Begin your day with a private transfer from your hotel to the famed Dolmabahce Palace, where you will spend approximately 1 and a half hours visiting it's 285 rooms, 40+ halls, and hundreds of oil paintings.

After the palace tour, you will board a Bosphorus Cruise, which will take you up and down the Bosphorus Strait for 2.5 hours. The boat will make a stop for you to get off on the Asian side of the city and visit the Kucuksu Palace and the surrounding area. Then continue on for the second half of the cruise back to Eminonu, where you will end right across the street from the Spice Bazaar.Please note that the Dolmabahce Palace is closed on Mondays and Thursdays. On these days the tour will not be visiting the palace, and on these days of the week, the tour will start two hours later.

SIGHTS YOU WILL STOP AT ON THE TOUR
Dolmabahce Palace:The second-largest palace in Turkey after Topkapi, in the early days of the Ottoman Empire this was the main navy port, but by 1614, the bay had been filled in and a large wooden structure called the Besiktas Palace was built by Sultan Ahmet I. By the late 1850s, the old palace was deemed useless and the current palace was built in its place by Sultan Abdulmecit.

IMPORTANT NOTES:
-Mondays Dolmabahce Palace is closed, therefore the tour will begin 2 hours later (11:30 am departure) on this day.

Kucuksu Palace: Stop for one hour on the Asian side of the city at this palace whose name literally translates to: “Small water”. This small palace built by the seaside as a summer home for the Sultans is nothing short of grand with detailed mosaics and designs all over the structure from the floors to the ceilings.

SIGHTS YOU WILL PASS ON THE BOAT
Galata Tower: One of Istanbul's most iconic structures, it has been used for multiple purposes including a watchtower, prison, and nowadays as a restaurant and tourist sight.
Galata Bridge: The famous bridge that crosses the Golden Horn. All-day you'll find fishermen along the bridge with their poles out, above the many fish restaurants on the lower deck.
Bosphorus Bridge: The city's most popular bridge to cross from Asia and Europe.
Ortakoy Mosque: Right under the Bosphorus Bridge is this stunning mosque that can be recognized by its large floral designs painted under the minarets.
Rumeli Hisari Fortress:  A castle built by Mehmed II (also known as Mehmet the Conqueror) in 1452 that is still in good condition with over a dozen towers still intact.
Suleymaniye Mosque: The second largest mosque in the city and one of the most picturesque mosques in Istanbul, commissioned by  Suleymaniye I "The Magnificent"
Beylerbeyi Palace: Another Baroque style palace with over 20 rooms and 6 halls, adorned with intricate decorations inside and out.
Uskudar: The most scenic area of Istanbul's Asian side. Mainly a residential area, you can see the many hills of the neighbourhood from the boat.
Maiden’s: A famous tower on an island near the Asian side that has been used as a lighthouse, hospital, and as the legend goes, was the place where a former king kept his daughter trapped because a fortune teller predicted that she would be bitten by a deadly snake before her 18th birthday.

IMPORTANT NOTES:
-We provide pickups from hotels in central areas in the following vicinities: Sultanahmet, Sirkeci, Laleli, Aksaray, Taksim area. Pickup from anywhere outside these areas may incur an extra charge. Speak to our crew if you have any questions.