Beşiktaş pier: Bosphorus tours, ferries and Dolmabahçe next door

Beşiktaş pier is the working ferry hub of the European shore north of the Old City. It is a good place to start a Bosphorus tour if you are staying in Beşiktaş or have just visited Dolmabahçe Palace, and a good place to cross to Asia. It is not where the dinner boats or the sunset yachts leave; those are at Kabataş, one stop south.

Beşiktaş pier: five operators within 200 m

The pier is really five landings side by side along the waterfront, each run by a different company:

• Şehir Hatları Beşiktaş–Üsküdar pier: the Bosphorus commuter line and the Golden Horn line.
• Şehir Hatları Beşiktaş–Kadıköy pier: Kadıköy and Sarıyer ferries, and the call of the public Long Bosphorus Tour.
• Dentur Avrasya pier: ferries to Üsküdar, Kadıköy and the Princes' Islands, and Dentur's own 75-minute Bosphorus tour.
• Turyol pier: Turyol's Beşiktaş–Kadıköy boats.
• İDO: sea buses towards Bostancı and the islands.

Check the sign above the turnstile, not just the destination: two piers may serve the same place for different companies, at the same İstanbulkart fare.

Getting to Beşiktaş pier

There is no tram or metro at the pier. The T1 tram and the F1 funicular from Taksim both end at Kabataş, about 1.4 km south along the shore; from there you walk past Dolmabahçe Palace. By boat it is easy: Beşiktaş–Üsküdar costs 50.15 TL and Beşiktaş–Kadıköy 65.21 TL with an İstanbulkart (the city's rechargeable transport card). A contactless bank card also works at the turnstile but charges 120 TL for a ferry ride.

If you are coming for a dinner cruise or a sunset yacht, go straight to Kabataş pier instead.

Dentur's Bosphorus tour from Beşiktaş

Dentur Avrasya, a private ferry company, runs the cheapest Bosphorus tour with commentary from three piers, and Beşiktaş is one of them. The boat leaves at 10:40, 12:55, then hourly to 17:55, and takes about 75 minutes without stops. It goes up the European shore past Çırağan, the Ortaköy Mosque, Arnavutköy, Bebek and Rumeli Hisarı, turns at the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge (the second bridge), and comes back along the Asian shore past Anadolu Hisarı, Küçüksu, Kuleli, Beylerbeyi and the Maiden's Tower.

Announcements are in Turkish and English. Tickets cost 250 TL at the booth, where cards are accepted; Dentur's online fare from Kabataş and Üsküdar is 200 TL. Children up to 10 ride free. The timetable is on Dentur's Beşiktaş page.

The last Beşiktaş loop leaves at 17:55. For a later one, Kabataş runs until 19:40 and Üsküdar until 19:30. It is a sightseeing loop, not a hop-on hop-off service: you get off where you got on.

The public Long Tour from Beşiktaş

The municipal Şehir Hatları Long Bosphorus Tour starts at Eminönü at 10:35 and calls at Beşiktaş at 10:50, then Üsküdar, Kanlıca, Sarıyer and Rumeli Kavağı before reaching Anadolu Kavağı near the Black Sea at 12:25. The only boat back leaves at 15:00 and calls at Beşiktaş at 16:25.

The return ticket costs 640 TL for foreign visitors (Turkish citizens 320 TL). These are the winter times; check sehirhatlari.istanbul or the Beşiktaş booth on the day, and ask there whether it sells the tour ticket. If not, start at Eminönü. On summer Saturdays the moonlight tour (Mehtap) also calls at Beşiktaş at 18:50 and returns at 23:45. See Şehir Hatları and the public ferry guide.

Dolmabahçe Palace and a cruise from Beşiktaş

Dolmabahçe Palace stands between Beşiktaş and Kabataş, about 10 minutes' walk from either pier, with its visitor gate at the Clock Tower. A morning at the palace followed by a Bosphorus loop from Beşiktaş is the natural pairing, and the palace façade is at its best from the water afterwards.

What to know before you go:

• One foreign-visitor ticket, 2,000 TL, covers the Selamlık, the Harem and the Painting Museum, and is valid for 7 days. The Museum Pass is not valid here.
• Ticket offices are open 09:00–17:00. The palace is closed on Mondays (it opens on 10 November even when that is a Monday).
• Phone photos without flash are allowed inside; cameras, tripods and strollers are not.

Official information is on millisaraylar.gov.tr. The Dolmabahçe and Bosphorus cruise guide covers the combos in detail.

The Headout combo includes skip-the-ticket-desk entry with an audio guide and a seat on the Dentur boat from Kabataş, cancellable up to 24 hours before. The GetYourGuide combo has far fewer reviews and does not name its boat. You can also pay for the two separately in lira: the palace ticket at the gate and the Dentur loop at the Beşiktaş booth.

Also nearby: Çırağan Palace, just north along the shore, is now a hotel, and Yıldız Palace sits on the hill above (900 TL, closed on Wednesdays), but neither is a cruise stop.

Ferries to Asia, the islands and the Golden Horn

• Üsküdar (50.15 TL) and Kadıköy (65.21 TL): frequent crossings on Şehir Hatları, Dentur and Turyol boats. See Üsküdar pier.
• Princes' Islands: Şehir Hatları island ferries call at Beşiktaş (151.23 TL with İstanbulkart). In winter Mavi Marmara also runs a tourist boat from Beşiktaş at 09:30 and 11:30 to Heybeliada and Büyükada. See Princes' Islands ferry.
• Golden Horn: the Haliç line starts at Beşiktaş, calls at Kabataş and Karaköy and runs up to Eyüpsultan in about 45–50 minutes for 76.90 TL. See Golden Horn cruises.

What does not leave from Beşiktaş

No dinner cruise and no shared sunset yacht in our listings boards at Beşiktaş. The Mega Lüfer dinner boats use the Kadoil landing at Kabataş, Turyol's Bosfor leaves Karaköy, and Dentur's own Turkish-night cruise boards at its wooden pier in Kabataş. If a tout at Beşiktaş offers a "Bosphorus cruise with dinner", ask which pier and which boat. See the dinner cruise guide and the pier overview.

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Combo: Dolmabahçe Palace & Harem Skip-the-Line Tickets with Audio Guide + Bosphorus Cruise

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Dolmabahce Palace Ticket & Bosphorus Boat Tour Experience

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Istanbul: Bosphorus Sunset & Day Time Cruise, Drinks & Snack

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GetYourGuide1.5 h⚓ Kabataş

Istanbul: Bosphorus Cruise from Europe or Asia & Audio Guide

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

Heading further up the shore? See Ortaköy pier.