Princes Islands Full-Day Cruise with Hotel Transfer and Lunch on Board

Departure from the Golden Horn and the cruise across the Sea of Marmara

The boat leaves from a pier on the Golden Horn at Cibali, opposite a university campus and one minute from the Cibali stop of the T5 tram, which is where your vehicle drops you after the morning hotel pickup. From there the excursion boat passes under the Galata and Atatürk bridges, swings round the tip of the old city past Topkapı Palace and the Sultanahmet skyline, and heads out into the Sea of Marmara with the Asian shore of Kadıköy and Bostancı on your left.

The crossing takes about an hour and a half each way and is one of the best Istanbul boat tours for photographs: Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque from the water, the domes of the Süleymaniye on the ridge, the Maiden's Tower off Üsküdar, then open sea and the islands rising ahead. Tea, coffee and snacks are sold on board, there are shaded and open decks, and our guide introduces the islands as they come into view.

Kınalıada, the henna-coloured island

Kınalıada is the closest of the Princes' Islands to Istanbul and takes its Turkish name from the reddish, henna-like colour of its iron-rich soil, visible on the bare slopes as you approach. It is small, quiet and the least built-up of the four inhabited islands, with a single village around the pier, a few fish restaurants and a shoreline of pebbles. Your first stop is about forty-five minutes of free time here: enough to walk along the waterfront, take photos towards the city and have a Turkish tea by the water.

Please note that the island visited on this first stop can change with the weather and the season, and another island may replace Kınalıada on some days. Whichever it is, the guide tells you the exact time to be back on the boat, and the next leg sails past Burgazada and Heybeliada on the way to Büyükada.

Heybeliada and Burgazada from the water

Between the first stop and Büyükada the boat sails close to the two middle islands. Burgazada is the small round one, with a landmark domed church and pine woods above a quiet village; it is known in Istanbul for its summer houses and swimming coves. Heybeliada, the second largest, is shaped like a saddlebag (heybe), and from the deck you see the long naval school buildings on the shore and the Greek Orthodox seminary standing alone on the pine-covered northern hill.

These two are pass-by stops: you do not land, but the guide points out the monasteries, the old sanatorium and the ferry piers as you go, and the view of all four islands strung across the Sea of Marmara is the classic picture of the Princes' Islands tour from Istanbul. Keep your camera ready on the right-hand side of the boat.

Büyükada, the largest of the Princes' Islands

Büyükada is the main event of the day, with about two and a half hours ashore. It is the largest island, a few square kilometres of pine forest and two hills, and its streets are free of private cars: people move on foot, by bicycle or in the small electric vehicles that replaced the horse carriages. From the pier the guide walks you into the village and explains the Ottoman-era wooden mansions with their bay windows and gardens along the main avenues, the clock tower square and the way to the beaches.

Then the free time is yours. Many travellers rent a bicycle or take an electric vehicle tour around the island loop, climb towards the monastery on the southern hill for the view back to Istanbul, or, in summer, swim at one of the paid beaches on the western shore. Rentals and beach entry are at your own expense; our guide recommends the halal restaurants and ice-cream shops near the pier.

Lunch on board and the return via Sultanahmet

Lunch is served on the boat on the options that include it, with a set menu of Turkish dishes, typically grilled chicken or meatballs with rice, salad and bread, and one bottle of water per person; everything is halal, as is the norm in Istanbul, and vegetarian plates can be arranged if you tell us when booking. Travellers on the no-lunch options eat at an island restaurant of their choice during free time.

After the afternoon crossing back to the Golden Horn, the vehicle takes the group to the Sultanahmet district for a short shopping stop of about thirty minutes, close to the Grand Bazaar streets where Turkish delight, spices, ceramics and textiles are sold, before dropping you at your hotel in the early evening. If you booked the pier-only option, the day ends at the pier at Cibali, from where the T5 tram reaches Eminönü in a few stops.