Bosphorus cruise piers: which pier for which boat

Bosphorus cruise piers in Istanbul are not single buildings. "Eminönü" means at least three boarding points a few hundred meters apart, "Kabataş" is a row of four separate landings along one road, and Beşiktaş has five operators' piers within about 200 m. The pier (iskele in Turkish) also tells you a lot about the boat: the public ferries, the hourly co-operative tour boats, the dinner ships and the small yachts each have their own landings.

This page explains which cruise leaves from which pier, how to reach each one, and where people get lost. Each pier also has its own page with the exact boarding points.

Which pier for which Bosphorus cruise

Two rules follow from this table. First, there is no dinner cruise from Ortaköy or Beşiktaş: every dinner boat we could place boards at Kabataş or Karaköy. Second, if your ticket says "Eminönü" or "Kabataş", that is not enough to find the boat. Many listings send the exact boarding point only in the final voucher or by WhatsApp, so check it the day before.

The seven piers at a glance

Eminönü: three boarding points under one name

Eminönü is the busiest waterfront in the city and the most confusing. Three different boarding points share the name:

• The Şehir Hatları Bosphorus pier, east of the Galata Bridge. The municipal Long and Short Tours sell at the Şehir Hatları Bosphorus-tour booth here, and the commuter Bosphorus line leaves from this pier. The Şehir Hatları Kadıköy pier is about 100 m further east.
• The Turyol pier on the Golden Horn side of the Galata Bridge, across from the Spice Bazaar, next to the fish-sandwich boats, roughly 320 m west of the Şehir Hatları pier. Turyol's hourly Bosphorus tour, its Princes' Islands boat and most of the cheap platform cruises board here.
• Agency boats: one agency checks guests in at its office in the Old City and walks them to a boat nearby; another meets at "Eminönü Pier".

The Sirkeci–Harem car ferry is just east. This is also where touts, some in captain's uniforms, sell "Bosphorus tours". A 2-hour loop cannot reach the Black Sea, whatever the leaflet shows: the public ferry takes 1 h 50 just to sail from Eminönü to Anadolu Kavağı. Buy at a booth that shows the operator's name, or on a platform.

Şehir Hatları charges foreign visitors 640 TL for the Long Tour and 340 TL for the Short Tour; Turkish citizens pay half. The official site is sehirhatlari.istanbul; it is often hard to load, so check at the booth on the day.

Kabataş: four landings in a row

Kabataş is where the T1 tram ends and the F1 funicular arrives from Taksim in 2.5 minutes. The waterfront along Meclis-i Mebusan Caddesi is a strip of separate landings, from south to north:

1. Şehir Hatları Kabataş pier: Princes' Islands and Bostancı ferries.
2. Dentur Avrasya terminal, about 200 m north: the 75-minute Bosphorus loop (Boğaz Turu) at 10:30, 12:40 and then hourly to 19:40, plus Kadıköy and islands ferries.
3. Dentur's separate wooden tour pier, signposted for the Turkish night, sunset and Bosphorus tour: Dentur's own dinner cruise and several agencies' dinner listings board here.
4. The private landing by the Kadoil petrol station, Meclis-i Mebusan Cd. 34, opposite the tram stop. Tickets often call it "Dolmabahçe Mosque". The Mega Lüfer dinner and day boats, Velena's sunset yacht and the yachts with a Kanlıca stop board here, next to agency kiosks.

Dolmabahçe Palace's visitor gate is about a 10-minute walk north. Dentur's tour costs 250 TL at the booth and 200 TL online at denturavrasya.com, with children up to 10 free.

Karaköy and Galataport

Karaköy sits across the Galata Bridge from Eminönü. Its key landing for cruise passengers is the Turyol pier on the Golden Horn side of the bridge's Karaköy end, Rıhtım Cd. 17, where Turyol's Bosfor dinner ship boards from 20:00 and sails at 20:30. Orient Bosphorus and Le Vapeur Magique dinner and breakfast boats also leave Karaköy. Maiden's Tower boats leave from the pier in front of Ziraat Bankası, and the genuinely small Stambultour yacht (16 guests at most) meets at Azapkapı, just west along the Golden Horn.

Galataport, the underground cruise terminal between Karaköy and Tophane, runs its own 70-minute boat every 30 minutes from 13:30 to 20:30 for 700 TL, with music and an ice cream but no commentary. Big cruise ships berth here and never sail up the strait.

Beşiktaş, Ortaköy and the charter piers

Beşiktaş is a cluster of five operators' piers within about 200 m: two Şehir Hatları piers, Dentur, Turyol and İDO. The public Long Tour calls at 10:50 and the Dentur loop leaves at 10:40, 12:55 and hourly to 17:55. There is no tram or metro; the T1 ends at Kabataş, about 1.4 km away. No shared yacht or dinner cruise in our listings boards here.

Ortaköy is a small Şehir Hatları pier below the mosque and the 15 July Martyrs Bridge. The public Short Tour picks up here at 15:10, and Bosphorus commuter ferries call. It is a better place to look at boats than to board one.

Bebek and the charter piers

Private yachts board where the client and the operator agree: Bebek, Kuruçeşme, Arnavutköy, Kandilli, Kuleli, Kabataş and hotel piers. One Tiqets private yacht boards on Bebek–Arnavutköy Caddesi in Bebek. Some agencies add a fee of about €45 for boarding at a public pier, which hotel piers avoid; ask before you pay. See private yacht cruises.

The Asian-side piers: Üsküdar and Kadıköy

Üsküdar has the Şehir Hatları pier (Long Tour call 11:05, Short Tour 14:55), Dentur's terminal with the 75-minute loop hourly from 12:30 to 19:30, and Turyol's pier. It is on Marmaray and the M5 metro. South along the shore, Salacak has the Maiden's Tower visitor centre with boats about every half hour from 09:30 to 17:00, the canoe launch, and a free sunset view across to the Old City.

Kadıköy has Şehir Hatları, Turyol and İDO piers, and the M4 metro to Sabiha Gökçen airport. Turyol's islands boat calls here between 10:10 and 14:10, and food tours finish in the market streets near the pier. No hotel pick-up for a cruise covers the Asian side, so from Kadıköy or Üsküdar you take a ferry across yourself.

Choosing a pier by where you stay

Most visitors can pick the pier that is easiest to reach and still get the cruise they want, because every type of boat runs from more than one place.

• Sultanahmet and the Old City: Eminönü is one T1 stop or a short walk downhill. It has the public tours, the Turyol loop and the cheapest platform boats. For a dinner cruise, the T1 runs on to Karaköy and Kabataş.
• Taksim, Şişli and the hotels up the hill: take the F1 funicular down to Kabataş in 2.5 minutes. The Dentur loop, the dinner boats and most sunset yachts are a few minutes' walk from the station.
• Galata, Karaköy and Beyoğlu: walk down to Karaköy for Turyol's dinner ship, the Maiden's Tower boats and Galataport's boat, or ride the T1 to Kabataş.
• Beşiktaş, Ortaköy and the Bosphorus shore: the Dentur loop leaves Beşiktaş in the late morning and afternoon. For the Short Tour, board at Ortaköy at 15:10 instead of going down to Eminönü.
• Kadıköy, Üsküdar and the Asian side: the Dentur loop from Üsküdar needs no crossing at all. For everything else, the ferry to Kabataş or Karaköy is part of the trip.

Combining a cruise with a sight? Kabataş and Beşiktaş are both about 10 minutes on foot from Dolmabahçe Palace, which is closed on Mondays. Eminönü is two to three minutes from the Spice Bazaar. Karaköy is below the Galata Tower.

A day on the water, pier by pier

Getting between the piers

The T1 tram links Eminönü, Karaköy and Kabataş on the European side. For anything across the water, take a ferry. The fare is set per route and is the same on Şehir Hatları, Turyol and Dentur boats.

The İstanbulkart (the city's rechargeable transport card) costs 165 TL; one T1 or F1 ride is 46.20 TL. A contactless bank card also works at the turnstile, but a ferry then costs 120 TL. Cash is not accepted on board. Fares are on istanbulkart.istanbul. The public ferry guide has the full timetables.

Pier pitfalls

• Your trip may end somewhere else. Tiqets' Golden Horn sunset yacht starts at Kabataş and ends at Karaköy. Plan dinner and the ride home around the end pier.
• "Dolmabahçe Mosque" on a ticket means the Kadoil landing at Kabataş, not the mosque steps.
• Arrive early. Operators ask for 15–30 minutes before departure; the upper deck fills first.
• Weather. Lodos (the strong south-westerly wind) and fog cancel sailings several times each winter. The operator decides; platforms refund or rebook under their own terms.
• Accessibility is rare: most shared tour boats are not wheelchair accessible. Ask before booking.

These three listings are the cheapest guided-by-app cruises on each platform, and they board at different piers: the GetYourGuide one is sold as a "mega yacht" and points to the Mega Lüfer boats at the Kabataş landing; the Tiqets one is Sea & Land's boat near Eminönü; the Headout one cannot be cancelled or rescheduled.

◔ Day or sunset

GetYourGuide2 h⚓ Kabataş

Bosphorus Day/Sunset/Night Sightseeing Cruise & Audio Guide

4.7 (19,877)

from $9Check dates

◐ Daytime

Tiqets2 h⚓ Balat

Istanbul: Mega Lufer Sightseeing Cruise with Audio Guide + Snack & Alcoholic Drinks

No reviews yet

from $36Check dates

☾ Evening

GetYourGuide3 h⚓ Kabataş

Istanbul: Bosphorus Dinner Cruise & Turkish Night Show

4.6 (2,281)

from $23Check dates

◑ Sunset

GetYourGuide1 h⚓ Kabataş

Istanbul: Sunset Yacht Cruise on the Bosphorus with Transfer

4.3 (25)

from $36Check dates

◐ Daytime

GetYourGuide⚓ Bebek

Istanbul: Pink Car Boat Ride on the Bosphorus with Waffle

No reviews yet

from $292Check dates

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

Planning the rest of the evening? See the dinner cruise guide, the sunset cruise guide and the Princes' Islands ferry.