If you’re visiting Istanbul, a ferry cruise of the Bosphorus is an absolute must. You’ll be treated to a ridiculous array of landmarks – lush green hills speckled with Ottoman timber mansions, palaces, fortresses and mosques. Capped by the bright Istanbul sun, with the gleaming blue Bosphorus waters below, it was the absolute highlight of my trip to Istanbul. Here’s my Bosphorus ferry cruise guide, including top things to see and historical sights.
What’s in this blog:
Is a Bosphorus cruise worth it?
Firstly, if you’ve only got a short amount of time in Istanbul, you might be wondering if a Bosphorus ferry cruise is worth it. I get it – Istanbul is already so stacked with historical sights that you might be worried about fitting everything in.
My honest advice is that a Bosphorus tour is one of the most magical experiences in Istanbul. It’s well worth taking a few hours out of your day. And with the astonishing number of breathtaking and historically important landmarks among its shores that I outline in this blog, as well as giving you a new perspective of the city (and its sheer size), I’m sure you won’t regret it.
Top things to see along the Bosphorus
There are so many impressive sights along the Bosphorus. Here are some of the top things to look out for. I’ve listed these sights according to the route most cruises take – sailing up the European side, and then back to Istanbul along the Asian side. You can view a map of all the sights in this blog at the bottom of the page.
Dolmabahçe Palace
As your ferry departs, one of the first things you’ll see is the extravagant (and insanely massive) Dolmabahçe Palace. It’s one of the most grand and impressive palaces you’ll see anywhere, and the biggest in all of Turkey. In front of its gate is an ornate clocktower – see the picture below ‘Beşiktaş Stadium’.
Despite its impressive exterior, Dolmabahçe Palace was actually built at a time when the Ottoman Empire’s influence was waning. In fact, the huge, splendid palace cost the Ottomans the modern equivalent of almost $2bn, and contributed to the Empire’s bankruptcy.
It served as the residence for the last Sultans of the Ottoman Empire – as well as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey, who died here. It brings together an eclectic range of architectural styles from the time – including Baroque, Rococo and Neoclassical.
From the water, you get the best possible view of Dolmabahçe Palace’s elegant, 600m long stone facade.
Beşiktaş Stadium
Right next to the Dolmabahçe Palace is a much more modern landmark: the Beşiktaş Stadium. It’s here that Beşiktaş play their home games, and it has a capacity of 42,000. Beşiktaş is one of Turkey’s ‘Big Three’ football teams, and one of the most successful clubs in the country. Their fans are famous across the world for their atmosphere.
Çırağan Palace
Dolmabahçe Palace was Istanbul’s first European-style palace – but it wasn’t its last. Just a short journey up the European side of the Bosphorous you’ll find Çırağan Palace, another elegant palace built a few decades later by Sultan Abdulaziz in the 1860s. During this period, each Ottoman sultan would build their own palaces rather than living in those of their ancestors – though the Dolmabahçe Palace remained the administrative heart of the empire.
Abdulaziz was interesting for being the first Ottoman sultan to visit Western Europe in a diplomatic capacity. But he wouldn’t live in his new palace for very long. Just a few years after it was built, he was deposed due to perceived mismanagement of the economy. His successor, Sultan Murad V, also lived in the palace – but he was deposed after just 93 days, and lived in the palace under house arrest until his death.
A fun fact about the Çırağan Palace is that in the 1930s and 40s, it was used as a football pitch by Turkish footballing giants Besiktas.
Feriye Palace
Another palace. Yes, really. Perhaps slightly less grand than its baroque neighbours Çırağan and Dolmabahçe, Feriye Palace is a handsome yellow building built in 1871 to meet the needs of the imperial court’s extended family. When Sultan Abdulaziz was deposed in 1976, he requested to move to Feriye: he was found dead shortly after. Feriye Palace now houses Galatasaray University.
Ortaköy Mosque
Stretching out into the water, just below the modern Bosphorus Bridge, is the elegant Ortaköy Mosque. The Ortaköy Mosque is made of white marble, and was built in 1855 – designed by the same architect as the nearby Dolmabahçe Palace.
It’s a beautiful building, with arguably the most picturesque settings of all of Istanbul’s mosques (and that really is saying something). From the river it’s backed by the Bosphorus Bridge – a wonderful juxtaposition of historic and modern Istanbul.
The Bosphorus Bridge
One of the most iconic modern sights in the whole of Istanbul is the Bosphorus Bridge, an impressive suspension bridge connecting the European and Asian sides of Istanbul. Opened in 1973, it was the first bridge to connect the two sides of the Bosphorus.
One of the most famous things about the Bosphorus Bridge is its tragic role in the failed military coup of 2016, when soldiers trying to overthrow the government took control of the bridge. The soldiers shot at civilians and protestors, and a number of people died. Since then, the bridge has been renamed July 15 Martyrs Bridge in honour of those who died.
Rumeli Fortress
You really can’t miss this one, even if you tried. A giant, imposing stone fortress, standing guard over one of the most strategic and narrowest points of the Bosphorus, the Rumeli Fortress was a key part of the Ottoman’s conquest of Istanbul. It was built in 1452, on the order of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror. And for good luck, the mortar used for the fortress’s first layer was mixed with ram’s blood. Once it was built, the Ottoman troops would use any passing ships that didn’t pay customs duty as target practice for their cannons.
It’s an awesome sight – the perfect image of a medieval fortress, 250 metres long with three main towers. Just a year after it was built, the Ottomans would conquer the city, and make it their new imperial capital. The fortress is now a museum.
Anatolian Fortress
Directly across from the Rumeli Fortress is a slightly older, smaller fortress that also played an important role in the Ottoman’s conquest of Constantinople. The Anatolian Fortress (Anadoluhisari in Turkish) was built in the 1390s, as part of plans for a siege for the city which ultimately failed, interrupted by battles elsewhere.
When Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror ascended the throne decades later, he reinforced and added to the fortress, as part of his plans to conquer the city. The Rumeli and Anatolian fortresses worked together during the final siege of Constantinople, allowing the Ottomans to cut off the city’s naval traffic, conquer the city and make it their new imperial capital.
Nowadays the area around this fortress is a lovely place to explore and relax, centred on a small river feeding into the Bosphorus along which people kayak and lined with a few restaurants and cafes.
Ottoman-era Mansions
In the Ottoman era, wealthy families would build mansions along the Bosphorus as Summer retreats, known as yalis. Often, they were built from wood – and these countless timber Ottoman-era mansions are one of the most evocative sights along the Bosphorus.
You’ll see many mansions in different shapes, sizes and colours. This variance only adds to their beauty, and the way they nestle up to the shores of the river, backed by green hills, made them some of my favourite architecture I saw in Istanbul. I loved just sitting back and watching these historic mansions roll by – you can read about a few of my favourites here.
Kuleli Military High School
A majestic white building surrounded by greenery, the Kuleli Military High School is the oldest military high school in Turkey. It was founded in 1845, and trained many military leaders in the late Ottoman period and early decades of the Republic of Turkey.
The school was also one of the places at the heart of 2016’s failed military coup, with a number of cadets and officers joining the attempt. Since then it has been closed, along with a number of other military schools in the country.
Beylerbeyi Palace
Another beautiful Ottoman palace, Beylerbeyi Palace was built in the 1860s as a Summer residence. Similarly to the Çırağan and Dolmabahçe Palace, this building has clear Western European influences. Jutting into the water (on the left of the above photo) is a pretty ‘Sea Kiosk’, with a tent like roof.
The Maiden’s Tower
Standing alone in the middle of the water, at the point where the Bosphorus opens up into the Sea of Marmara, there’s something mystical about the Maiden’s Tower. And indeed, it’s a building that is steeped in legend – the most famous being that of the Princess and the Snake.
According to this legend, the tower was built by a Byzantine Emperor after a prophecy that his daughter would die from a snakebite on her 18th birthday. Terrified, the Emperor locked her in this tower in the middle of the sea. On her birthday he visited the Princess in the tower, bringing her a fruit basket. Unbeknown to him, hiding among the fruit was a venomous snake. It bit the Princess and she died inside the tower, in her father’s arms.
In reality, the tower was actually built by an Athenian general in 408 BC, more than 2,000 years ago, likely as a customs station. This makes it one of Istanbul’s oldest landmarks (although the building we see today was largely built by the Ottomans).
Throughout the Ottoman Empire, the tower had a number of uses: it has separately been a lighthouse, a quarantine hospital, a customs building, a radio station, and barracks. When the Ottomans conquered the city, it became tradition to fire cannons from the Maiden’s Tower during public holidays, and when the Sultan visited seaside palaces. It’s one of the most evocative sights along the Bosphorus.
Istanbul’s skyline
As you come into dock at the end of your ferry cruise, you’ll get the most stunning view of Istanbul’s skyline. If you’ve ever played Assassins Creed Revelations, it’s a view that will be familiar to you. It doesn’t feel real – but pinch yourself: it is.
From the Bosphorus you can see many of the city’s most famous sights: the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Topkapi Palace, and many other grand mosques, perched on the city’s hills, looking out onto the water.
Legends of the Bosphorus
With all of the architectural gems dotting the Bosphorus, it’s easy to forget that there’s an even more ancient history here, too. These waters were explored in times of antiquity, including by the Greeks, and the Bosphorus features in many myths and legends.
Perhaps the most famous is the story that gives the strait its name. According to legend, Zeus – king of the gods – was having an affair with a mortal woman called Io. His wife, Hera (goddess of marriage and family) was furious. She turned Io into a cow, and sent a gadfly to torment her. Desperate, Io ran all the way up the strait. The name Bosphorus comes from a Thracian word meaning ‘passage of the cow’.
The Bosphorus is also a feature of many of the other most famous Greek myths. Jason and the Argonauts, for example, would have had to cross the Bosphorus to reach the Black Sea, in their search for the Golden Fleece. Though the main sights along the Bosphorus are its iconic Ottoman landmarks, it’s worth taking a moment as you cruise along to think of how it must have felt in these much more ancient times, steeped in myth and legend.
A map of the top things to see on the Bosphorus
You can see a map of the sights mentioned in this blog here.
Thanks for visiting my blog! This post may contain affiliate links - which means if you make a purchase, I'll receive a small commission, at no extra cost to yourself. This helps me keep this site running for free.
Pingback: Ottoman Yalis on the Bosphorus: Historic and Architectural Gems – What's down that street?
Pingback: Which Bosphorus cruise to take in Istanbul? Your key options – What's down that street?
Pingback: Discovering Istanbul: 4-Day Itinerary & Must-See Attractions – What's down that street?