Bosphorus Cruise Istanbul 2027: Every Option Compared, Prices, Piers, Times and Sunset

A Bosphorus cruise in Istanbul costs from 340 TL on the municipal Şehir Hatları ferry, $75 per person for our guided lunch cruise with hotel pick-up, $90 per person for the dinner cruise with a Turkish night show, and from $190 an hour for a whole private yacht. Shared cruises last 90 minutes to 3 hours; the dinner cruise takes about 6 hours door to door. Every boat trip we run is on our Bosphorus cruises page, and this guide compares them with the public ferry so you can pick the right one.

Get Istanbul Tours is a TÜRSAB-licensed agency in Istanbul (licence A-15751). Our guests rate us 4.9 out of 5 from 682 reviews, and we have won the Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice award each year from 2016 to 2025, Best of the Best in 2025 and the Viator Experience Award in 2023. Below: every option with its price, pier and duration, what you see from the water, sunset times by month, New Year's Eve, and twelve answers to the questions people ask most.

Bosphorus cruise options and prices compared

There are five kinds of Bosphorus trip, and they are built for different people. The table shows each option we sell next to the public ferry, with the price from our site in November 2026.

Shared cruises are priced per person. Yachts are priced for the whole boat, so a full 12-guest yacht at $299 an hour comes to about $50 per guest for two hours. New Year's Eve trips are priced separately; see the section further down.

How to choose: which Bosphorus cruise is best for you?

Our team books hundreds of boat trips a season, and the same advice comes up again and again.

First visit, short on time: take the lunch cruise at $75. A van collects you from your hotel, a licensed guide explains both shores, lunch is served on board, and you are back by mid-afternoon. No hunting for the right pier or the right boat.

Tight budget, free afternoon: the public ferry short tour from Eminönü at 340 TL. There is no commentary and you need to arrive early for an outside seat, but the view is the same.

A night out: the dinner cruise at $90 with dinner, soft drinks, folk dances and a belly dance show. It is a lively evening, not a sightseeing trip; reviews that expect fine dining are disappointed.

Couples, families, a proposal or a sunset: a private yacht. You choose the time, the route and who is on board. The Aura yacht from Eminönü at $190 an hour is our lowest-priced boat; the private yacht for up to 12 at $299 an hour is our best-reviewed. For a quiet couple's evening we compare the options on our Bosphorus yacht rental page.

Groups and parties: the 6–32 guest yacht at $525 an hour, or the mega yacht for up to 40 at $1,000 an hour, both with hotel or cruise-port pick-up. Events with a DJ or catering go on the Corona Tokyo event yacht from Bebek at $1,050 an hour.

Bosphorus cruise piers: where boats leave from

"Bosphorus cruise location" is one of the most searched questions, because there is no single terminal. It depends on the boat.

Eminönü is the main pier for the public ferry and the sightseeing loops. It sits below the Spice Bazaar, next to the Galata Bridge, on the T1 tram line (Eminönü stop). Both Şehir Hatları Bosphorus tours leave from the Boğaz Hattı pier here, and private sightseeing boats such as Turyol sell tickets along the quay. Our Aura and Marilyn yachts also board at Eminönü.

Kabataş and Beşiktaş are 10 minutes north by tram or taxi and close to Dolmabahçe Palace. Some dinner boats and private yachts pick up here.

Ortaköy, Bebek, Arnavutköy and İstinye are the yacht piers further up the European shore. The ZENDAY yacht leaves from İstinye ($390 an hour), AMEŞİN N from Arnavutköy ($399 an hour), and White İstanbul from Bebek ($599 an hour).

Your hotel. Our lunch cruise and dinner cruise include pick-up and drop-off at central hotels, and several yachts include transfers from your hotel or the Galataport cruise terminal. For cruise passengers, this is the simplest way to fit a boat trip into a port day; see our Istanbul shore excursions.

The public ferry: Şehir Hatları short and long Bosphorus tours

The city ferry company runs two sightseeing routes from Eminönü. On the winter 2026–27 timetable we checked in October 2026:

• Short tour: leaves Eminönü daily at 14:40, calls at Üsküdar and Ortaköy, then returns to Eminönü. Fare 340 TL for foreign passengers (170 TL for residents).
• Long tour ("Bosphorus to the Black Sea"): leaves at 10:35, calls at Beşiktaş, Üsküdar, Kanlıca, Sarıyer and Rumeli Kavağı, and reaches Anadolu Kavağı at 12:25. The return leaves at 15:00 and is back at Eminönü at 16:40. Fare 640 TL return.

Summer timetables add more departures. Fares in Turkey change often, so check sehirhatlari.istanbul or the Eminönü ticket office on the day. The long tour is the only cheap way to see the northern Bosphorus up to the Black Sea mouth, with a fish lunch and a climb to Yoros Castle at Anadolu Kavağı. If you want to ride the regular commuter ferries instead, our guide to the Bosphorus by public ferry explains Istanbulkart fares and routes.

What you see on a Bosphorus cruise

Most cruises go from the Old City north to the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge and back, roughly 13 km each way. Heading north, the European shore is on your left.

European side: the Galata Tower above Karaköy, Dolmabahçe Palace with its 600-metre marble front, Çırağan Palace (now a hotel), the Ortaköy Mosque at the foot of the 15 July Martyrs Bridge, the villas of Bebek and Arnavutköy, and Rumeli Hisarı, the fortress Mehmed II built in 1452.

Asian side: Üsküdar and the Maiden's Tower on its islet, Beylerbeyi Palace, the Küçüksu Pavilion and Anadolu Hisarı, facing Rumeli Hisarı across the narrowest point of the strait.

Between the palaces you pass dozens of yalı, the wooden waterfront mansions of Ottoman families, some painted the traditional dark red. A guide makes the difference here: the lunch cruise guide or a private guide on a yacht will tell you who built which house. A palace visit pairs well with the water, and our Dolmabahçe Palace private tour from $150 per person includes the Bosphorus shore.

Seating tip: sit on the left going north and on the right coming back to keep the palaces on your side. On the public ferry, the open upper deck at the back fills first.

Bosphorus dinner cruise: what the evening includes

Our dinner cruise with a Turkish night show costs $90 per person and is rated 4.6 from 853 reviews. Hotel pick-up runs between 19:00 and 20:00 and the boat sails at about 20:30. Allow about six hours from hotel to hotel.

Included: transfers, dinner (cold meze, a main course of fish, chicken or meat, dessert), soft drinks and the entertainment programme of folk dances, a belly dance performance and a DJ. An unlimited local alcohol package is available at extra cost; imported drinks and tips are not included. Mention vegetarian, halal or allergy needs when booking.

If you want the lit bridges without the show, a private yacht with a meal on board is the quieter choice. We compare both on our Bosphorus dinner cruise page.

Bosphorus sunset cruise: best times by month

The public ferry runs at fixed times, so for a sunset you need a private boat. Start a two-hour yacht about 75 minutes before sunset: an hour of golden light, the sunset itself, then half an hour under the lit bridges. Turkey stays on UTC+3 all year.

Our private yacht for up to 12 at $299 an hour and the Aura yacht at $190 an hour are the usual sunset choices. Our sunset Bosphorus yacht cruise page lists the boats by pier, and our sister site has more boats for a sunset cruise in Istanbul.

New Year's Eve Bosphorus cruise 2027

On the night of 31 December 2026, the Bosphorus is the most popular place in the city to see in 2027. Fireworks are usually set off near the bridges and Ortaköy at midnight, and every boat on the water is booked weeks ahead.

There are two ways to do it: a New Year gala dinner boat with a set menu, drinks and live music, or a private yacht for your group. New Year's Eve prices are set separately from the regular rates in the table above, because the boats charge a holiday premium and the evening runs for four hours or more. All the options, timings and what to ask before booking are on our New Year's Eve Bosphorus cruise 2027 page. Book as early as you can; the best yachts are often gone by early December.

How booking a Bosphorus cruise works

1. Pick the cruise from the table above, or browse every option on our Bosphorus cruises page.
2. Send your date, group size and hotel through the booking form on the tour page or by WhatsApp. For yachts, add the start time and how many hours you want.
3. We confirm availability and the total, usually within the hour during the day. For the lunch and dinner cruise, we confirm the pick-up time the evening before.
4. We organise the rest: transfer, boarding, guide if booked, and extras such as a cake, flowers or a meal on board for yachts.

Same-day bookings are often possible for the lunch cruise and for yachts on weekdays. If you are going today, our page on Bosphorus cruise tickets today shows what is usually still available. To combine the water with the Old City, see our Istanbul tours.

Bosphorus cruise Istanbul: frequently asked questions

How much is a Bosphorus cruise in Istanbul?

A Bosphorus cruise costs from 340 TL on the public Şehir Hatları short tour, $75 per person for our guided lunch cruise with hotel pick-up, $90 per person for the dinner cruise with a Turkish night show, and from $190 an hour for a private yacht for up to 12 guests, with a 2-hour minimum.

Which Bosphorus cruise is the best?

The best Bosphorus cruise depends on what you want. The lunch cruise at $75 is best for a first visit with a guide and hotel pick-up, a private yacht is best for sunset, couples and families, the dinner cruise suits a lively night out, and the public ferry suits a small budget.

How long is a Bosphorus cruise?

Most Bosphorus cruises last 90 minutes to 3 hours. The public short tour takes about 2 hours return, our lunch cruise about 3 hours including transfers, the dinner cruise about 6 hours door to door, and private yachts are hired for a minimum of 2 hours. The long public tour fills a whole day.

Where does the Bosphorus cruise start?

Public ferries and sightseeing boats start at Eminönü pier, next to the Spice Bazaar and the T1 tram stop. Private yachts board at Eminönü, Bebek, Arnavutköy, İstinye or a Bosphorus marina. Our lunch and dinner cruises collect you from your hotel, so you do not need to find the pier.

What are the Bosphorus cruise timings?

On the winter 2026–27 timetable the public short tour leaves Eminönü at 14:40 and the long tour at 10:35, returning at 16:40. Our lunch cruise picks up between 12:00 and 12:30 and the dinner cruise between 19:00 and 20:00. Private yachts leave at any time you choose.

Does the Bosphorus cruise go to the Black Sea?

Only the long Şehir Hatları tour goes almost to the Black Sea. It sails to Anadolu Kavağı near the mouth of the strait, stops for about two and a half hours, then returns. Shorter cruises turn back near the second bridge. A private yacht can go further north on a longer charter.

Is there a Turkish Airlines Bosphorus cruise?

Turkish Airlines runs Touristanbul, a free city tour for international transfer passengers with a 6 to 24 hour layover, and its routes were updated on 1 May 2026. Whether a route includes time on the water varies, so ask at the Touristanbul desk at Istanbul Airport. With a longer stay, our lunch cruise is a 3-hour option.

How do I book Bosphorus cruise tickets?

Public ferry tickets are bought at the Eminönü ticket office or with an Istanbulkart on the day. For our cruises and yachts, book on the tour page or by WhatsApp with your date, group size and hotel. We confirm availability and the pick-up time, and same-day bookings are often possible.

Is a Bosphorus sunset cruise worth it?

Yes, for most visitors a sunset cruise is the best time to be on the Bosphorus, with soft light on the palaces and then the bridges lit after dark. You need a private boat for the right timing: start about 75 minutes before sunset, around 16:30 in November and 19:15 in June.

Which Bosphorus cruise has the best reviews?

On our site, the private yacht for up to 12 guests is rated 4.9 from 258 reviews at $299 an hour, and the dinner cruise with Turkish night show is rated 4.6 from 853 reviews at $90 per person. Overall, Get Istanbul Tours is rated 4.9 from 682 reviews.

Is the Bosphorus cruise worth it in winter?

Yes. Boats run all year, clear winter days give the sharpest views, and there are fewer crowds. It is cold on the open deck from December to February, so sit inside or choose a yacht with a heated saloon. Sunset comes early, around 16:30 to 17:30, which suits an afternoon trip.

Can I hire a private yacht for a few hours on the Bosphorus?

Yes. Our private yachts are hired by the hour with a 2-hour minimum, from $190 an hour for the Aura from Eminönü to $299 an hour for our best-reviewed yacht for up to 12, and up to $1,000 an hour for a 40-guest mega yacht. Captain, crew and fuel are included.