Istanbul City and Bosphorus Strait Cruise: Dual Land and Water Sightseeing

Experience the best of Istanbul with a dual land and water sightseeing tour. Explore the city by coach, visit the Spice Bazaar, and cruise along the Bosphorus Strait to see iconic landmarks.

Duration: 3 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Misir Carsisi (Spice Market) - Spice Bazaar (Egyptian Bazaar), mystical smells of different aromas of various spices. Shops selling fruits, vegetables, fish, flowers etc.

  • Rumeli Fortress - Rumeli Fortress (from the boat - no interior visit), historical armament built by the Conqueror
    to control and protect the Bosphorus. A unique example of military architecture.

  • Halic - Golden Horn (from the bus), the arm of the Bosphorus and a natural harbour of the historical peninsula separating the old and the new parts of
    stanbul where the first colonies settled during
    the Byzantines. The residential area for Byzantine Jews, Italian traders and other non-muslim minorities. Drive along the traces of history at Balat viewing Metal Church of St. Stephen
    the Bulgarian, Jewish Hospital (Or-Ahayim), Fener Orthodox Patriarchate and 22 kms. long
    Byzantine City Walls, strongest fortification of the middle age.

  • Bosphorus Bridge - Bosphorus Bridge, unique chance to step from one continent (Europe) to another (Asia) in 2 minutes

  • Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Metal Church of St. Stephen the Bulgarian

  • Historic Areas of Istanbul - “Sultan Ahmet Center”, the heart of the “Old City” from where the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires were ruled.

  • Bosphorus Strait - Spice Bazaar (Egyptian Bazaar), mystical smells of different aromas of various spices. Shops selling fruits, vegetables, fish, flowers etc.

  • Walls of Constantinople (Istanbul City Walls) - Byzantine City Walls surrounded the Acropolis of Byzantium with 22 kms. long fortification with 96 towers and 9 main gates dating back to the 5th century.

  • Fener Rum Ortodoks Patrikhanesi Kutuphanesi - Patriarchate at Fener which is the seat of Orthodox Christianity since Constantine The Great
    century.

What's Included
  • Professional guide
  • Coach tour
  • Hotel pickup
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
  • Food and drinks
  • Hotel drop off
Additional Information

See Istanbul from dry land and water on this 3-hour sightseeing experience that combines a coach tour with a Bosphorus Strait sightseeing cruise. Travel round the city by coach, passing the Golden Horn, and the vibrant neighborhoods of Balat and Fener. Stroll through Istanbul’s colorful Spice Bazaar with your guide, and then take to the water to see sites like Rumeli Fortress and the Bosphorus Bridge from the comfort of your sightseeing boat!

  • Please note: When reconfirming your booking, your local supplier will advise you on alternative meeting points for hotels which are not accessible
Location
Tamara Restaurant
Küçük Ayasofya Caddesi
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
3.6
(51 Ratings)
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1 star
Gurufortunata
Nov 16, 2018
SHIPS OF DREAMS - Our excellent hotel recommended this afternoon tour at 35 Euros per person, starting from our hotel at 1 :30 pm, we could not have enjoyed it more. Lunch was provided -- food OK and ample, though could be more interesting. Drinks were an extra cost. However, the tour was utterly fascinating with excellent descriptions and a short stop on the Asian side on the return leg. Seeing boats and palaces and castles and bridges against the background of the city was quite magical. Sitting upstairs watching fishing boats emerging while sipping turkish coffee or drink of choice, and the sun sinking as the city lights came on in the evening as the sun sank below the horizon was a delight. Lavatories basic, down steep stairs, so a factor to consider. Return to hotel at 6;30pm looked chaotic at first but actually well organized and efficient.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Carlos
Dec 22, 2015
It was very a wonderful tour, we... - <p>It was very a wonderful tour, we were able to visit all places that were offered for this tour, our tour guide was very knowledgeable and took good care of us.</p>
Review provided by Viator
Richa_k
Nov 26, 2015
It was good and well managed tour... - <p>It was good and well managed tour. : will recommend.</p>
Review provided by Viator
Kesavan
Jun 26, 2015
It was good. The tour guide spoke more... - <p>It was good. The tour guide spoke more Spanish than English</p>
Review provided by Viator
Stephen
Jun 21, 2015
Good value. Guide was reasonably... - <p>Good value. Guide was reasonably well-informed though he recommended spending some time at Taksim Square (the actual ending point of the tour) which proved to offer very little. Boat ride was fun. Bus tour of Golden Horn informational. The highlight, however, was the stop at the spice market!</p>
Review provided by Viator
P_f
Sep 17, 2016
Nice boat trip. Guide was very good but... - <p>Nice boat trip. Guide was very good but not really the overview of the city I was expecting.</p>
Review provided by Viator
Mark
Oct 19, 2015
Good value, but a little strange... - <p>Good value, but a little strange that we were collected from our hotel, then driven a few kms to another meeting point, then back to near our hotel...45 mins later for the tour. Not sure it was necessary.<br/> Bosphorus cruise was pleasant.</p>
Review provided by Viator
Caroline
Oct 14, 2015
good experience, but sad we could... - <p>good experience, but sad we could not visit the egyptian bazar because of Aid celebration. Only issue : we can hardly hear we the guide peak on the boat and miss interesting info. However,his level of French was very good.</p>
Review provided by Viator
Leah
Sep 2, 2015
It was good, it just seemed really... - <p>It was good, it just seemed really rushed and chaotic and I couldn't hear anything while on the tour of the Bosphorus.</p>
Review provided by Viator
Normalicia
Mar 31, 2018
Very bad experience - Up until now we have had very good tours in our trip, this is by far the worst. We got picked up an hour earlier than agreed as we were one of the first to pick up, this meant that we stayed in the bus for an hour more to pick up the rest of the group, I guess this cannot be avoided in big group tours. When we arrived to the meeting point we were again 30 minutes waiting while the organizers distributed all of us into different buses. When we finally got to the Spice Market we were just left there with not much of explanation other than where the bathrooms were located. After this we were taken to the port and got into the boat, where we waited another 40 minutes for the rest of the groups to join, while in the boat we could listen on the speakers the explanation in english, and at the same time our tour guide in Spanish (forgot to mention we booked the tour in Spanish), the information given on both was not the same but similar, the problem was that it was given at the same time and made it very hard to concentrate on either. When we finished the trip we were dropped off at Taksim square as agreed. All and all we felt that we spent more time waiting than in the actual tour, plus we did not gain much information from it. This kind of tours need to be better organized to minimize the idle time. I will certainly do not recommend this tour to any one that expects more than a boat ride.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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up to 9 guests
1 Adult
September 2024
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