Bosphorus Dinner Cruise from Kabataş

The facts a traveller asks for first, in the order they usually ask for them. Every number on this page is the same number you will meet on the pier.

Departure: 21:00 from Kabataş Pier on the European shore, every night of the year. Doors open at 20:00.
Return: Alongside at the same pier between 23:45 and midnight.
On the water: Three hours. Up the European shore as far as the second bridge, then back down the Asian shore.
Dinner: Ten cold mezes, hot börek, a main course chosen from five, semolina dessert. Unlimited soft drinks for every guest.

The show: Four acts, live, in the dining salon while you eat: whirling dervish, folk dances, Oba Dombra, belly dance. A DJ with live saxophone after dessert.
Price: €24.30 per person with all of the above included. Children aged 0–3 sail free, ages 4–9 pay €5 less.
Payment: On board, in cash or by card. Nothing in advance, no deposit, no booking fee.
Cancellation: Free until two hours before departure, which is 19:00 on the day. One message is enough.

What "all in" means on this boat

It means the dinner, the show, the seat at the window and the soft drinks are one number, and that number is €24.30. It does not mean alcohol: the bar on board is real and it is optional, and the drinks package that covers it is priced on this page before you book. It also does not mean a private boat. This is a shared evening sailing with a table reserved in your name, which is the only way an evening of this kind can cost what it costs.

Dinner is served at your table over the first half of the sailing, course by course, with the shore going past the window. It is a Turkish dinner in the order a Turkish dinner is eaten: a long spread of small cold dishes first, something hot from the oven, then the plate you chose, then something sweet.

01Meze: Ten cold dishes, brought to the table on shared platters while the boat is still at the pier: yoghurt with herbs, bean purée, bulgur, seasonal salads and whatever else the kitchen has that week, so the exact spread moves with the season. This is the course people photograph.
02Hot starter: Börek, straight from the oven: layers of thin pastry, crisp outside and soft in the middle, served warm as a bridge between the meze and the main.
03Main course: One plate per guest, chosen from the five below and served hot with seasonal salad. Everyone at the table chooses for themselves.
04Dessert: Warm semolina halva, the Bosphorus classic, served as the DJ takes over from the stage.
05To drink: Water, cola and juice are unlimited for every guest all evening and already in the price. Wine, beer, rakı and spirits come from the bar through the drinks package, or by the glass.

Fish

Grilled Salmon

A salmon fillet off the grill, finished with lemon and olive oil. The plate to order if you are not sure what to order.

Fish

Grilled Sea Bass

Sea bass grilled plainly, the way it is eaten along this coast. Order it if you want the dinner to taste of where you are.

Chicken

Chicken Skewer

Marinated chicken şiş from the grill. Mild and familiar, and the plate most children at the table end up choosing.

Meat

Beef Skewer

Beef şiş over the flame, charred at the edges. The one to pair with a glass of rakı if you take the drinks package.

Vegetarian

Vegetarian Platter

Falafel, roasted potatoes, bulgur pilaf, stewed vegetables and onion rings. Chosen for itself by plenty of guests who eat meat.

The full menu, dish by dish and with the meze named one by one, is in the journal: the Bosphorus dinner cruise menu. Other dietary needs: tell us on WhatsApp when you book.

The programme runs in the dining salon while dinner is served, on a stage placed so that every table faces it. There is no interval, no separate showtime and no moving to another room. It begins quietly and ends loud.

Act one

Whirling dervish

The still point

The lights go down and a single figure in white begins to turn. This is the Mevlevi sema, the ceremony of Rumi's order from Konya, performed as a ceremony rather than a trick: one palm turned up, one turned down, the turn held for minutes at a time. The salon goes quiet for it. It is placed first so the night has somewhere to climb from.

Folk dance company in regional costume during the Turkish night show

Folk dances

Anatolia and the Caucasus

A company in regional costume works its way across the map: Sarı Gelin from Anatolia, an Azerbaijani set, a Turkish medley, and the knife dance of the Caucasus with the blades ringing on the stage floor. Fast, loud and precise, and finished before you have quite taken it in.

Dancers mid-leap on the stage of the Bosphorus dinner cruise

Caucasian dance set with the salon lights sweeping across the tables

Oba Dombra

The room joins in

Between the dance sets, a driving rhythm from Central Asia takes over the stage. It is the point where the salon stops watching and starts taking part, hands on the beat and the lights sweeping across the tables. It is short, and it changes the temperature of the room.

Act four

Belly dance

The peak

A professional dancer's full routine, moving between the stage and the tables in sequins and light, with a handful of guests drawn gently into it. It is the act the evening is remembered by, and the one everyone films.

After the fourth act

Dessert comes out, and with it the evening changes register. The DJ takes the room with a saxophonist playing live over the set, the floor fills for those who want it, and the open deck fills for the run home along the Asian shore. That last hour is its own kind of night and has its own page. If you want the four acts explained properly, with their history, the journal has the Turkish night show, act by act.

Out along Europe, home along Asia. The cruise leaves Kabataş and follows the European shore north past Dolmabahçe, Çırağan and Ortaköy, under the Bosphorus Bridge, past Bebek and the fortress at Rumeli Hisarı, and comes about beneath the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge. The return runs down the Asian side: Anadolu Hisarı, Kandilli, Beylerbeyi Palace, the wooden houses of Kuzguncuk, Üsküdar, and the closest pass of Maiden's Tower before the pier.

The trip has a page of its own, stop by stop and with the two shores explained: the Bosphorus dinner trip. The palaces along the way are in the Istanbul guide: the Bosphorus palaces from the water. The route may vary with weather and sea conditions.

There is one ticket for this cruise. No standard and premium, no window surcharge, no show supplement. The card below is the entire price list, followed by the three things you can add and the three things that are never billed.

All-In

Dinner · show · cruise

Bosphorus Dinner Cruise

€40.50€24.30/ person

Doors 20:00, departure 21:00, back between 23:45 and midnight. Every line below is inside the price.

Every night Table reserved No prepayment

Included

A reserved table in the heated panoramic salon, assigned before you arrive
Ten cold mezes, served to share
Hot börek from the oven
One main course per guest from five: salmon, sea bass, chicken skewer, beef skewer or the vegetarian platter
Seasonal salad and warm semolina dessert
Unlimited soft drinks for everyone, all evening
The four-act Turkish night show, then the DJ and live saxophone until the pier
The three-hour cruise itself, both shores of the strait

Reserve a Table →

Drinks package +€10 per person: Two glasses each from the bar on board: wine, beer, rakı, vodka, whisky, gin and the rest of the list. Taken by whoever wants it at the table, not by the whole table.
Hotel transfer +€5 per person: A driver from your hotel to the pier for 20:00 and from the pier back to the hotel at midnight. Same-day transfer can be added until 18:30.
Romantic table +€15 per table: Candles and flowers on the table before you are shown to it. Most often booked for anniversaries and proposals. See the romantic evening.

Children 0–3: Free. A place at the family's table, nothing charged.
Children 4–9: €5 off the adult price, so €19.30, with their own main course and the same soft drinks.
Age 10 and over: The full €24.30. The family evening, with the sums worked out, is on the page for families.

Never billed

No deposit and no booking fee: nothing is taken to hold your table. No service charge and no cover charge on board: the per-person price is the per-person price. No cancellation fee: cancel free until 19:00 on the day of the cruise, and since nothing was paid there is nothing to refund. You settle once, on board, in cash in euros, lira or dollars, or by card.

There is no online checkout because there is nothing to pay online. A reservation is a name, a date and a number of guests. Here is how it goes from that to a table with your name on it.

On this page: The reservation form asks for the date, the number of adults and children, any extras, and a name and phone number. It takes about a minute and sends the request straight to us.
On WhatsApp: One message with the same details does the same job. Reservations and questions are answered in 32 languages, from the first message to the gangway.
Same day: Tonight is bookable until the 21:00 departure, subject to space. Hotel transfer for tonight closes earlier, at 18:30.

Confirmation: You get a confirmation on WhatsApp with the pier, the time and what you booked. There is no ticket to print; your name is on the list at the gangway.
Changing your mind: Free cancellation until 19:00 on the day. A message is all it takes, because there is no payment to unwind.
Paying: On board, once, at the end of the evening. Cash in euros, lira or dollars, or a card.

If the weather turns

The boat sails in ordinary rain. Dinner and the show are in the enclosed, heated salon and the only thing that changes is that the open deck closes. If conditions ever make sailing unsafe, you hear from us before you leave the hotel, and because nothing was paid in advance there is nothing to claim back.

The sailing is the same every night. What people come for is not. Each of these has a page written for that reason alone.

Couples: A table for two by the window, the romantic table dressed before you arrive, and how a proposal on the water is planned. The romantic evening →
Groups: Birthdays, hen and stag nights, company evenings and friends travelling together: tables reserved side by side, no deposit for the organiser. Groups and celebrations →
Families: Children under four sail free, ages four to nine pay less, and the show holds a child's attention for three hours. The family evening →
Night owls: Dinner and the four acts first, then the DJ and live saxophone on the open deck until the boat is alongside. The party on deck →
The journey itself: Every stop on both shores, where the boat turns, and what you see from the deck against the window. The dinner trip, stop by stop →

Bosphorus dinner cruise — frequently asked

How long is the Bosphorus dinner cruise?

Three hours on the water, from the 21:00 departure to the return between 23:45 and midnight. Doors open at 20:00, so the whole evening is closer to four hours from the pier and back to it.

Is dinner included in the €24.30?

Yes, all four courses: ten cold mezes, hot börek, a main course chosen from five and semolina dessert, with unlimited soft drinks. The price is per person and there is no separate dinner ticket.

Is the show included, or is it a separate ticket?

Included. The four-act Turkish night programme runs in the dining salon during dinner, and the DJ with live saxophone follows dessert. There is no show supplement and no seat category for it.

Where does the cruise leave from?

Kabataş Pier, on the European shore. It is a minute on foot from the Kabataş stop at the end of the T1 tram line, about two minutes down from Taksim on the F1 funicular, and a five-minute walk from Dolmabahçe Palace. Taxis drop at the entrance.

Does it sail every night, including winter?

Yes, every night of the year at 21:00. The salon is heated and enclosed, so winter dinners are as comfortable as summer ones, and in winter the whole route is in full darkness with every palace and bridge lit.

Can everyone at the table order a different main?

Yes. Each guest chooses one of the five for themselves, so one table can have salmon, sea bass, chicken, beef and the vegetarian platter on it at once. The vegetarian platter is one of the five and costs nothing extra.

Are tables assigned, or is it first come first served?

Assigned. Every reservation has a table held in its name before the doors open, in a salon with panoramic windows along both walls and the stage in view from every seat. Tell us on WhatsApp if you have a preference and we will do what the night's plan allows.

Is alcohol included?

No. Soft drinks are unlimited and included; alcohol is optional through the drinks package at €10 per person for two glasses, or by the glass at the bar. Nobody at a table has to take the package for the others to.

Can I book for tonight?

Yes, until the 21:00 departure, subject to space. Send a message on WhatsApp or use the form on this page and you will have a confirmation within minutes. Hotel transfer for the same night can be added until 18:30.

What happens if I need to cancel?

Cancellation is free until 19:00 on the day of the cruise, two hours before departure. Since nothing is paid in advance there is nothing to refund; one message on WhatsApp closes the reservation.

Is there a daytime version of this cruise?

No. This is the one product: a single evening sailing at 21:00, every night. There are no tiers, no upgrades and no afternoon departure of the same boat.

In which languages can I book?

Reservations and support on WhatsApp are handled in 32 languages, and this site is published in all of them. Write in your own language and you will be answered in it.