Of course, since the fabulous city of Istanbul is virtually surrounded by water, you also have the option of traveling to the city by boat. There are passenger ferries that start from Italy, Ukraine or Greece and then dock at Istanbul. Also, a number of international cruise ships use Istanbul as one of their ports of call, making their berth at the International Passenger Ship Dock in Karakoy, just near the Galata Bridge. The dock usually services ferries plying the route to and from Rome (Civitaveccla), Athens, Dubovnik, Venice, Romania, Russia and Ukraine. Please note that the cruises from these European countries are not actually ferries but these offer package tours, with Istanbul included.
For trips from Romania, the schedules are the following. Please note that schedule and other details may change.
Ukraine to Istanbul (Contact www.ukrferry.com for more up-to-date details).
Originating City Vessel Schedule of Departure
Odessa MV Gloria Mondays, 5:00 p.m.
Odessa MV Caledonia Saturdays, 6:00 p.m.
Yalta MV Omega Wednesdays, 10:00 a.m.
Sevastopol (Akyar) MV Sevastopol 1 Sundays, 6:00 p.m.
Kherson MV Victoria
Evpatoria MV Poisk
Novorossisk MV Maria Yarmalova Every two weeks
Constanta MV Arielle Wednesdays, 12:00 MN and Sundays 10:30 a.m.
The Bosphorus and the Golden Horn are also busy waterways, carrying not just ferries and sea buses, but private yachts and liners as well. Not only do these provide transport from other points in Europe, it also provides swift and traffic-free crossings between the Asian and European sides of the city.
The Ferries go across the Bosphorus have the following routes:
- Eminonu – Kadikoy, vice versa
- Eminonu – Uskudar, , vice versa
- Kadikoy – Haydarapasa – Uskudar, vice versa
- Eyup – Eminunu – Karakoy – Uskudar, vice versa
- Besiktas – Kadikoy, vice versa
- Harem – Uskudar – Kabaras, vice versa
The ferries can also take you to the Princes’ Islands (at least, as far as the 4 main islands in the group). The route would be from Sirkeci to Adalar to Yalova and then to Cinarcik. During the summers, ferries have the tendency to get crowded, so the best time to go would be during week days.
You can also take tours to the Bosphorus. There are ferries that ply this route daily. These ferries usually follow this route: Cengelkoy – Arnavutkoy – Bebek – Kandilli – Anadolu Hisari – Kanlica – Emirgan – Istinye and vice versa.
Ferry tokens can be bought at the terminal.
There are a number of docks in Istanbul
- Sarayburnu Ferry Dock (near the end of Seraglio Point) – this caters mostly to small ships, as well as the city’s car ferries.
- Kabatas Ferry Docks (European side, near Karakoy) – this caters mostly to fast catamarans going to Eminonu, Bostanci, Karakoy, Pendik, Bakirkoy, as well as the Princes’ Islands.
- Harem Ferry Dock (Asian Side) – this is near the Asian intercity bus terminal.
- Eminonu Ferry Dock – this caters to a lot of ferries, as this is near the Sirkeci Railway Station.
- Adalar Ferry Dock (at the Princes’ Islands)
- Uskudar Ferry dock (Asian side) – this caters to Bosphorus tours.
- Kadikoy Ferry Dock – Ferries here also pass by the Haydarapasa Railway Station