Balat, Pierre Loti Hill Cable Car and Bosphorus Cruise Half-Day Tour

The Golden Horn drive and Pierre Loti Hill

The tour starts with a drive along the Golden Horn, the long inlet that divides the old city from Galata and Beyoğlu, passing the Byzantine sea walls and the Fener and Balat waterfront on the way to Eyüp. From the bottom of the hill the road winds up through the old cemetery with its cypress trees and Ottoman gravestones to Pierre Loti Hill, named after a French writer who sat for hours in the café at the top, and still the best Golden Horn viewpoint in Istanbul. From the terrace you see the whole inlet, the bridges, the Süleymaniye silhouette and, on a clear day, the Bosphorus beyond.

The guide gives you free time at the top for photographs and, if you like, a quick Turkish tea at the hilltop tea garden on your own account. Late afternoon light is good here, and the hill is quieter than it is on weekend mornings. This stop takes around 30 to 40 minutes before the cable car.

The Eyüp cable car

Instead of walking back down, the group takes the Eyüp cable car, a short line opened in 2005 that links the top of Pierre Loti Hill with the Eyüp shore of the Golden Horn in about two minutes. The eight-person cabins glide over the sloping cemetery and the rooftops, and the view of the Golden Horn opening out below you is the reason many visitors remember this ride more than the hill itself. The ticket is included in the tour, and the guide manages the queue, which can be long on weekends and holidays when families from all over the city come to Eyüp.

The lower station stands a few minutes' walk from the Eyüp Sultan Mosque, so the tour flows naturally from the viewpoint to the spiritual heart of the district. The cable car is part of the city's public transport network, so you may see locals using it as an ordinary commute, which says something about how Istanbul is built.

Eyüp Sultan Mosque and the tomb of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari

Eyüp Sultan Mosque is the most important Islamic site in Istanbul. It is built around the tomb of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, a companion of the Prophet who hosted him in Medina and who died outside the walls of Constantinople during the first Arab siege in the 670s. After the conquest of 1453 the tomb was identified and Mehmed II built the first mosque here in 1458, the first imperial mosque of Ottoman Istanbul; the present building dates from 1800. For centuries new sultans came here by boat along the Golden Horn for the girding of the sword, the Ottoman equivalent of a coronation, which is the heritage the guide explains.

The visit covers the courtyard with its ancient plane tree, the tiled façade of the tomb and the prayer hall. Dress as for any mosque: long trousers or skirt, covered shoulders and a scarf for women; shoes come off inside. Visits pause at prayer times and the square is busy on Fridays and in the evenings. Entry is free.

Balat and the sweet shop in Fatih

From Eyüp the vehicle continues along the Golden Horn to Balat, the historic quarter that climbs the hill between the waterfront and the land walls. For five centuries Balat was the main Jewish district of Istanbul and neighbouring Fener the Greek one, and the streets still show it: the Ahrida Synagogue, the red-brick Phanar Greek Orthodox College towering over the roofs, the iron church of St Stephen of the Bulgars on the shore and the Ecumenical Patriarchate a short walk away. What draws visitors today is the look of the place, with steep cobbled lanes of narrow nineteenth-century houses painted in bright reds, blues and yellows, cafés in old grocers' shops and antique dealers.

Your guide leads a walk of about 40 minutes through the best streets, telling the stories behind the colours and the multicultural past. The Balat walking tour ends at a local shop in Fatih where you taste Turkish delight, baklava and apple tea and can buy gifts at local prices.

The Bosphorus cruise

The last and most relaxing part of the afternoon is a Bosphorus sightseeing cruise on a passenger boat, the ticket included. Leaving the Golden Horn behind, the boat passes the tip of the historic peninsula with Topkapı Palace, Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque on the skyline, then crosses towards the Maiden's Tower on its islet off Üsküdar and follows the European shore past Dolmabahçe Palace and Ortaköy Mosque beneath the Bosphorus Bridge, with the Galata Tower in view as you return. The guide points out the palaces and the waterside mansions along the way.

In autumn and winter the cruise coincides with sunset, which is when the Bosphorus cruise with Balat and Pierre Loti is at its most beautiful; in summer it is a golden late afternoon. Bring a light jacket, as the deck is windy even in warm weather. After docking, the vehicle takes you to your drop-off point in Şişli, Beyoğlu, Sultanahmet or Fatih.