Bosphorus Night Dinner Cruise with Private Table and Hotel Pickup

Boarding at Kabataş and the palaces of the European shore

The cruise begins on the Kabataş waterfront, the small transport hub where the T1 tram, the funicular from Taksim and the city ferries all meet, so guests without hotel transfer can reach the pier easily. Within minutes of casting off the boat passes the Dolmabahçe Mosque on the quay and then the 600-metre marble facade of Dolmabahçe Palace, the nineteenth-century residence of the last sultans, which is floodlit at night and reflects in the water of the strait. A little further on comes Çırağan Palace, a late-Ottoman palace rebuilt as a luxury hotel after a fire, with its long arcaded front right on the shore.

A Bosphorus dinner cruise at night is the easiest way to see these palaces from the side they were designed to be seen from, the water, and the audio guide on board explains each one as you pass. The upper deck is open for photographs, so bring a light jacket even in summer because the breeze on the strait is cooler than in the city.

Ortaköy and the Bosphorus Bridge

After Çırağan the boat reaches Ortaköy, the lively waterfront square whose small baroque mosque stands right at the water's edge beneath the first Bosphorus bridge. Opened in 1973 and officially named the 15 July Martyrs Bridge, it was the first bridge ever to connect Europe and Asia, and at night its cables are lit in slowly changing colours; sailing under its deck, more than 60 metres above the water, is the moment most guests wait for with their cameras. The mosque, the bridge and the lights of the Asian shore at Beylerbeyi frame one of the best-known night views of Istanbul.

This is where the live show usually begins inside, so you can step out to the deck for the bridge and come back to your table for the folk band. Ortaköy is also a useful landmark: it marks the end of the central city and the start of the quieter villages that line the rest of the strait.

Rumeli Fortress and the second bridge

The northernmost point of the cruise is the stretch between Rumeli Fortress and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, where the Bosphorus is at its narrowest, about 700 metres wide. Rumeli Fortress was built on the European bank in 1452, in only a few months, to control the strait before the conquest of Constantinople, and its three great towers and walls climbing the hillside are illuminated at night; directly opposite on the Asian side stands the much older and smaller Anadolu Fortress at the mouth of a small stream, built in the 1390s. The second Bosphorus bridge, opened in 1988, spans the strait between them.

Seen from the water at night, the two fortresses and the bridge explain in a single view why this narrow point mattered so much for the city's history, and the audio guide tells the story as the boat turns here to sail back down along the Asian shore.

The Asian shore and Beylerbeyi Palace

On the return the boat keeps close to the Asian bank, passing the wooden waterside mansions known as yalı, the villages of Kandilli and Çengelköy and the summer residence of the sultans at Beylerbeyi, just beside the Asian foot of the first bridge. Beylerbeyi Palace was built in the 1860s as a summer palace and guest house for visiting heads of state, and its white marble facade and two bathing pavilions on the quay are lit up at night. From here the strait opens towards Üsküdar and the mouth of the Golden Horn, and the skyline of the old city with its domes and minarets appears ahead.

This is the quietest part of the voyage, timed with the main course and dessert at your table, and the contrast between the dark villages of the Asian side and the lit-up European shore opposite is one of the pleasures of a night cruise rather than a daytime trip.

Maiden's Tower and the return to Kabataş

Before the boat turns back towards the European side it passes the Maiden's Tower, the small white tower on a rock a couple of hundred metres off Üsküdar. There has been a watchtower or customs post on this islet since Byzantine times; the present building dates mostly from the eighteenth century and has served as a lighthouse, a quarantine station and today a visitor attraction, floodlit every night and visible from the whole lower Bosphorus. Behind it rise the lights of Üsküdar and the Asian shore, and across the water the old city with Topkapı Palace, Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque makes a last panorama before the boat heads back to Kabataş.

The cruise ends around 23:45; guests with hotel transfer are met by our driver at the pier and taken back to their hotel, and those without transfer can take a taxi or, for an early finish, the last tram from Kabataş.

Dinner and the show on board

Dinner is served at your own private table, a real advantage on a shared boat because you are never seated with strangers. The meal begins with a selection of cold starters and a fresh seasonal salad, followed by your choice of main course: grilled fish with mashed potatoes, rocket and lemon, grilled chicken with rice and mashed potatoes, or grilled meatballs with rice and mashed potatoes; dessert is served with tea. Unlimited soft drinks and water come with dinner, and a vegetarian menu can be prepared if you tell us when booking. As everywhere in Istanbul, the food is halal by default.

The entertainment runs through the evening: an Anatolian folk band and traditional Turkish music, a Romany dance performance and a belly dance show, with the host inviting guests to join the dancing towards the end. The show is lively and family-friendly, and children of all ages are welcome on board.