Istanbul Boat Cruise and Dolmabahce Palace & Two Continents USD 100.07. Admire beautiful architecture and capture stunning views of illustrious palaces during a full-day tour in Istanbul including a Bosphorus cruise. Aboard a cozy coach explore the highlights of Istanbul including the Walls of Constantinople, views of the Golden Horn and witness the lively Spice Bazaar on foot. You will then experience a must-do in Istanbul, a Bosphorus Strait sightseeing cruise. The cruise concludes with a visit to the beautiful Dolmabahce Palace where Istanbul’s late sultans once resided. Plus, you will gaze over this east-meets-west city for eye-popping views at Yeditepe or Çamlıca Hill..
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20 reviews for Istanbul Boat Cruise and Dolmabahce Palace & Two Continents Plan Tours
Rated 4 out of 5
Keith H –
Good guide but a bit pointless going inside the palace if you cannot take photographs
Rated 5 out of 5
Michele R –
Enjoyed this tour the most of the tours we did in Istanbul. The Spice Markets are incredible, smell, noise, soak it up whatever you do. The palace you have enough time to see the must see and you have the option of staying if you want to see more. Probably could have left the tour there, but if you want to see the Asian side definitely go.
Rated 1 out of 5
Richard S –
Wish I could give two different ratings. Tour rates 4 stars. Guide Murat was excellent and what we saw of the tour was very good except for the unplanned stop at leather jacket showroom where they tried to sell very overpriced jackets.
Very disorganized office, stay away from them. Our hotel concierge called them the day before and confirmed an 8:30 hotel pickup for a 9:00 tour. We were ready at 8:20. At 8:55 the concierge called and was told the pickup would be in 5 minutes. At 9:20 the concierge called again and was told the pickup would be in 10 min. Pickup was at 9:30, and we arrived at the Egyptian Bazaar at 9:50. We missed a 40 min drive of the Golden Horn and the first 10 min of the 30 min Bazaar stop. No apologies were made, and nothing was offered to make up for what we missed, which was 1/6 of the tour after discounting the leather store and lunch.
Stay away from this tour operator. We also booked thru Viator another tour with a different tour operator, they were far more professional in how they were run.
Rated 4 out of 5
Valerie U –
This tour was worth doing up to the Dolmache Palace. Then they took us up to a viewing point that was just a restaurant. It was so hazy that you could not see anything. Then we were caught in traffic and we were two hours late getting back.
Rated 2 out of 5
Charles R –
The sites we visited were very good. However, the group was too large, 50 people! Add to this the fact that the guide had to speak in two languages, English and then repeat everything in Spanish, made for a very long day.
Rated 4 out of 5
Ricardo O –
This is a great tour. Would have given a 5 if the tour agency didnt decide to also include German … and French! in the tour that was suppose to be english only. please stop doing that
Rated 3 out of 5
George G –
The Tour was really good with the sights you see, Dolmabache Palace was amazing. The fashion show is like oh yeah nothing special. But the part that ruined the entire tour was at the end of the day cause the driver didnt want to drive through the traffic he started just dumping us at locations near the hotel, saying just walk that way and youll see your hotel, Thankyou for just dropping me off in a random location and allowing me to have to try and find my way back to the hotel when you picked me up from my hotel door to begin with!
Rated 3 out of 5
jemt81 –
Tour was good, I enjoyed the cruise far more than the rest of the itinerary. Our guide was helpful only when asked a direct question, otherwise he did not offer much information at all.
Rated 3 out of 5
Bernhard G –
Tour was OK however we were disappointed not to be advised that certain parts of it would not be visited due to Ramadan. The date for this event would have been known well in advance and we would have gone to see those items on the days prior to the tour if this had been known.
Rated 2 out of 5
Anthony Prowling –
The trip itself was great, the only snags where that we were a large group of multi nationals speaking different languages. The appointed guide could not cope with the larger numbers and we felt that we were being rushed though all the historic sites and cruise. The tour touched on all the advertised sites, but the transfers between the Asian and European based sites were haphazard and somewhat disorganized. The luncheon served was somewhat below standard. The non use of individual headsets were noticible.
Rated 5 out of 5
Stefan_S –
Interesting, beautiful view, very knowledgebile Guide, well organized.
Rated 5 out of 5
Oscar_L –
The palace is incredible with all the history, the art, and the treasure.
Rated 5 out of 5
Michael V –
The guide was informative and the tour was appropriate in length. It was a great way to see Istanbul from the water. The Dolmabahce Palace was great. We have toured several of the great palaces of Europe. It ranks up there with the best of them.
Rated 4 out of 5
Amanda F –
I had a wonderful day on this tour, I felt like we saw so much. It felt like we spent a lot of time waiting for the bus to pick other people up or drop them off though because the full day tour was combined with the half day tour. I was afraid the cruise would be too cold in the winter but it was quite spacious and warm on the below deck and you could just go to the open upper deck intermittently to take all the pictures you wanted. I really enjoyed to Dolmabahce Palace, it was absolutely beautiful and I absolutely recommend it if you are visiting Istanbul.
Rated 4 out of 5
GreeceHelena –
Murat… wiseman, our guide on this tour was knowledgeable and very easy to understand. Personally I would have liked more time at Dolmabahce Palace, however, I hope to revisit the Palace another time. Were it not for the fact that I experienced difficulty trying to reconfirm my Booking by phone, I would have rated this Tour a 5. Value for money.
Rated 4 out of 5
MuhammadZubair_T –
The tour was great and every thing was well planned. Our tour guide Mr.Barish was very good.Food was also nice.
Rated 5 out of 5
MuhammadZubair_T –
The tour was very nice and amazing. Complete value for Money.The Tour guide was very good.Mr.Barish.
Rated 1 out of 5
pinklady021 –
Dear Viator I always book my tours on your website and I never had such a bad experience like with this tour, You must stop to cooperate with PLAN TOURS agency in Istanbul. We paid for this tour and guide from Plan Tour picked us up from our hotel and joined us to group which had totally different programe.For the whole day we were questioning guide why he does not deliver tour programe that we paid for and after some time he told me he does not want to communicate with me and that I have to complain to company that I paid for the tour. He didn’t want to give me his full name. I wanted to take his business card but he didn’t want to give me. Our tour was on 11 August 2019 and guide was hired by local company Plan Tour Istanbul. We didn’t get what we paid for and we expect you to refund our money to us. Instead of going to Dolombache Palace he said he is going to take us to Topkapi (which is not in our programe), I told him that we already paid for Topkapi and we do not want to see Topkapi twice.. I have asked when he is going to take us to Camlica hill Istanbul he said he is not going to take us. I told him but we paid for this to go and see the view of Istanbul from Camilica. He said he changed the tour, I’ve asked him how he can change the tour I have paid for the tour that was advertised and if he is going to change the whole tour he has to ask me if I still want the tour or to give me my money back.This was scam and we were ripped off.. We want our money back !!!! Viator how can you allow PLAN TOURS to change the tour that we paid for without asking us if we agree with the change??? This is VERY UNFAIR to us. PLAN TOURS is BAD BAD . They have ruined our holiday and stolen our money!!!! We want our money back !!!! Viator we expect you to be fair to us as were loyal travelers to you!!!!!
Rated 2 out of 5
Alison_H –
Sadly this tour was not as expected, although the itinerary ticked a lot of boxes the reality was it didn’t meet expectations. Firstly the communication by the Turkish tour operator was dire, no comms whatsoever, I had to get Viator to obtain information about pick up times and my hotel in Istanbul to confirm details. The pick up on the morning of the tour did arrive on time, I was taken to a meeting point (car park) and advised which coach I would be joining for the main tour … so far so good. We embarked the coach and our tour guide introduced himself”Berlout”? He advised that the tour would be in English and Spanish as we had mixed nationalities … no problem I thought, how wrong was I….
The tour processed, hardly any commentary of local knowledge and facts, we were transported between A and B and basically self guided.
The Bosphorus sailing was good, thankfully the boat had English commentary as the guide sat with the Spanish speaking guests for the entire journey, he only asked as we disembarked if there was anything I would like to know. As I was only sitting 2 rows ahead of him and travelling alone, it would have been courteous to ask me that question whilst we were sailing. We then proceeded to a leather shop for the usual big sell, unsurprisingly nobody bought anything.
Lunch came next, usual tourist fayre at a coach stop restaurant, food was pretty good to be honest and service was fast and efficient.
Next we headed to the palace, sadly very rushed, we were supposed to be there 2 hours but completed the sprint around in 1.5 hours, again very limited commentary, thank goodness for Google. Such a shame as this is the highlight of the tour, a stunning palace with so much history.
We then proceeded to the view point, what a total waste of time. The view is not the best, a 5 minute photo opportunity would have been acceptable but no … we had to stay 45 minutes whilst our guide talked to the Spanish guests over coffee … deep sigh
Thankfully the tour concluded, the price included hotel drop offs and I was more than ready to return my hotel in the old town. It transpired all the other tour guests were staying on the Asian side and I was the sole guest staying on the European side. The driver dropped the guests off at their respective hotels on the Asian side and then asked me if I would like to get off at Istikal street (main shopping street on the Asian side) and make my way back to the hotel on my own so they didn’t have to bother taking one passenger back. I politely said no thank you and said I needed to go back to my hotel. Just for info, if I had disembarked where asked, it would have taken 55 minutes to walk to the hotel and cross the Bosphorus again or pay for local transport to get me back. Quite a daunting prospect for a single female traveller …
Would I recommend this tour with this company, absolutely NOT, would I recommend you the sites visited on this tour with another company , yes (except for the view point and leather shop) as Istanbul is one of the most amazing cities in the world.
Rated 4 out of 5
Doug_S –
This was an interesting tour. Our guide spoke English well and was friendly and informative. Unfortunately, it was pretty much a repeat of day 2 of our Best of Istanbul 2 day tour. The only part that was different was a bus ride to the Asian side and a look around from a coffee shop on a hill. This is an enjoyable tour, but after the 2 day tour we wished we had spent the day seeing something we hadn’t seen before.
Keith H –
Good guide but a bit pointless going inside the palace if you cannot take photographs
Michele R –
Enjoyed this tour the most of the tours we did in Istanbul. The Spice Markets are incredible, smell, noise, soak it up whatever you do. The palace you have enough time to see the must see and you have the option of staying if you want to see more. Probably could have left the tour there, but if you want to see the Asian side definitely go.
Richard S –
Wish I could give two different ratings. Tour rates 4 stars. Guide Murat was excellent and what we saw of the tour was very good except for the unplanned stop at leather jacket showroom where they tried to sell very overpriced jackets.
Very disorganized office, stay away from them. Our hotel concierge called them the day before and confirmed an 8:30 hotel pickup for a 9:00 tour. We were ready at 8:20. At 8:55 the concierge called and was told the pickup would be in 5 minutes. At 9:20 the concierge called again and was told the pickup would be in 10 min. Pickup was at 9:30, and we arrived at the Egyptian Bazaar at 9:50. We missed a 40 min drive of the Golden Horn and the first 10 min of the 30 min Bazaar stop. No apologies were made, and nothing was offered to make up for what we missed, which was 1/6 of the tour after discounting the leather store and lunch.
Stay away from this tour operator. We also booked thru Viator another tour with a different tour operator, they were far more professional in how they were run.
Valerie U –
This tour was worth doing up to the Dolmache Palace. Then they took us up to a viewing point that was just a restaurant. It was so hazy that you could not see anything. Then we were caught in traffic and we were two hours late getting back.
Charles R –
The sites we visited were very good. However, the group was too large, 50 people! Add to this the fact that the guide had to speak in two languages, English and then repeat everything in Spanish, made for a very long day.
Ricardo O –
This is a great tour. Would have given a 5 if the tour agency didnt decide to also include German … and French! in the tour that was suppose to be english only. please stop doing that
George G –
The Tour was really good with the sights you see, Dolmabache Palace was amazing. The fashion show is like oh yeah nothing special. But the part that ruined the entire tour was at the end of the day cause the driver didnt want to drive through the traffic he started just dumping us at locations near the hotel, saying just walk that way and youll see your hotel, Thankyou for just dropping me off in a random location and allowing me to have to try and find my way back to the hotel when you picked me up from my hotel door to begin with!
jemt81 –
Tour was good, I enjoyed the cruise far more than the rest of the itinerary. Our guide was helpful only when asked a direct question, otherwise he did not offer much information at all.
Bernhard G –
Tour was OK however we were disappointed not to be advised that certain parts of it would not be visited due to Ramadan. The date for this event would have been known well in advance and we would have gone to see those items on the days prior to the tour if this had been known.
Anthony Prowling –
The trip itself was great, the only snags where that we were a large group of multi nationals speaking different languages. The appointed guide could not cope with the larger numbers and we felt that we were being rushed though all the historic sites and cruise. The tour touched on all the advertised sites, but the transfers between the Asian and European based sites were haphazard and somewhat disorganized. The luncheon served was somewhat below standard. The non use of individual headsets were noticible.
Stefan_S –
Interesting, beautiful view, very knowledgebile Guide, well organized.
Oscar_L –
The palace is incredible with all the history, the art, and the treasure.
Michael V –
The guide was informative and the tour was appropriate in length. It was a great way to see Istanbul from the water. The Dolmabahce Palace was great. We have toured several of the great palaces of Europe. It ranks up there with the best of them.
Amanda F –
I had a wonderful day on this tour, I felt like we saw so much. It felt like we spent a lot of time waiting for the bus to pick other people up or drop them off though because the full day tour was combined with the half day tour. I was afraid the cruise would be too cold in the winter but it was quite spacious and warm on the below deck and you could just go to the open upper deck intermittently to take all the pictures you wanted. I really enjoyed to Dolmabahce Palace, it was absolutely beautiful and I absolutely recommend it if you are visiting Istanbul.
GreeceHelena –
Murat… wiseman, our guide on this tour was knowledgeable and very easy to understand. Personally I would have liked more time at Dolmabahce Palace, however, I hope to revisit the Palace another time. Were it not for the fact that I experienced difficulty trying to reconfirm my Booking by phone, I would have rated this Tour a 5. Value for money.
MuhammadZubair_T –
The tour was great and every thing was well planned. Our tour guide Mr.Barish was very good.Food was also nice.
MuhammadZubair_T –
The tour was very nice and amazing. Complete value for Money.The Tour guide was very good.Mr.Barish.
pinklady021 –
Dear Viator I always book my tours on your website and I never had such a bad experience like with this tour, You must stop to cooperate with PLAN TOURS agency in Istanbul. We paid for this tour and guide from Plan Tour picked us up from our hotel and joined us to group which had totally different programe.For the whole day we were questioning guide why he does not deliver tour programe that we paid for and after some time he told me he does not want to communicate with me and that I have to complain to company that I paid for the tour. He didn’t want to give me his full name. I wanted to take his business card but he didn’t want to give me. Our tour was on 11 August 2019 and guide was hired by local company Plan Tour Istanbul. We didn’t get what we paid for and we expect you to refund our money to us. Instead of going to Dolombache Palace he said he is going to take us to Topkapi (which is not in our programe), I told him that we already paid for Topkapi and we do not want to see Topkapi twice.. I have asked when he is going to take us to Camlica hill Istanbul he said he is not going to take us. I told him but we paid for this to go and see the view of Istanbul from Camilica. He said he changed the tour, I’ve asked him how he can change the tour I have paid for the tour that was advertised and if he is going to change the whole tour he has to ask me if I still want the tour or to give me my money back.This was scam and we were ripped off.. We want our money back !!!! Viator how can you allow PLAN TOURS to change the tour that we paid for without asking us if we agree with the change??? This is VERY UNFAIR to us. PLAN TOURS is BAD BAD . They have ruined our holiday and stolen our money!!!! We want our money back !!!! Viator we expect you to be fair to us as were loyal travelers to you!!!!!
Alison_H –
Sadly this tour was not as expected, although the itinerary ticked a lot of boxes the reality was it didn’t meet expectations. Firstly the communication by the Turkish tour operator was dire, no comms whatsoever, I had to get Viator to obtain information about pick up times and my hotel in Istanbul to confirm details. The pick up on the morning of the tour did arrive on time, I was taken to a meeting point (car park) and advised which coach I would be joining for the main tour … so far so good. We embarked the coach and our tour guide introduced himself”Berlout”? He advised that the tour would be in English and Spanish as we had mixed nationalities … no problem I thought, how wrong was I….
The tour processed, hardly any commentary of local knowledge and facts, we were transported between A and B and basically self guided.
The Bosphorus sailing was good, thankfully the boat had English commentary as the guide sat with the Spanish speaking guests for the entire journey, he only asked as we disembarked if there was anything I would like to know. As I was only sitting 2 rows ahead of him and travelling alone, it would have been courteous to ask me that question whilst we were sailing. We then proceeded to a leather shop for the usual big sell, unsurprisingly nobody bought anything.
Lunch came next, usual tourist fayre at a coach stop restaurant, food was pretty good to be honest and service was fast and efficient.
Next we headed to the palace, sadly very rushed, we were supposed to be there 2 hours but completed the sprint around in 1.5 hours, again very limited commentary, thank goodness for Google. Such a shame as this is the highlight of the tour, a stunning palace with so much history.
We then proceeded to the view point, what a total waste of time. The view is not the best, a 5 minute photo opportunity would have been acceptable but no … we had to stay 45 minutes whilst our guide talked to the Spanish guests over coffee … deep sigh
Thankfully the tour concluded, the price included hotel drop offs and I was more than ready to return my hotel in the old town. It transpired all the other tour guests were staying on the Asian side and I was the sole guest staying on the European side. The driver dropped the guests off at their respective hotels on the Asian side and then asked me if I would like to get off at Istikal street (main shopping street on the Asian side) and make my way back to the hotel on my own so they didn’t have to bother taking one passenger back. I politely said no thank you and said I needed to go back to my hotel. Just for info, if I had disembarked where asked, it would have taken 55 minutes to walk to the hotel and cross the Bosphorus again or pay for local transport to get me back. Quite a daunting prospect for a single female traveller …
Would I recommend this tour with this company, absolutely NOT, would I recommend you the sites visited on this tour with another company , yes (except for the view point and leather shop) as Istanbul is one of the most amazing cities in the world.
Doug_S –
This was an interesting tour. Our guide spoke English well and was friendly and informative. Unfortunately, it was pretty much a repeat of day 2 of our Best of Istanbul 2 day tour. The only part that was different was a bus ride to the Asian side and a look around from a coffee shop on a hill. This is an enjoyable tour, but after the 2 day tour we wished we had spent the day seeing something we hadn’t seen before.