Bosphorus Cruise for Chinese Travellers 2027: Prices, Routes, Piers

The price of a Bosphorus cruise varies a lot: our lunch cruise with hotel pick-up costs from $75 per person, an evening with dinner and a Turkish show costs from $90 per person, and a private yacht costs from $299 an hour (the whole boat, up to 12 people). If you want to sail today or tomorrow there is usually still space, and every departure is listed on our Bosphorus cruises page. Send your date, hotel and number of people on WhatsApp and we confirm the place and the pick-up time in writing.

This page is for Chinese travellers already in Istanbul or about to arrive. We compare the public ferry, shared boats and our own cruises, with ferry prices and timetables checked on 1 November 2026. The lira swings widely, so we give US dollars and original lira prices, with no yuan conversion. We are a TÜRSAB-licensed Istanbul agency, running private tours since 2010.

Bosphorus cruise at a glance

Bosphorus Lunch Cruise with hotel pick-up, from $75 per person

If you remember one thing: on a first visit take the lunch cruise, three hours, in daylight, with commentary; if you are celebrating or four or more, do the sums on a private yacht; for a lively evening, take the dinner cruise.

Types of Bosphorus cruise: ferry, shared boat, dinner boat and yacht

Bosphorus Private Yacht Tour for up to 12 guests, from $299 an hour

Bosphorus cruises come in six kinds, differing in commentary, meals and how many people are on board.

• Public ferry sightseeing: the official Şehir Hatları short and long tours, no guide, no transfer, lowest price.
• 90-minute shared boat: a ticket at Eminönü or Kabataş, audio guide on board, usually no meal.
• Lunch cruise: about 3 hours, with hotel pick-up, lunch and a licensed English-speaking guide.
• Dinner cruise: transfers, dinner and a Turkish show, about 6 hours door to door.
• Sunset yacht: chartered by the hour, you choose the time, good for couples.
• Private yacht: the whole boat for your group, up to 12 people, with a menu or guide if you like.

Chinese travellers most often ask whether a shared boat or a charter is better value. With few people the shared boat is cheaper; with four or more, the charter costs little per head, as the price section shows. Every departure is on our Bosphorus cruises page.

Bosphorus cruise price: what each boat costs in 2027

Bosphorus Lunch Cruise with hotel pick-up, from $75 per person

The price depends on whether the boat is shared or private, whether there is a meal, and if you are collected from your hotel. The public ferry is cheap but has no guide or transfer; organised cruises include a meal and transport; a private yacht is paid by the hour for the whole boat, not per person.

For two people: the lunch cruise costs $150 for two, and the private yacht at least $598 for two hours. Split between six, the yacht works out at about $100 each for two hours; between twelve, about $50 each. These are "from" prices that change with season and extras, so send us your date for that day's price.

For comparison, the ferry prices come from Şehir Hatları fare lists as reproduced by timetable sites, checked on 1 November 2026; residents and children pay less, under-6s travel free, and fares can change, so check at the pier or on sehirhatlari.istanbul. On ticket platforms we saw, on 1 November 2026, about $10 and up for a 90-minute shared trip (source: travel sites such as thebettervacation.com) and about €21 to €30 for a dinner cruise (source: excursionmania.com), the gap being mostly drinks and transfers. Lira and euro prices keep moving, so check the platform page before you buy. To take the public ferry yourself, see our Bosphorus by public ferry page.

Where a Bosphorus cruise leaves from: Eminönü, Kabataş, Beşiktaş

Bosphorus cruises, from $75 per person

Eminönü is the main pier, next to the Spice Bazaar (the Egyptian Bazaar) and on the T1 tram line from Sultanahmet. The Şehir Hatları long tour leaves from here at 10:35 and the short tour at 14:40 (timetable checked in November 2026), and private companies such as Turyol sell tickets here too. The long tour then calls at Beşiktaş and Üsküdar, the short one at Üsküdar and Ortaköy.

Kabataş and Beşiktaş are the piers of other private companies. The two official Şehir Hatları tours do not currently leave from Kabataş, so a "Bosphorus cruise from Kabataş" is always a private company's boat. From Taksim take the F1 funicular down to Kabataş; from Sultanahmet Eminönü is easiest. Many dinner boats board at Kuruçeşme and Bebek, while Galataport is the cruise ship port.

With our shared boats you can ignore the pier question altogether: we collect you from hotels in central areas such as Sultanahmet and Taksim and bring you back. The private yacht leaves from a marina on the strait at the time you choose; a Mercedes Vito transfer from your hotel or Galataport to the marina can be added from $100, depending on the address. All our private Istanbul tours include hotel pick-up.

Bosphorus cruise: daytime, sunset or night, route and sights

Bosphorus cruises, from $75 per person

Daytime suits people who want to see both shores clearly; sunset suits photographs; night suits people who want a meal and a show. Türkiye uses UTC+3 all year, so summer sunsets are late and winter ones very early. For a two-hour sunset cruise, sail about 75 minutes before sunset: an hour of daylight first, then the sunset, then half an hour under the lit bridges.

These are 2026 sunset times for central Istanbul, give or take a minute or two a year. Shared sunset departures leave at fixed times and often end as the light goes; on a private yacht you choose the time at the same hourly rate. More on our sunset yacht cruise page.

Bosphorus cruises, from $75 per person

Going north from the south, the European shore brings Dolmabahçe Palace, Çırağan Palace, Ortaköy Mosque at the foot of the first bridge, Bebek and Rumeli Fortress, built by Mehmed II in 1452. The Asian shore has Beylerbeyi Palace, Küçüksu Pavilion, Anadolu Fortress and, at the mouth of the strait, the Maiden's Tower. Between the palaces stand wooden waterfront mansions (yalı).

A two-hour boat usually turns back at Rumeli Fortress; only the long tour goes to Anadolu Kavağı at the Black Sea end, about 6 hours in all. On a first trip two or three hours is enough. Which side to sit on: going north the European shore is on your left, so for Dolmabahçe, Ortaköy and Rumeli Fortress sit on the left, and swap sides on the way back.

Bosphorus dinner cruise: night views, show and transfers

Bosphorus Dinner Cruise & Turkish Night Show, from $90 per person

The dinner cruise is the best-selling format in Istanbul, and the most criticised. Ours starts at your hotel: pick-up is between 19:00 and 20:00, the boat sails at about 20:30 and the evening lasts about 6 hours, from the hotel lobby back to the lobby. On board: a welcome drink, cold meze, a main of fish, chicken or meat, salad and dessert or fruit.

Bosphorus Dinner Cruise & Turkish Night Show, from $90 per person

The show includes Turkish folk dances in costume, a belly dancer and a DJ with a dance floor, and some boats add other live acts. Soft drinks are included; the unlimited local alcohol package is extra and imported alcohol is excluded. Tell us at booking about vegetarian or other dietary needs.

Be honest about what you are buying: a cheerful, crowded evening with a few hundred guests, not fine dining. For quiet cooking out on deck, look at a private yacht with the on-board menu, $65 per person on top of the charter. The full comparison is in our guide to the Bosphorus dinner cruise.

Bosphorus private yacht: couples, proposals and families

Bosphorus Private Yacht Tour for up to 12 guests, from $299 an hour

The private yacht costs from $299 an hour for the whole boat, 2 hours at least, up to 12 guests and no strangers. Couples and proposals usually choose the sunset slot; families with children can choose daytime, with room to move about. With ten or more people the per-head cost is lower than a shared dinner boat.

If you want commentary, choose the 2-hour private yacht with a guide, from $600 per group, whose route includes the Galata Tower and the Golden Horn as well as the palaces and fortresses, with the guide meeting you at your hotel or the pier. For Mandarin commentary, tell us: we arrange a licensed Chinese-speaking guide for your date and confirm it in writing before payment, as explained on our Chinese-speaking guide page, and it applies to all private tours. For longer charters see Bosphorus yacht rental.

How to book a Bosphorus cruise for today or tomorrow

If you are already in Istanbul and want a boat at short notice, the most reliable way is to send us your date, hotel name and number of people before noon. We reply with which departure has space that day, what time the hotel pick-up is and what the price is, and confirm in writing. We take no payment before confirmation; payment and cancellation work as on our other tours: book now and pay later, free cancellation up to 7 days before.

Fix same-day dinner pick-up early, because several hotels are collected in one evening. If no Chinese-speaking guide is free that day or the next, we tell you before you book and offer an English-speaking guide or another date. Same-day tickets and prices are also shown on our Bosphorus cruise tickets for today page. A warning: near the piers people sell last-minute tickets at suspiciously low prices, so buy only at official offices or sites.

How to fit a Bosphorus cruise into one day

Combination one: Old City in the morning, cruise in the afternoon. Spend the morning in Sultanahmet at Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the Basilica Cistern, then catch the 12:00 lunch cruise, and keep the evening free.

Combination two: Dolmabahçe Palace and the strait. Our Dolmabahçe Palace private tour, from $150 per person with the palace ticket included, visits the palace in the morning and walks the waterfront at midday, and in the afternoon you can book a two-hour yacht whose route follows the shore you have just seen.

Combination three: a car for the whole day. A Mercedes Vito city tour of 8 hours costs from $220 per group for 1 to 6 people, with hotel pick-up and a route you set, leaving the evening for a dinner cruise. The overall plan most Chinese visitors use is in the Turkey travel guide for Chinese travellers and the Istanbul day tour in Chinese, cruise passengers should see shore excursions, and for full packages see Turkey tour packages.

Book online, message us on WhatsApp or use our contact page: we reply with availability and the price for your date.

Frequently Asked Questions