Istanbul Boat Cruise and Dolmabahçe Palace: Scenic Exploration of Two Continents

Embark on a full-day tour of Istanbul, exploring its ornate palaces and architecture from both land and water. Discover top attractions, stroll through the Spice Bazaar, and enjoy a Bosphorus Strait sightseeing cruise. Step inside Dolmabahçe Palace and marvel at the extravagance of Istanbul’s sultans. End the tour with breathtaking panoramic views from Çamlıca Hill or Yeditepe.

Duration: 8 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Misir Carsisi (Spice Market) - Spice Bazaar (Egyptian Bazaar), mystical smells of different aromas of various spices. Shops selling fruits, vegetables, fish, flowers etc.
  • Dolmabahce Palace - Dolmabahçe Palace, recent residence for Ottoman Sultans built by two Ottoman architects Karabet and Nikogos Balyan on a 110.000 m² area and served as…
What's Included
  • Local guide
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Lunch
  • In-vehicle air conditioning
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
  • Drinks
Additional Information

See Istanbul’s ornate palaces and architecture from land and water on this exciting full-day tour! From the comfort of a coach, you’ll see top Istanbul attractions like the Golden Horn and Walls of Constantinople, and then soak up the colorful chaos of Istanbul’s Spice Bazaar on a stroll. Enjoy a Bosphorus Strait sightseeing cruise, and then head inside…

Location
The Marmara Taksim
Osmanlı Sokak
Please be ready in front of The Marmara Hotel at Taksim Square at 08:15 and look for blue and white Midibus/Minivan with the logo of Pln Tours and Gray Line
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
3.6
(80 Ratings)
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1 star
Davebq9538hk
Jul 8, 2021
Great experience overall would definitely do it all over again. - My family and I enjoyed every second of the tour. Murat was our tour guide and he was very patient and extremely knowledgeable. My favorite part of the tour was visiting the palace and learning about the Sultans. Murat did a great job explaining things and allows us to ask as many questions as possible. It felt like Murat was our local friend showing us around. that’s how great the dude was at his job. Food was also great. If I get to come visit Turkey again, I would definitely do the tour once again. #moneywellspent
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Muhammadzubair_t
Aug 12, 2019
Great Experience - The tour was very nice and amazing. Complete value for Money.The Tour guide was very good.Mr.Barish.
Review provided by Viator
Michael
Jan 6, 2016
The guide was informative and the... - <p>The guide was informative and the tour was appropriate in length. It was a great way to see Istanbul from the water. The Dolmabahce Palace was great. We have toured several of the great palaces of Europe. It ranks up there with the best of them.</p>
Review provided by Viator
Oscar_l
Dec 14, 2015
The palace is incredible with all the... - <p>The palace is incredible with all the history, the art, and the treasure.</p>
Review provided by Viator
Doug_s
Apr 11, 2020
Bosphorous Cruise - This was an interesting tour. Our guide spoke English well and was friendly and informative. Unfortunately, it was pretty much a repeat of day 2 of our Best of Istanbul 2 day tour. The only part that was different was a bus ride to the Asian side and a look around from a coffee shop on a hill. This is an enjoyable tour, but after the 2 day tour we wished we had spent the day seeing something we hadn't seen before.
Review provided by Viator
Muhammadzubair_t
Aug 10, 2019
Great Experiance. - The tour was great and every thing was well planned. Our tour guide Mr.Barish was very good.Food was also nice.
Review provided by Viator
Greecehelena
Jul 31, 2019
Exceptional Guide - Murat... wiseman, our guide on this tour was knowledgeable and very easy to understand. Personally I would have liked more time at Dolmabahce Palace, however, I hope to revisit the Palace another time. Were it not for the fact that I experienced difficulty trying to reconfirm my Booking by phone, I would have rated this Tour a 5. Value for money.
Review provided by Viator
Amanda
Jan 10, 2017
I had a wonderful day on this tour... - <p>I had a wonderful day on this tour, I felt like we saw so much. It felt like we spent a lot of time waiting for the bus to pick other people up or drop them off though because the full day tour was combined with the half day tour. I was afraid the cruise would be too cold in the winter but it was quite spacious and warm on the below deck and you could just go to the open upper deck intermittently to take all the pictures you wanted. I really enjoyed to Dolmabahce Palace, it was absolutely beautiful and I absolutely recommend it if you are visiting Istanbul.</p>
Review provided by Viator
Alison_h
Mar 17, 2020
Not impressed by guide or Turkish tour company - Sadly this tour was not as expected, although the itinerary ticked a lot of boxes the reality was it didn’t meet expectations. Firstly the communication by the Turkish tour operator was dire, no comms whatsoever, I had to get Viator to obtain information about pick up times and my hotel in Istanbul to confirm details. The pick up on the morning of the tour did arrive on time, I was taken to a meeting point (car park) and advised which coach I would be joining for the main tour ... so far so good. We embarked the coach and our tour guide introduced himself”Berlout”? He advised that the tour would be in English and Spanish as we had mixed nationalities ... no problem I thought, how wrong was I.... The tour processed, hardly any commentary of local knowledge and facts, we were transported between A and B and basically self guided. The Bosphorus sailing was good, thankfully the boat had English commentary as the guide sat with the Spanish speaking guests for the entire journey, he only asked as we disembarked if there was anything I would like to know. As I was only sitting 2 rows ahead of him and travelling alone, it would have been courteous to ask me that question whilst we were sailing. We then proceeded to a leather shop for the usual big sell, unsurprisingly nobody bought anything. Lunch came next, usual tourist fayre at a coach stop restaurant, food was pretty good to be honest and service was fast and efficient. Next we headed to the palace, sadly very rushed, we were supposed to be there 2 hours but completed the sprint around in 1.5 hours, again very limited commentary, thank goodness for Google. Such a shame as this is the highlight of the tour, a stunning palace with so much history. We then proceeded to the view point, what a total waste of time. The view is not the best, a 5 minute photo opportunity would have been acceptable but no ... we had to stay 45 minutes whilst our guide talked to the Spanish guests over coffee ... deep sigh Thankfully the tour concluded, the price included hotel drop offs and I was more than ready to return my hotel in the old town. It transpired all the other tour guests were staying on the Asian side and I was the sole guest staying on the European side. The driver dropped the guests off at their respective hotels on the Asian side and then asked me if I would like to get off at Istikal street (main shopping street on the Asian side) and make my way back to the hotel on my own so they didn’t have to bother taking one passenger back. I politely said no thank you and said I needed to go back to my hotel. Just for info, if I had disembarked where asked, it would have taken 55 minutes to walk to the hotel and cross the Bosphorus again or pay for local transport to get me back. Quite a daunting prospect for a single female traveller ... Would I recommend this tour with this company, absolutely NOT, would I recommend you the sites visited on this tour with another company , yes (except for the view point and leather shop) as Istanbul is one of the most amazing cities in the world.
Review provided by Viator
Pinklady021
Aug 14, 2019
DO NOT TAKE THIS TOUR - Dear Viator I always book my tours on your website and I never had such a bad experience like with this tour, You must stop to cooperate with PLAN TOURS agency in Istanbul. We paid for this tour and guide from Plan Tour picked us up from our hotel and joined us to group which had totally different programe.For the whole day we were questioning guide why he does not deliver tour programe that we paid for and after some time he told me he does not want to communicate with me and that I have to complain to company that I paid for the tour. He didn't want to give me his full name. I wanted to take his business card but he didn't want to give me. Our tour was on 11 August 2019 and guide was hired by local company Plan Tour Istanbul. We didn't get what we paid for and we expect you to refund our money to us. Instead of going to Dolombache Palace he said he is going to take us to Topkapi (which is not in our programe), I told him that we already paid for Topkapi and we do not want to see Topkapi twice.. I have asked when he is going to take us to Camlica hill Istanbul he said he is not going to take us. I told him but we paid for this to go and see the view of Istanbul from Camilica. He said he changed the tour, I've asked him how he can change the tour I have paid for the tour that was advertised and if he is going to change the whole tour he has to ask me if I still want the tour or to give me my money back.This was scam and we were ripped off.. We want our money back !!!! Viator how can you allow PLAN TOURS to change the tour that we paid for without asking us if we agree with the change??? This is VERY UNFAIR to us. PLAN TOURS is BAD BAD . They have ruined our holiday and stolen our money!!!! We want our money back !!!! Viator we expect you to be fair to us as were loyal travelers to you!!!!!
Review provided by Viator
From $126
up to 15 guests
1 Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).