Bosphorus Cruise & Two Continents Tour of Istanbul
Tour Highlights:
Tour Type: Bus & Boat Sightseeing
Tour Starts: 08:30 am
Tour Ends: 17:00 pm
Tour Dates: Everyday
Visiting Sights: Tour City Walls, Golden Horn, Spice Bazaar, Galata Bridge, Bosphorus Bridge, Beylerbeyi Palace, and Camlica Hill.
Full Day Istanbul Bosphorus Cruise & Two Continents Tour
Istanbul offers a lot to see, and on this tour, we will do a visit to the sites out of the historical old town.
After you are picked up from the hotel and meet the group and the tour guide, we will drive along the city walls and reach Spice Bazaar, the place to get your Turkish delight, nuts, herbs, spice and dried fruit. We spend about 30 minutes there and then drive to the port to take the boat for the cruise on Bosphorus. It is a privilege and a memorable experience to cruise between two continents. From the boat, we will see the great Ottoman Mansions, Dolmabahce Palace, Ciragan Palace, Ortakoy Mosque, Galata Tower, Bosphorus Bridge, Rumeli Fortress, and many other places alongside European and Asian part of Bosphorus. The history and significance of all these places will be explained by your experienced local tour guide. After the cruise, we will have lunch at a local restaurant and then continue to the tour by driving to the Asian side. We will have an interior visit to Beylerbeyi Palace, built in the 1860s and used as a summer residence of the Ottoman Sultans. Our last visit will be to Camlica Hill, the highest point of Istanbul, from where we will have a spectacular view of the entire city.
Then we will drive back and drop you off at your hotel.
Full Day Istanbul Tour Sights:
Byzantine City Walls: The Walls of Constantinople are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (today Istanbul in Turkey) since its founding as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great. The first breach of the walls was by the Fouth Crusade in 1204, the second by the cannons and troops of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror in 1453.
Golden Horn: One of the best natural harbors in the world, it was once the center of the Byzantine and Ottoman navies and commercial shipping interests. As a natural and extremely secure harbor, the Golden Horn has played an important role in the development of Istanbul. The inlet separates the European shore into two. It is approximately 8 km long, and the widest part is the entrance from the Bosphorus.
Spice Bazaar: It is located at Eminonu behind the New Mosque(Valide Sultan Mosque).It was constructed by Turhan Sultan in 1660 as a pious foundation attached to New Mosque. Allow your senses be invaded by the Egyptian or Spice Bazaar, an essential visit, despite being much smaller and perhaps existing in the shadow of the massive Grand Bazaar.
Bosphorus Boat Cruise: A traditional excursion by boat along the waterway separating Europe and Asia. The shore is lined with old wooden villas, palaces of marble, fortresses, and small fishing villages. During the excursion, you will pass the magnificent Dolmabahce Palace, and further along, the parks and imperial pavillions of Yildiz Palace. On the coastal edge of this park, is Ciragan Palace, 300 meters of is marble facade faces the shore. At Ortakoy a great variety of artists gathers every Sunday to display their work along the street. Ortakoy is a symbol of tolerance with a church, a mosque and a synagogue existing side by side for centuries.
Bosphorus Bridge: It also called the First Bosphorus Bridge (Turkish: Bogazici Koprusu or 1. Bogazici Koprusu) is a bridge in Istanbul, Turkey spanning the Bosphorus strait (Turkish: Bogaziçi). The bridge is located between Ortaköy (European side) and Beylerbeyi (Asian side). It is a gravity anchored suspension bridge with steel pylons and inclined hangers. The aerodynamic deck is hanging on zigzag steel cables. It is 1,510 m long with a deck width of 39 m. It was the 4th longest suspension bridge in the world when completed in 1973, and the longest outside the United States of America.
Beylerbeyi Palace: It was built by Sarkis Balyan Usta by order of Sultan Abdulaziz in 1865. It is on the Asian coast of Bosphorus, which was constructed, in the same style as the Dolmabahce Palace. It was the summer residence of Ottoman Sultans with its original furniture and magnificent gardens with the Harem on the Asian side.
Camlica Hill: The highest hill in Istanbul. At the top of it, you can rest and admire the magnificent panorama of İstanbul and the Bosphorus from the beautiful gardens, the landscape in traditional style, as you sip your drinks in a cafeteria.
Guiding Service During the Tour
Entrance Fees to the sights
Lunch at the local restaurant
Transportation by air-conditioned non-smoking tour coaches
Parking and Road tolls
Local Taxes
Drinks at the lunch
Optional Istanbul Day Tours & Istanbul Night Tours
You are kindly requested to present yourself at the pickup point 15 minutes prior the pre-advised pickup time.
Comfortable shoes and a hat is recommended as shade is limited in summer time.
The order of the tour itinerary may vary in order to avoid congestion.
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