near the Rumeli fortress so we could only see it in the distance. So generally a pretty poor experience and I wouldn't recommend it.

Overall a great experience. The ship sailed at a comfortable speed so we have time to enough the beautiful scenery. The walk to the jetty was a little far from the pick up though.

Price worthy tour. Very comfortable timings, very nice reception at Tourista agency. Even 2 hours trip is overwhelming. This tour best suites between 60 and 90 min

The boat trip allows you to see different touristic sites in Istanbul from a different perspective. You can also appreciate these buildings in relation to the different bridges across the Bosphorus. It was very informative and enjoyable.

Take a cruise along the waters of the Bosphorus . Discover the Asian and European facets of Istanbul and admire palaces Infact, I would like to advise everyone for this trip

This tour was a bit of a disaster... If they had told us that the plans had changed we would have skipped this. 1st we took it on July 15th which turns out to be a national holiday and they closed a traffic bridge. Our boat took a tour group along with us from the EU side to the Asia side adding two stops to what was supposed to be a 1.5 hour tour. 2nd - we were promised drinks and snacks on board and there was nothing. When asked about it, we could not get a straight answer wether or not it would be available. 3rd - our tour guide one gave us brief highlights and names of a few buildings along the shores. There were long stretches where we were left to imagine what it was we were looking at. We could have paid 12TL for a ferry to do that. No history, no explanation of the Bosporus and it's importance through out history and now, no tales of battles or trade routes, invasions.. Just these are rich people houses that cost 10 MILLION dollars and this is a fortress.. also if she reminded us one more time which side is the EU and which is Asia my head was going to explode. It's like this was the only thing she really wanted us to know. 3rd - the boat it's self was clearly meant for private charter and not tours.. plastic chairs on the upper deck and a few banquets still wrapped in plastic on mid deck. Take a Bosporous tour for sure! But not this one.. if you want to go on the cheap take a ferry and bring your Lonely Planet with you. It'll still be better than this.

Muy buen paseo recorriendo las costas del bosforo. Entretenido y ameno. Te quieren vender de todoooo! Jajajaja fotos, pulseras, helados lo que sea! Pero esta en vos si querés algo lo compras y si no disfrutas el paisaje que es hermoso!