<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd"> <html><head> <meta content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="content-type"> <title>Bosporus Cruise from Istanbul</title><meta content="David Gualtieri" name="author"> <meta content="My 2012 vacation to Istanbul, Turkey" name="description"></head> <body style="background-image: url(Images/grayback.gif);"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <h1>Bosporus Cruise on the public walk-on ferry</h1> </div> <br> <table style="text-align: left; width: 100%;" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width: 107px;"><br> </td> <td style="width: 828px;"><big>I waited until there was a nice sunny forecast for the day's weather, and then walked down to the Galata Bridge area to get a ferry ride up the Bosporus Strait. The round trip ferry left at 10:30 in the morning and returned to Istanbul at about 5 pm. The round trip cost was 25 Turkish Lira, or about $ 14 US.<br><br> Following my guidebook's recommendations, I arrived at the boarding area early and was one of the first on the ferry. I staked out a seat near the window on the port (left) side of the boat, both for the sun angle in the morning and the close views of the sites to the west. All seats were first come, first serve.<br><br></big> <div style="text-align: center;"><big><img style="width: 640px; height: 480px;" alt="" src="Images/DSC00822.JPG"><br></big></div><div style="text-align: center;"><big><span style="font-style: italic;">An old fort from the 1400's, next to the new suspension bridge across the Bosporus Strait</span><br></big></div><big><br>The ferry made 4 or 5 stops on the northbound leg of the trip and docked in a small fishing village called Anadolu Kavagi, which was very close to the Black Sea. We arrived here shortly before noon. We had three hours to explore the village and to have a leisurely lunch. The village had an ancient castle (constructed in 1350) overlooking the Bosporus which was the main tourist attraction. The hike uphill from the village to the castle took almost a half hour.<br><br></big> <div style="text-align: center;"><big><img style="width: 640px; height: 480px;" alt="" src="Images/DSC00849.JPG"><br></big></div><div style="text-align: center;"><big><span style="font-style: italic;">The old fort at Anadolu Kavagi, along the Bosporus Strait</span><br></big></div><big><br><br></big><div style="text-align: center;"><big><img style="width: 640px; height: 480px;" alt="" src="Images/DSC00852.JPG"><br></big></div><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;"><big>View of the Black Sea from the old fort<br></big></div><big><br><br> The ferry left for the southward leg about 3 pm.&nbsp; I grabbed my same seat on the port side of the boat and enjoyed views to the other side (east side) of the Bosporus as we docked several times on the asia side.&nbsp; We arrived back in Istanbul about 5 pm.<br><br></big><div style="text-align: center;"><big><img style="width: 640px; height: 480px;" alt="" src="Images/DSC00866.JPG"><br></big></div><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;"><big>Arriving at the small fishing village called Anadolu Kavagi - this scene is next to the ferry dock<br></big></div> <big><br> It was a very nice and relaxing way to spend an entire tourist day!<br><br><br></big> <div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><big>Recommended Further Reading<br><br><a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g293974-d295190-Reviews-Bosphorus_Cruise_Day_Trips-Istanbul.html">Trip Reviews of the Bosporus Ferry Cruise from TripAdvisor</a><br><br><a href="http://sehirhatlari.com.tr/en/timetable/full-bosphorus-cruise-362.html">Ferry Schedule and Stops (Full Cruise)</a></big><br><br></div><br> <br> </div> </td> <td style="width: 183px;"><br> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <br> <br><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;"> <h2><small>&lt;<a href="Sultanahmet.htm">Sultanahmet - Historic Istanbul</a>&gt; &lt; <a href="Bosporus.htm">Bosporus Cruise</a>&gt; &lt;<a href="Chora_Church.htm">Choro Church</a>&gt; &lt;<a href="Western_wall.htm">Western Wall</a>&gt; &lt;<a href="Taksim.htm">New District - Taksim</a>&gt;</small></h2><h2><a href="index.htm">Istanbul Intro Page</a></h2> <h2><small><a href="http://www.davidgualtieri.com">BACK TO MAIN HOME PAGE</a></small></h2> </div> <br> <br> <br> <br> </body></html>