Guided Bosphorus Sightseeing Cruise from Eminönü

Choose 10:00, 14:00 or 17:30, with multilingual onboard commentary, a mobile audio guide and tea or Nescafé on board.

10:00, 14:00 or 17:30 · 2 hours · Eminönü · Up to 100 guests · Pay on board

The guided cruise leaves Eminönü at 10:00, 14:00 and 17:30 every day and lasts 2 hours.

The route runs along both Bosphorus shores, passing waterfront palaces, mosques, neighbourhoods and two bridges. The experience uses onboard commentary and a mobile audio guide rather than a dedicated live guide accompanying your group.

Tea, Nescafé, WiFi and onboard toilets are included. Add your hotel to the request so the team can confirm central-area pick-up arrangements. Reserve now and pay on board. The guided sunset departure is a separate seasonal choice on the sunset cruise page.

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At a glance

• Adult / child fare: €25 per adult; €18 for children aged 2–7
• Group size: Up to 100 guests
• Included: Multilingual commentary, mobile audio guide, tea, Nescafé, WiFi and onboard toilets
• Payment: Pay on board

Reserve the guided cruise

What you see on the guided cruise

Sail along the European waterfront to the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, then turn back along the Asian shore towards Maiden's Tower. The route overview below marks 28 landmarks and neighbourhoods listed for the cruise. These are views from the boat, not museum entries or a sequence of disembarkation stops.

The European shore includes Dolmabahçe Palace, Çırağan Palace, Ortaköy Mosque, Arnavutköy, Bebek and Rumeli Fortress. On the return leg, look for Anatolian Fortress, Küçüksu Palace, Kuleli, Beylerbeyi Palace and the Üsküdar waterfront. Weather, marine traffic and operating conditions can affect the sailing line.

What's included and what costs extra

The shared cruise includes multilingual onboard commentary, access to the mobile audio guide, self-service Turkish tea and Nescafé, shared WiFi and toilets. Pick-up arrangements must be confirmed for your hotel and selected departure.

• Not included: Hotel drop-off after the cruise, meals, additional beverages, tips, personal purchases and optional Ottoman-costume photographs.

Commentary and mobile audio guide

The mobile audio guide offers 30 languages: English, Russian, German, Turkish, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Ukrainian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Greek, Serbian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Hungarian, Georgian, Azerbaijani, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hindi, Indonesian, Malay, Uzbek, Arabic, Persian and Urdu.

Bring a charged smartphone to use the audio guide. This is a shared sightseeing experience with audio commentary, not a private live-guided tour. For an outing reserved for your own group, request a Private yacht in Istanbul.

Before you sail

• Indoor covered seating is available. Open-deck seating depends on availability and conditions.
• The cruise can operate in rainy weather. Dress for wind on the water and keep your phone charged.
• You may bring your own food and drinks. Meals are not included in the ticket.
• WiFi is shared; connection quality can vary during the cruise.
• If you are running late, contact the team. Any change to your departure depends on availability.

Morning, afternoon or sunset: which departure?

Choose 10:00 if you want your sightseeing cruise finished around noon. Choose 14:00 for an afternoon outing or 17:30 for a later departure. All three cover the same guided product in 2 hours, so you can choose around the rest of your day.

For the waterfront's changing evening light, choose the Guided sunset tour. Its departure changes with the season. If a smaller yacht matters more than audio commentary, compare the Bosphorus morning cruise, which leaves Kabataş at 10:30 with up to 20 guests.

To connect your sailing with sightseeing on land, use our Istanbul cruise-day planner to choose one area ashore.

Hotel pick-up

Add your hotel name and phone number when requesting the cruise. The team confirms whether collection is available for your address and gives the collection time on WhatsApp. For the existing 14:00 afternoon departure, listed central-area collection is around 13:00 from Sultanahmet–Aksaray and Taksim–Beyoğlu.

Your collection and boat-departure times are different. Keep the confirmation for your selected sailing; collection can vary with location and traffic. A return hotel transfer is not included.

Guided cruise or public ferry?

The public ferry is booked independently. Choose this shared sightseeing cruise if you want the marked Bosphorus itinerary, audio commentary and onboard refreshments together.

Use the official Şehir Hatları timetable for public-tour departures. The public ferry is not included in your Istanbul On Boat reservation.

Guided cruise questions