Afternoon Bosphorus Cruise Tour, Golden Horn Coach Tour And Pierre Loti Tour

Akif was my guide, extremely knowledgeable and friendly. Even beyond the basic knowledge, he knew little intricacies that are hard to know of without a local guide. Took great care of our group and accommodated for us very well. Both well spoken in English and Spanish, couldn’t reckoned more.

The human factor chosen in Istanbul was the great difference between good and superb. Emel Davutoglu, our guide to be, was in touch with us since the day before to the trip and from first hour in the morning of the excursion she was adapting teh shcedule of coleection from the hotels to the needs of her clients. Afterwards, she was well informed and answered our questions on a great deal of topics, with happiness and knowledge. A great professional for agreat experience. The trip, in three different tyes of vehicles (funicular, boat and minivan) is well planned and shows you very difffernt perspectives on very diverse attractions of a magical city.

We got picked up and the traffic was bad it took 1 hour and 20 minutes to get to the pier from our hotel..The tour itself was good, the cruise was a nice optional view of the city. The cable was a nice short ride. We got dropped off .9 of a mile from our hotel they said in the old city you would be dropped off as close as they could. I do believe we could have been dropped off much closer as big tour buses went on our street daily.

This tour was very interesting very friendly and skilled staff and very brave driver to deal with a mad traffic. I really enjoyed my day out. It was a good history lecture which I am glad to live the golden past history time. I love Turkey which is rich of history and the top of civilisation who brought a lot of knowledge to the dark ages Europe that time. .

I took this tour to relax and enjoy the views. It was so wonderful, you can even buy drinks and some food at the boat. If you want a detailed explanation of the different sites you have to take a waking tour. Our tour guide was always very attentive. Highly recommended.

Very nice tour guide but that is were it ended. The shuttle was 30 minutes late . once we got on the boat, we went back to the dock twice for more customers. They offered us or more like pushed us to take orange juice and sandwiches and implied that is was complimentary but at the end they charged us, The tour after was underwhelming and a waste of time. I do not recommend it.

We chose a two-tour (1+4) day in Istanbul to see major attractions. Our pickup was at 8:30am from our hotel in Beşiktaş. We travelled by van to a centralized meeting location. It was not until about 9:45am that we left for the Blue Mosque followed by Hagia Sofia. The Blue Mosque was quite impressive, but limited details or unique knowledge was presented. Hagia Sofia on the other side of the plaza was more impressive and our tour guide provided more details. Following the Hagia Sofia, the sales pitch began. We went to a 'certified Turkish rug' store and got the full sales pitch. Having visited the Grand Bazaar the day before, we realized how incredibly over-priced the rugs were. Tip - Go on your own and haggle on prices until you get a price you like. Do not accept the first, second, or third price. There are hundreds of vendors, so someone will have the rug you want at a fair price. Next, our tour took us to the Grand Bazaar. Our tour included exactly two shops next to each other where the tour guide most likely was getting commissions on what was sold. It was too setup to be a 'casual walk' through the grand bazaar. The best part of the morning was Hagia Sofia and walking through the streets. The afternoon tour was following a preset lunch. Decent, nothing incredible. Our afternoon tour include a Bosphorus Tour and a visit to Pierre Loti Hill. I appreciate the organization, but neither tour was unqique. Many options exist for a Bosphorus Tour. Overall satisfied, but not 5-Star

The Bosphorus cruise was great, amazing mansions, then we went to the lookout and back by cable car. I only had 100 TL and they didn't have change for a 1.50 bottle of water. One of the tour guides, Mr Peace bought it for me! We were given the option to be dropped off at Taksim or our hotel.

Cruise and the Coach Tour were good. It was just disappoiting that the Cable Car was not availablem. It was under renovation. It was a scheduled one. Viator and its company must have known about this. Thus they should have adjusted the price of the package. It is unfair that they just say on the spot that we can't ride the cable car. We availed the package because of that. Hope we get a partial refund for the disappointment.

The tour guide is amazing and explained very well. Though it was a short trip able to see most of the places.

TLDR. Unnecessary 2 hour rides to get to the port that is only 2 blocks away from the hotel followed by a total of 40 min on the Bosphorus with limited explanation that is marketed as a 4.5 hour guided cruise. Booked the tour online where it states to be a 4.5 hour Cruise. It is only 40 min. You decide if this is a scam. 1. We were scheduled to be picked up at 1 PM from our hotel in Besiktas. No one showed at 1 PM. We called the operator and was told to wait for 15-20 min. The van indeed showed up at 1:20PM. 2. After 30 min, we were driven to a chaotic street on a hill near Cagaloglu. Only to be told to switch to a different van. The van was parked on the left side of the street, with cars running on the right side. We had to proceed to the next van with care to not become a road kill!!! It is literally the worst place possible to organize groups of people to switch van. 3. After a 20 min wait and another 30 min ride in Istanbul traffic, we were driven to the port, which is located in Besiktas, only 2 blocks away from our hotel. 4. At 3:20 PM we are joined with guests from other tour groups to board the cruise. Yes, we are not on the boat yet after near 2 h from the stated staring time (1:45PM). 5. There are a total of about only 40 guests. The boat can host about 300 people. Everyone can stay on the left side (port side) to get a nice view. The boat is in reasonable shape. Nothing fancy. I think it is just one of the commuter boat here that is normally used to transport people across Bosphorus. The cruise run eastwards passing two bridges and make a u-turn. There are random narrative during the cruise to explain what is what with occasion historical background. 60% of those are along the line "that white building was a palace of Sultan/Empire ABC and now a XYZ hotel". The speaker is not clear and hard to hear. Meanwhile, there are vendors on the boat selling you drinks and food. The vendors can be so loud that their voice cover the loud speaker. There was hardly much explanation when we are facing the Asia side. We were back to the port at around 4:00 PM. 6. That was it, no mentioning of the cable car at all. We declined the offer to get a ride back to our hotel. We did not want another 2 h adventure we just had when we were picked up earlier as we could have just walked from our hotel in 20 min. 7. The tour guide's English skill is above average in Istanbul. He knows more words and can piece them together to almost make a sentence. We paid about $13 OOP per person after coupon discount. This trip is most definitely not worth the $38 listed price. I guess you get what you paid for. Yet I doubt you will get a better experience if you pay the full $38 without coupon. Save your money and enjoy the rest of Istanbul!

We were picked up from our hotel one hour before the boat ride. It turned out that the boat landing was less than 2km from our hotel. The coach stopped repeatedly, and we arrived late at the boat landing and we missed our scheduled departure time, and then waited a further 50 minutes to depart. A gentleman offered soft drinks and a sandwich (which many people assumed were a reward for the delay) however we were later charged for them. The boat tour itself was fine. We then boarded the coach again, which was boring, with very little information of note. We were given 20 minutes to tour the area local to the cable car, and when we met back with the guide were informed that there would be at least a 30 minute wait for the cable car ride... he also mentioned that the ride itself was only 2 minutes and 10 seconds, and therefore recommended that we walk down the hill to the waiting coach... which the group agreed to. The walk was down a steep cobbled footpath and took 30 minutes. We then boarded the coach and waited another 20 minutes. In summary the trip was a disaster, and I would warn people to not bother.

<p>The tour guide was really great and her English was very good. The Bosporous cruise is a terrific way to see the views from both sides while relaxing onboard.</p> <p>On the flip side...There is not much to the cable car/hill and it also takes a lot of time to get there, wait and return. This is magnified by a city with that much traffic. To and from, you spend 90 minutes for a 1minute ride down a small hill.</p> <p>If not for our friendly guide, I would normally suggest to just do the boat tour as a stand alone activity...</p>

The "tour" is SILENT, no discussion, don't tell you anything. Then waited for ONE HOUR IN THE SUN on a boat that DIDNT MOVE. NO APOLOGIES. SAVE YOUR MONEY.

<p>Too commercial, too long, cable car ride not needed as its not a great experience. Watch out for overselling while on the boat. They say drinks are complimentary but will charge you afterwards - dont order unless you want to pay 6 lira for a small glass of orange juice and a not so great cheese sandwich. The views are incredible. The tour guides are nice but language is an issue. Couldnt understand much of the commentary on the boat as well.</p>

When you are in Istanbul Bosphorus is a must see attraction, it is the continental divide between Europe and Asia. The narrow sea channel that divided European and Asian side of Istanbul is geological marvel. It was a bit chilly March day but the views were amazing and the bus and boat crew were extremely friendly. The tour guide gave a great review of history of the area and dropped us for a short shopping tour of the old town as well. The fabrics I purchased were one of a kind and reasonably priced. Great trip..

we paid 35 euros only to be told the cable car was not working! pretty much spent most of the time in the minibus - probably spent 1.5 hours on the boat. There was no Golden Horn Coach Tour - very disappointing indeed! You are better of going to the docks and getting on the boat there, which will cost you next to nothing!

<p>The bosohurus cruise was great. However the cable car was a bit disappointing and time was limited because we started tour late as it took time to gather everyone. Although we were picked up late it was still worth It!!</p>

<p>Personally I wouldn’t recommend we ended up swapping guides as we had a French couple who couldn’t understand English (so they said) yet booked on a English speaking tour ? So we had a guide who spent more time rambling on in French this was very disappointing as we missed key points.</p>

<p>A lovely informative trip . Would highly recommend .</p>

<p>What can I say...a tour of Bosphorus coastline with a guide historic view of landmarks along the shores...palaces, million dollar homes...historic Byzantine and ottoman ruins. Our Spanish speaking guide was a very sweet and historically precise with his presentation and delightful affect. Go !!!</p>

I was picked up at my hotel and we collected a few other people from various hotels and then made the way to the Bosphorus, where we got onto the boat. The cruise lasted 2 hours, although it was a bit cold. The guide was very informative and told us about everything on the way to the boat, whilst on the boat, you could purchase drinks and snacks. Once the cruise finished we went back on the coach and drove past the Golden Horn and headed towards the cable car. It was great value for money, the whole tour cost me around £21 and dropped me back to the hotel a few hours later. I recommend this tour if you're in Istanbul, we left at 1 and I was back at the hotel at 6:30.

This tour is available every day in summer (April 1st until October 31st yearly) & lot of options to choose the cruise tour from half an hour to full 1 day.The cruise takes on a long from the sea of Marmara to the south with the Black Sea to the north of Istanbul. The departure times and their frequency change >>according to the season.

<p>Tour was a nice way to get a tour of the Bosphorus and a nice view from top of Golden Horn. Not really a must do, but good enough for what was promised.</p>

<p>The Bosphorus cruise was interesting and worth doing. The Cable Car Ride was disappointing as it was very short perhaps 2 minutes. It would have been better if we could have had more time at the place the Cable Car leaves from as there are markets and a nice cliff top restaurant, this was all a bit rushed. Our guide also had both French and English people on the tour and needed to translate to both.</p>

<p>Fun tour and informative. My only complaint was that we didn't have time to have a coffee before the cable car ride.</p>

<p>A good relaxed half day tour introducing you to the Bosphorus and Istanbul. Recommended.</p>

<p>Tour was great for a half day excursion. Friendly for Americans and bus and abilities were in nice shape. Folks were very accomidating to pick up at hotel for a bit more money if you are outside the regular area they operate in. The boat cruise pushes food a bit but it is cheap. It does walk a bit.</p>

<p>Tour guide OK. A bit oversold and not comfortable. Spend a bit more money if you want to have a great tour.</p>

<p>Saw some areas of Istanbul not visited before. An adequate tour.</p>

<p>This was a miserable experience, as we spent more time being bused through bad traffic than we did sightseeing. The days of picking up everyone at hotels should be over for Istanbul, given the traffic. It would have saved hours to have us meet at the boat dock. The cable car ride down from the Bosphorus viewpoint was another bottleneck, and this time useless. We could have saved time by getting back in the bus. We ending up skipping places included in the Golden Horn tour because of lack of time. The tour guide was unpleasant. Basically, we felt ripped off by this tour.</p>

<p>This tour was operated by Plan Tours locally. After our pick up we proceeded to then go to another central point where we had to swap coaches which took ages due to Sunday traffic and loads of cyclists and then another extremely long queue to cross the Galata Bridge to get to the ferry. A wasted hour easily just stuck in traffic. The boat trip was good but led to believe the drinks and snacks offered were free and then he came round after for the money. More traffic again when we got off the ferry and travelled round by coach to Pierre Loti where due to heavy traffic and street market we ended up getting off the bus and walking to this famous viewing area which was ok but very busy and queued again for 45 mins to travel down the hill only for 2 mins on a cable car .<br/> Felt the trip a waste of time and not good value, definately felt ripped off and would not recommend.</p>

<p>The company for this tour was Plan tours. I found them to be very impersonal, by Turkish standards. I was picked up at my hotel on time, but the guide rushed ahead of me and never spoke to me until we got to the bus, when she pointed for me to get on. No surnames are used, so they referred to you as the man/woman from xyz hotel. We were rushed to another meeting point, where we were rushed to board another bus. The guide was older and spoke English with a heavy accent, so while he was speaking about landmarks and Istanbul history, it was a struggle to understand him the ENTIRE tour. He also seemed bored with his work. Frustrating. The Bosphorus cruise was wonderful, but was clouded by the snack attendant who shoved snacks to several people and then asked for money. He did not even offer me snacks and then argued with me about giving him money. I had to complain to our tour guide, as did several other people on the tour. We were taken to Pierre Loti which was a beautiful experience. However, we only had 20 minutes to basically use the restroom and take a few pictures. We were then rushed on the cable car for a 1 minute ride DOWN. The ride through the Jewish quarter was rushed and in the dark, making it hard to see anything, so combined with a guide who was difficult to understand, it was a total waste of time. Except for the Bosphorus tour and actually being at Pierre Loti, this tour was disappointing. I will avoid Plan tours in the future. When I return to Istanbul, I will use other company for a Bosphorus cruise and get to Pierre Loti on my own.</p>

<p>Too much time wasted in the Bus, I would recommend that you do this yourself.</p>

<p>The tour was too rushed. The announcements on the boat could not be heard. We had no idea what we were seeing so it was a total waste specially because we had gone for a special occasion on this trip. The time given at the view point at the cable car place was not enough. We barely got a cup of coffee and it was time to leave. It was aterrible experience and I do not recommend this tour to anyone.</p>

<p>Probably the worst tour we have done with Viator. We were collected from our hotel and taken to a drop off point with around 100 people and eventually put on a coach with 2 guides - one for the Spanish speakers and one for the English speakers. The problem was that the English guide spoke only basic English and we learnt nothing. The tour company you used was Plan and they have damaged your reputation. We were eventually dropped off near our hotel at 7.15pm. A complete waste of our time and money.</p>

<p>Had problems with the sound system on boat so that the commentary was not audible</p>

<p>You cant visit Istanbul and not take a cruise on the Bosphorus. This tour offered not only that, but a trip to the lookout point over the Golden Horn. Like most things in Istanbul, you could have done this yourself, without a tour guide, but the boat was quite large, uncrowded, and the commentary quite thorough. It was a beautiful day, which added to the enjoyment and, having booked ahead of traveling, it meant we could ignore all the ticket touts near the ferry terminal and there were lots!. The guide was older than we expected, and though knowledgeable, his English wasnt up to the standard wed expected from Viator we often struggled to understand what he was trying to explain. Not much more to say. It was a good tour, and Id recommend it to others.</p>

<p>Very fun and interesting. All the essentials in a short time. The guide did an excellent job.</p>

<p>When you get on boat, there is a guy giving our juice and sandwich. Mind you the boat is owned by the company that handles this. Afterward, the same guy comes to collect money, of course to surprise of many.</p> <p>Also, note, it is your responsibility to contact your local tour operator to pick you up at hotel. Also, the reservation said 2pm pick up, which I found when I called them @ 2pm that 2pm refers to time all are meeting at meeting location not pick up time. Pick up time for our hotel was 1:15pm. Luckily they agreed to honor our booking the next day, however, had to rearrange plans as a result of mis-communication on their part.</p>

<p>i love the fact that it is a half day tour so i am able to take it easy as i was travelling with my elderly mom and 4-year old son. the guide was good and the buses were comfy.</p>

<p>Arrived at hotel on time excellent commentary on the cruise of the Bosphorus Straight. Great way to start our first day in Istanbul!</p>

<p>Tour guide informative and had an excellent command of English. Bosphorus Cruise was also excellent both as an informative experience and a relaxing time in an hectic city. Cable Car Ride not worth the wait in very crowded conditions though driver did an excellent job navigating narrow streets.</p>

<p>This tour was amazing..very well organized. .small group highly recommended. .</p>

<p>We enjoyed the tour. The agent was punctual. But it would be better if we were given a longer time to relax at the hill top. We were also given a choice to be dropped off at either the Grand Bazaar or Taksim square.</p>

<p>Long wait at a meeting point after picked up.Contrary to what's advertised Balat district wasn't visited: when pointing that out to the guide he said they took a different route due to traffic. The cable car from Pierre Loti cafe was out of order: the guide only found out and informed us once there</p>

<p>When you are visiting a city (Istanbul) for a short time you want everything to be sorted from this end before you go. The requirement (your) was to confirm that we had booked which we tried to do (e mails at least twice) but no reply. In the end we had to contact them from the hotel, but unfortunately the person at the other end did not speak English, so we had to find someone who could speak the local language before we got the confirmation. After that they did not pick us up at the said time of between 1-30 and 2 pm (we had rushed back from the morning sight seeing). It was almost 2-30 ( no apology) before we got picked up.</p> <p>The tour itself was ok but we suspect it was cut short due to late start. Wouldn't recommend this company (think Star). Sorry.</p>

<p>Guide was good, boat trip a bit too long really, weather was not on our side and I would have liked a more modern vessel.</p>

<p>This was a thoroughly disappointing tour. The coach tour of Golden Horn was no more than a couple sentences said on the way to the port. Pierre Loti has beautiful views, but we spent only 15 minutes at the cafe and more than an hour waiting for the entire group to descend on the two-minute cable car ride. I'd absolutely recommend taking a cruise or ferry on the Bosphorus, but you're better off arranging it yourself. The tour was also mostly spoken in Spanish, and the cruise was a mix of German, English, and Spanish, so I feel like I missed most of what was being said.</p>