Bosphorus Cruise Prices 2027: Ferry, Dinner Cruise and Private Yacht Compared

A Bosphorus cruise costs anywhere from a few hundred lira on the public Şehir Hatları ferry to $90 per person for a dinner cruise with a night show and $600 per group for a two-hour private yacht on our own list. The cheap option and the dinner option are not the same product, and the right choice depends on whether you want the view, the evening, or privacy. If you already know you want an evening on the water, our Bosphorus dinner cruise with night show is $90 per person, and the Bosphorus lunch cruise with hotel pickup is $75 per person.

One caution on the public side. The official Şehir Hatları site returned an access error to our server on 14 November 2026, so the ferry figures below come from a timetable aggregator that reproduces the winter 2026-27 tariff (updated 7 September 2026), not from the operator. Treat them as a guide and confirm at the Eminönü ticket office.

At a glance

Our prices are in US dollars and are per person except where marked per group or per hour. Public ferry prices are in lira and were not checked at the pier.

The public ferry: cheap, long, no commentary

The long Bosphorus tour leaves Eminönü at 10:35 and reaches Anadolu Kavağı at 12:25, with the return leaving at 15:00 and arriving back at 16:40, according to the aggregator's winter timetable. That leaves roughly two and a half hours at the village at the northern end, long enough for a fish lunch and the climb to the Yoros castle ruins if you walk fast. Children under 6 travel free and children under 12 pay half, on the same listing.

What you do not get is commentary. Ships go past Dolmabahçe, Ortaköy and Rumeli Hisarı and nobody tells you which is which. Many visitors bring a phone map or take a guide. The foreign-visitor fare is double the local one, so a couple should expect to pay more than a quick conversion from older blogs suggests.

A shorter public version also exists. Published descriptions of it disagree on route and timing, so confirm at the ticket office before you plan your day around it. In summer, Şehir Hatları also runs a weekend evening "mehtap" (moonlight) sailing and takes Istanbulkart; we could not confirm its current fare.

If all you want is to cross the water, the Eminönü to Üsküdar ferry at 53.20 TL (Istanbul fare table, BirGün, 13 February 2026) takes minutes, and the Maiden's Tower is on the Üsküdar side. The difference between that and a cruise is that you never reach the palaces or the fortress.

Private operators: Turyol, Dentur and agency boats

Several private companies run sightseeing boats from the Eminönü and Kabataş piers, with set departure times and an audio guide or live commentary. We could not confirm current published prices for them from a reliable source, so we do not list a figure. Boats are often large with hundreds of seats, and the experience on a peak summer afternoon is a crowded deck.

The alternative we sell is smaller: a lunch or dinner cruise with hotel pickup, so you are not finding the right pier on your own. If you are weighing public versus tour for a first visit, our Bosphorus cruise comparison for Spanish-speaking travellers makes the same argument from a different angle, and which Bosphorus cruise to book goes through boat types.

Dinner cruise: what $90 buys and what it does not

The luxury Bosphorus dinner cruise with night show is $90 per person. It runs in the evening, so you see the bridges and the waterfront palaces lit up, with dinner and a show on board. Ask us about dietary needs (halal, vegetarian) when you book, and we will confirm the menu for your date. Ask us for the exact route and boarding pier for your date.

What it does not give you is the daytime view of Rumeli Hisarı and the yalı mansions. If that matters more than the show, choose the lunch cruise at $75. For the full list, see our Bosphorus dinner cruise page and Bosphorus cruise page.

Private yacht: when it beats a ticket

A private yacht is a different calculation, because you pay for the boat, not the seat. The 2-hour private Bosphorus yacht cruise is $600 per group. Split between six people that is $100 each, more than the dinner cruise but with no other passengers, your own timing and a stop where you want one. Hourly yachts on our list start at $190 per hour for small boats and rise to $600 per hour for larger or more luxurious boats; the largest party boat is $1,050 per hour. Prices differ by yacht and season, so ask for your date.

A usual route covers Ortaköy, the Bosphorus Bridge, Rumeli Hisarı and the Beylerbeyi shore, and returns past the Maiden's Tower. See private Bosphorus yacht tour and sunset Bosphorus yacht cruise. Our partner site Take Yacht lists the boats by size if you want to compare.

Which one for whom, and when to go

• Solo or tight budget: public ferry to Üsküdar, or the long tour if you have a full day.
• First visit, daytime: lunch cruise with hotel pickup.
• Couples, evening: dinner cruise; book a table near the window side on the day by asking us.
• Family or friends of 6 or more, celebrations, proposals: private yacht.
• Best light: the hour before sunset in spring and autumn, when the city is gold and the wind is calmer than midsummer afternoons.

Questions travellers are asking

Plan it with us

• Luxury Bosphorus dinner cruise with night show: from $90 per person
• Bosphorus lunch cruise with hotel pickup: from $75 per person
• 2-hour private Bosphorus yacht cruise: from $600 per group
• Istanbul Dolmabahçe and Bosphorus tour with private guide: from $150 per person

See all Istanbul tours, the Bosphorus ferry self-guided page and the tour packages. WhatsApp: +90 545 307 67 88.

Sources: timetable aggregator e-yasamrehberi.com for Şehir Hatları long Bosphorus tour fares and times (winter 2026-27 tariff, updated 7 September 2026, read 14 November 2026); BirGün, Istanbul public transport fares 2026, 13 February 2026. The official Şehir Hatları website could not be reached on 14 November 2026.