Golden Horn cruise and the Pierre Loti cable car

The Golden Horn (Haliç in Turkish) is the 7.5 km inlet that branches off the Bosphorus between Eminönü and Karaköy. Almost every Golden Horn cruise sold on the booking platforms is really a Bosphorus cruise that turns into the mouth of the Horn for a few minutes, around the Galata Bridge, before heading up the strait. That is fine if you want the classic Bosphorus loop. It is not what you want if you came for Balat, Fener, Eyüp and the hill of Pierre Loti.

The boat that does sail the whole Horn is a city ferry that costs 76.90 TL with an İstanbulkart, the city's rechargeable transport card. Add the cable car up to Pierre Loti (46.20 TL) and the whole outing costs 123.10 TL. Below: both options, what the paid combos do, and which to book.

What a "Bosphorus and Golden Horn cruise" really covers

Three different things are sold under the same name:

• Two-hour platform cruises with "Golden Horn" in the title. They leave from Eminönü or Kabataş, look into the mouth of the Horn near the Galata Bridge, then run up the Bosphorus to about the second bridge and back. You see the Old City skyline from the Horn side and the Galata Tower above Karaköy, not Eyüp.
• Cruise + Pierre Loti combos, usually half-day or full-day tours. The boat part is a standard Bosphorus cruise; the group then reaches Eyüp and the cable car by bus, driving along the Horn.
• The public Haliç ferry of Şehir Hatları, the municipal ferry company. It is a commuter line, not a tour: no commentary, no snacks, but it sails under all four Golden Horn bridges and ends at the Eyüp pier, a short walk from the cable car.

If you want the palaces and bridges of the strait, book a normal sightseeing cruise and treat the Horn as a bonus. If you want the Horn itself, ride the ferry.

The Haliç ferry to Eyüp: route, timetable and fare

The Golden Horn line runs from Beşiktaş → Kabataş → Karaköy → Kasımpaşa → Hasköy → Sütlüce → Eyüpsultan, about 45–50 minutes end to end. Some sailings on the Kadıköy–Eyüpsultan variant also call at Fener. Whether the Balat and Ayvansaray piers are served on the current timetable is not clear, so if you want to get off in Balat, check the timetable at the pier on the day.

On the way in, the boat passes under the Galata Bridge (the current one dates from 1994), the Haliç Metro Bridge (2014, metro and pedestrians), the Atatürk or Unkapanı Bridge (1940) and the Haliç highway bridge (1974) before reaching Eyüp. The old-city shore (Cibali, Fener, Balat, Ayvansaray) is on your left going in, the Kasımpaşa–Hasköy–Sütlüce shore on your right.

How to pay:

• İstanbulkart: 76.90 TL per ride. The card itself costs 165 TL at the machines.
• Contactless bank card at the turnstile: you pay the limited-ticket price, 120 TL for a ferry ride.
• No cash on board or at the turnstile. Children under 7 travel free.

The first boat leaves Beşiktaş at about 07:15 (about 10:15 on Sundays) and the line runs into the early evening. The last sailing times differ between sources, so check the return time at the Eyüp pier before you go up the hill. Live cancellations, for example on lodos days (the strong south-westerly wind that cancels ferry lines in winter), are posted at sehirhatlari.istanbul. The Haliç line was among the lines suspended in the lodos of 3 January 2026.

For the big picture of city ferries and the dual fares on the Bosphorus tours, see the public ferry guide.

Pierre Loti cable car: hours, fare and the walk down

The TF2 Eyüp–Piyer Loti line is run by Metro İstanbul, the city's rail company. It opened in 2005 and is tiny: two stations, 420 m of cable, cabins for 8 people, 3.25 minutes one way, every 5 minutes at busy times.

• Fare: the standard rail fare, 46.20 TL with İstanbulkart (single-ride ticket 65 TL).
• Hours: 08:00–22:00 on the winter timetable (since 1 October), 08:00–23:00 in summer. See the Metro İstanbul TF2 page.
• Wind: the system stops automatically in strong wind. On a stormy day, have the footpath as plan B.
• Access: cabins have folding seats for wheelchair users.

The lower station is at Eyüp, by the Golden Horn shore under the Eyüp Sultan cemetery. The T5 tram (Eminönü–Alibeyköy) and the ferries connect there. The upper station sits in front of the historic Pierre Loti café and tea garden, with a viewing telescope on the upper floor of the station.

Bosphorus and Golden Horn cruises on the platforms: prices

If you want a narrated cruise and the Horn is a nice extra, these are the listings that carry "Golden Horn" in the title. Prices are live "from" prices per person.

◑ Sunset

GetYourGuide2 h

Istanbul: Bosphorus and Golden Horn Sunset Yacht Cruise

4.5 (38)

from $55Check dates

◑ Sunset

Headout2 h

Bosphorus & Golden Horn Sunset Yacht Cruise with English-Speaking Guide

4.8 (16)

from $55Check dates

◔ Day or sunset

GetYourGuide2 h

Istanbul: Bosphorus & Golden Horn Cruise Daytime or Sunset

3.9 (945)

from $11Check dates

◐ Daytime

GetYourGuide2 h

Istanbul: Bosphorus and Golden Horn Boat Tour with Guide

3.9 (112)

from $19Check dates

◐ Daytime

GetYourGuide3.5 h

Istanbul: Bosphorus Cruise & Cable Car down Pierre Loti Hill

4.0 (289)

from $44Check dates

◐ Daytime

TiqetsFull day

Istanbul: Old City Guided Tour, Bosphorus Cruise, Pierre Loti Hill + Cable Car

4.5 (10)

from $64Check dates

See everything on GetYourGuide →See everything on Headout →See everything on Tiqets →Prices checked on October 17, 2026

What stands out:

• GetYourGuide's daytime-or-sunset cruise is the cheap, high-volume option at from $11, with 945 reviews but a 3.9 rating, below what the well-reviewed Istanbul cruises score.
• The guided boat tour (from $19) has the same 3.9 rating from 112 reviews.
• Several newer listings have only one to three reviews, and one Tiqets audio-guide cruise sits at 1.0 from a single review. We would not book them for a short stay.

For a plain two-hour loop with a better track record, the best-reviewed Bosphorus sightseeing boats are on the sightseeing cruise page. They also look into the Horn on the way out from Eminönü, which is all most "Golden Horn" listings do.

Golden Horn sunset yacht: the same boat on three platforms

The one Golden Horn listing with consistently good reviews is a 2–2.5-hour sunset yacht cruise with an English-speaking guide. It is sold on GetYourGuide, Headout and Tiqets at the same supplier price of €49. Tiqets names the seller: Travelpedia Turizm, an agency based in Eskişehir that resells Istanbul boats. It does not own the yacht.

What the listing says, and what to plan around:

• Boarding: Kabataş, at Meclis-i Mebusan Cd. 34/a, the private landing by the Kadoil petrol station that tickets call "Dolmabahçe Mosque". The Tiqets listing shows a 17:30 start.
• It ends at Karaköy, not where it started. Plan dinner in Karaköy or take the T1 tram back.
• Included: snacks and fruit, the guide. Alcohol is extra. There is no meal.
• Cancellation: free up to 24 hours before on all three platforms.
• Reviews: the three listings are one product, so their ratings (4.5 on GetYourGuide from 38 reviews, 4.8 on Headout from 16, 4.6 on Tiqets from 7) are not three independent opinions.

The prices were within a dollar of each other on the day we checked, so choose by how you like to pay: GetYourGuide (reserve now, pay later) and Headout (pay later on refundable listings) let you wait; Tiqets charges at booking. The listings do not say how far into the Horn the yacht goes. Like most, expect a look into the mouth rather than a run to Eyüp, and ask the seller if it matters to you.

Cruise + Pierre Loti combos: what you pay for

The combos sell convenience: a guide, a bus that takes you to Eyüp, a cable-car ticket and a Bosphorus cruise in one booking. They do not sail up the Horn. The bus does the Horn part.

• Bosphorus cruise and cable car down Pierre Loti Hill on GetYourGuide: about 3.5 hours, from $44, rated 4.0 from 289 reviews. The most-reviewed combo of this kind.
• Old City tour, cruise and Pierre Loti on Tiqets (Aljazeera Istanbul): a 7-hour day with the cable car one way. Hagia Sophia's €25 entry is not included and is paid in cash.
• Velena's cruise, bus tour and cable car on Tiqets: 5 hours from Taksim Square at 11:30, a Bosphorus boat with live English commentary and a stop at Küçüksu Pavilion or Rumeli Hisarı depending on the weekday, then a bus tour and free time at Pierre Loti with the cable car down. Lunch is extra and there is no hotel transfer. Rumeli Hisarı is closed on Mondays, so check which stop your date gets.
• Headout's cruise + Pierre Loti + neighborhood tour is cheaper on paper but has a single 3.0 review.

Do the maths before you pay $44–64: the ferry and the cable car together cost 123.10 TL with an İstanbulkart, and a separate sightseeing cruise starts at a few dollars. A combo is worth it if you have one day, want a guide, and prefer not to handle cards and timetables. On combos with an Old City part, expect museum fees on top; the Old City combos guide lists what each ticket covers.

Ferry and cable car or a tour: side by side

Our view: for the Horn itself, go on your own. The ferry is the only way to see the inlet from the water. Pair it with a separate Bosphorus cruise from Kabataş or Eminönü and you have a better day than any combo, for less; how to choose a cruise helps with that part. Book a combo only if a guided day with everything arranged matters more to you than the route.

Where the Golden Horn piers and sights are

The chart shows the piers where Golden Horn trips start or pass and the two ends of the cable car.

• Karaköy: the closest Haliç ferry stop to the Old City. See Karaköy pier.
• Kabataş: Haliç ferry stop and the boarding point of the Golden Horn sunset yacht. See Kabataş pier.
• Beşiktaş: where the Haliç line starts. See Beşiktaş pier.
• Eminönü: not among the listed Haliç ferry stops, but the T5 tram to Eyüp starts here, and the cheap platform cruises leave from here. See Eminönü pier.
• Balat and Cibali: on the old-city shore of the Horn. Tiqets sells 2-hour Mega Lüfer daytime sightseeing cruises that board here, by Kadir Has University; they are not the Mega Lüfer dinner cruise and had no reviews yet when we checked.

When to go and what can go wrong

• Wind: the cable car stops automatically in strong wind, and lodos days cancel ferry lines in winter. If the forecast is bad, take the T5 tram to Eyüp and walk up.
• Last boat: check it at Eyüp before you go up. If you miss it, the T5 tram runs to Eminönü.

Check the Golden Horn sunset yachtfrom $55Affiliate link: if you book, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Golden Horn cruise FAQ