Zipline Adventure with Bosphorus View Istanbul

Nakkaştepe National Garden, Üsküdar

Nakkaştepe National Garden is one of the newer public parks of Istanbul, laid out on a hillside in Üsküdar above the old Bosphorus village of Kuzguncuk, on the Asian side a short distance south of the suspension bridge. It has lawns, pine and cypress woods, children's playgrounds, walking paths, cafés and a series of wooden terraces that look straight across the strait to the European shore, from Beşiktaş and Ortaköy to the towers of Levent.

The park is free to enter and open from early morning until late evening, which makes it a good half-day on the Asian side in its own right: a walk, a tea on the terrace, and the zipline as the main event. How to get to Nakkaştepe National Garden is easy from Üsküdar pier, where ferries arrive from Eminönü, Karaköy and Beşiktaş: bus lines 14M, 15F, 34AS and 34G stop nearby, and a taxi takes about ten minutes up the hill.

The ride: 250 metres over the treetops

The zipline starts from a platform at the top of the slope and runs 250 metres down over the canopy to a landing station lower in the park. You are clipped by harness to a trolley on a 12-millimetre steel cable, sit back, and gravity does the rest: within seconds you reach up to 80 kilometres per hour, the trees blur below and the Bosphorus opens out ahead with the bridge to your right and ferries crossing far below.

The flight itself lasts well under a minute, which is normal for a city zipline; the thrill is the take-off and the view, and most riders say it ends too soon. At the bottom the instructors brake and unclip you and you walk back up through the park. Cameras and phones must be handed over before the ride for safety, so if you want footage ask the staff about their photo and video service, which is paid on site.

Safety, who can ride and the queue

Everything happens under the eye of the zipline staff. After check-in you get a short safety briefing in English, the instructors fit your harness and helmet and check that your clothing and shoes are suitable: closed shoes only, no sandals or slippers, no loose jewellery, and all bags, phones, cameras and valuables left at the desk. Riders must weigh at least 30 kilograms; above 190 centimetres or 120 kilograms extra equipment is used.

The ride is not suitable for pregnant women or for people with heart problems, high blood pressure, epilepsy, diabetes, recent surgery, motion sickness, a fear of heights or mobility or visual impairments. The queue is the practical issue: demand is high, there is no fast track even with a ticket, and waiting is normal at weekends and on holidays. Come 60 to 90 minutes before your slot, and use the wait for the park's terraces.

Üsküdar and Kuzguncuk around the park

The zipline makes a good excuse for an afternoon on the Asian side. Üsküdar, where the ferries land, is one of the oldest districts of Istanbul, with the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque facing the pier, the Maiden's Tower just offshore and a long waterfront promenade with a view of the old city at sunset; prayer times are easy to keep here, with mosques on every corner, and the food in the back streets is simple, halal and good.

Below the park lies Kuzguncuk, a former fishing village of painted wooden houses, a plane-tree square and small cafés, where a mosque, a church and a synagogue stand within a few metres of each other on the main street. Walk down from Nakkaştepe after your ride, have tea by the water and take a bus or ferry back from Üsküdar; it is the kind of neighbourhood our Istanbul team sends friends to when they ask for the city without the crowds.