Kabataş pier: Dentur tours, dinner boats and the yacht landing

Kabataş pier is the busiest departure point for Bosphorus cruises after Eminönü, and the most confusing one. The tram stops at the end of the line, you step out onto the waterfront road, and in front of you are four different landings run by different businesses within a few hundred metres. A ticket that says "Kabataş", "Dentur Kabataş", "Dolmabahçe Mosque" or "Kabataş Square" points to a specific one. This page tells you which.

The four landings at Kabataş

All of them line Meclis-i Mebusan Caddesi, the waterfront road between the tram terminus and Dolmabahçe.

Agency kiosks also sit along this road (for example "Boss4.net Kabataş Bosphorus Tour Point" at No. 36/A, a Headout meeting point). Golden City Tours meets its guests at "Kabataş Square". Many listings send the exact landing only in the final voucher or by WhatsApp: read it the day before.

How to get to Kabataş

T1 tram: Kabataş is the end of the line from Sultanahmet, Eminönü and Karaköy. F1 funicular: from Taksim Square down to Kabataş in 2.5 minutes, every 5 minutes at peak; the lower station is below sea level, right at the tram terminus. With an İstanbulkart either ride costs 46.20 TL.

By ferry, Kabataş is 51.81 TL from Üsküdar and 62.70 TL from Kadıköy with an İstanbulkart. Beşiktaş pier is about 1.4 km north and has no rail station, so Kabataş is the easier start if you come by tram.

Dentur's Bosphorus loop from Kabataş

The cheapest real Bosphorus cruise with commentary leaves from the Dentur terminal: a non-stop loop of about 75 minutes up the European shore past Dolmabahçe, Çırağan, Ortaköy, Bebek and Rumeli Hisarı, turning at the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge and returning down the Asian shore past Anadolu Hisarı, Kuleli and Beylerbeyi. Announcements are in Turkish and English.

Kabataş departures: 10:30, 12:40, then hourly from 13:40 to 19:40, with extra sailings possible at weekends. Price: 250 TL at the booth or 200 TL online (from 14 August 2026); children up to 10 free; cards accepted. Times and prices are on denturavrasya.com and tickets online at pereme.com.tr, Dentur's own tour brand. There are no hop-on hop-off stops.

This Dentur boat is also the cruise inside the Istanbul Tourist Pass and most Headout ticket-plus-cruise combos, which meet at the Dentur pier at Kabataş. If you already hold one of those, you are on this loop. Sit on the left going north for the palaces in front light in the morning. More on the operator in our Dentur Avrasya review, and on all the public boats in the public ferry guide.

GetYourGuide sells a Dentur cruise with drinks and snacks under the Pereme Tours name, according to the listing: Sunset & Day Time Cruise, Drinks & Snack, from $7.85. It is a different product from the plain booth ticket.

Dinner cruises from Kabataş

Kabataş is one of the two main dinner-cruise piers in Istanbul (the other is Karaköy). Two landings matter after dark:

• The Kadoil landing (No. 34): the Mega Lüfer boats, sold by HGR Cruise Travel Agency. Guests board from about 20:00–20:15 and the boat sails at 20:45 for about 3 hours. The best-known listing, Bosphorus Dinner Cruise & Show with Private Table (from $30.75), had 75,584 reviews on 16 October, the most of any Istanbul listing on the three platforms that day. Soft drinks are in the base price; alcohol costs extra or comes as a package.
• Dentur's wooden tour pier: Dentur's own Turkish-night cruise, listed on GetYourGuide as a Pereme Tours by Dentur Avrasya product, Dinner Cruise & Turkish Night Show (from $22.62), and the boarding point of other sellers' dinner listings, including Velena Travel's two Tiqets dinners. Several agencies sell seats on the same few boats from this landing, under different titles and at different prices.

Hotel pick-up, where included, covers central European-side hotels only. If you take the tram yourself, arrive 20 minutes early: the landings are close together, but the right one is not always obvious in the dark. For a comparison of the ships, piers and seat tiers see our dinner cruise guide.

A private table means a table for your party only, and it needs two or more guests; solo bookers are seated with others. Boat, menu and inclusions differ between these listings, so compare more than the price.

Sunset yachts and day boats from Kabataş

Most shared sunset yachts in the city board at the Kadoil landing, signposted "Dolmabahçe Mosque" on some tickets, or meet at Kabataş Square:

• Golden City Tours (Sunset Cruise on Yacht with Live Guide, from $21.03) meets at Kabataş Square, has a live English guide and sails to the second bridge.
• Velena Travel's sunset yacht (Tiqets) boards at the Dolmabahçe Mosque landing.
• The Golden Horn sunset yacht starts at Kabataş but ends at Karaköy, so plan your evening from there.

Board about 75–90 minutes before sunset for the best light. See our sunset cruise guide for timing by month and the private yacht guide for charters.

☾ Evening

GetYourGuide3 h⚓ Kabataş

Istanbul: Bosphorus Dinner Cruise & Show with Private Table

4.8 (75,584)

from $31Check dates

☾ Evening

Headout

Combo: Galata Tower Tickets + Bosphorus Dinner Cruise

4.6 (1,389)

from $68Check dates

◑ Sunset

GetYourGuide2 h

Istanbul: Bosphorus Yacht Cruise at Sunset with Snacks

4.7 (2,273)

from $17Check dates

☾ Evening

GetYourGuide3 h⚓ Kabataş

Istanbul: Bosphorus Dinner Cruise & Turkish Night Show

4.6 (2,281)

from $23Check dates

◑ Sunset

GetYourGuide2.5 h

Istanbul: Bosphorus Sunset Cruise on a Luxury Yacht

4.8 (1,534)

from $56Check dates

☾ Evening

Headout3.5 h

Bosphorus 3-Course Dinner Cruise with Live Entertainment & DJ

4.5 (1,497)

from $67Check dates

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

Ferries, islands and the palace next door

The Şehir Hatları pier runs the municipal ferries to the Princes' Islands, about 1 hour 30 minutes to Büyükada for 151.23 TL with an İstanbulkart (171.89 TL with a paper ticket). In winter the Mavi Marmara tourist boat also calls at Kabataş at 09:45 and 11:45 on its way to Heybeliada and Büyükada. The Golden Horn line to Eyüpsultan (76.90 TL) calls here too. See the Princes' Islands guide for timetables.

Dolmabahçe Palace is the obvious pairing. Its visitor entrance, the Clock Tower gate, is about 0.8 km from the pier, roughly ten minutes on foot. One 2,000 TL ticket for foreign visitors covers the Selamlık, the Harem and the Painting Museum; the palace is closed on Mondays. A good half-day: palace at 09:00, then a 12:40 or 13:40 Dentur loop from Kabataş. More in our Dolmabahçe and Bosphorus guide.

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