Bosphorus Dinner Cruise from Cibali

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 Cibali Pier on the Golden Horn, 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. Out of the Golden Horn, up the European shore as far as the second bridge, then back down the Asian shore.
Dinner: Ten cold mezes, warm börek, a main course chosen from four, the house semolina dessert. Unlimited soft drinks for every guest.

The show: Eight acts, live, while you eat: belly dance, the whirling dervish, Romani and Caucasian dances, folk dances, a rhythm show and live violin, then the DJ on the dance floor after dessert. The order changes from night to night.
Price: €24.60 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, your seat in a heated salon and the soft drinks are one number, and that number is €24.60. 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 where every party chooses its table on arrival, 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, a warm pastry, then the plate you chose, then something sweet.

01Meze: Ten cold dishes, set on the table as the evening opens: the small plates a Turkish dinner always starts with, there to be picked at slowly while the boat gets under way. This is the course people photograph.
02Warm starter: Börek from the kitchen, served warm: layered pastry, the bridge between the cold spread and the main.
03Main course: One plate per guest, chosen from the four below and served hot with a seasonal salad and garnish. Everyone at the table chooses for themselves.
04Dessert: The house semolina dessert, served as the DJ takes over for the last part of the night.
05To drink: Water, cola, juice and tea are unlimited for every guest all evening and already in the price. Beer, rakı, vodka, gin and wine come from the bar through the drinks package; imported spirits and cocktails are charged separately at the bar.

Fish

Sea Bass

Levrek, as Istanbul calls it, served hot with a seasonal salad and garnish. The lighter of the two fish on the menu.

Chicken

Chicken Skewer

Chicken off the skewer, mild and familiar, and an easy plate for the children at the table.

Fish

Salmon

A salmon fillet served hot with a seasonal salad. The plate to pick if you are not sure what to pick.

Meat

Beef Skewer

Beef on the skewer, the heartiest plate of the four. The one to pair with a glass of rakı if you take the drinks package.

The full menu, course by course, is in the journal: the Bosphorus dinner cruise menu. A vegetarian platter is prepared on request at no extra cost: ask for it on WhatsApp when you book.

The programme runs while dinner is served, on the stage, on the dance floor in front of it and out between the tables. There is no interval and no separate showtime, and the order of the acts changes from night to night. However it begins, it ends loud.

The ceremony Whirling dervish in white turning between the guest tables on the dinner cruise

Whirling dervish

The still point

The room settles 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, wherever it falls in the night's order.

Folk dance troupe in embroidered costume dancing between the tables during the Turkish night show

Folk dances

Across the regions

Three of the eight acts come from the dance traditions of the regions. A company in regional costume brings the Turkish folk dances of Anatolia; the Turkish Romani dance is quick and loose, in the nine-eight rhythm of Istanbul's Romani neighbourhoods; and the Caucasian dance comes with the knife show. Fast, loud and precise, and finished before you have quite taken it in.

Drummer with a large Turkish drum playing among the guests during the rhythm show

Violinist playing among the tables in the salon

Rhythm and violin

The room joins in

Two of the acts are music alone. In the rhythm show the percussionists take the floor — darbuka and drums, played live and loud enough to feel through the deck — and it is the point where the salon stops watching and starts taking part, hands on the beat. The live violin goes the other way: one player moving among the tables, close enough to hear the bow on the strings.

Oriental

Belly dance

Between the tables

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 most phones come out for.

After the stage

Dessert comes out, and with it the evening changes register. The DJ takes over the dance floor — the eighth act of the night — and it fills for those who want it, while the open decks at the bow and stern fill 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 eight 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 Cibali Pier on the Golden Horn and slips out under the Atatürk and Galata bridges, then 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: Beylerbeyi Palace, Üsküdar and the closest pass of Maiden's Tower, then back into the Golden Horn for 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.

One price covers the evening: no window surcharge, no show supplement, no booking fee. 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€24.60/ person

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

Every night Free cancellation No prepayment

Included

Your choice of table in one of two heated salons, picked as you board
Ten cold mezes to start
Warm börek from the kitchen
One main course per guest from four: salmon, sea bass, chicken skewer or beef skewer
A seasonal salad and garnish with the main, and the house semolina dessert to finish
Unlimited soft drinks for everyone, all evening
The eight-act Turkish night show, ending with the DJ on the dance floor until the pier
The three-hour cruise itself, out of the Golden Horn and along both shores of the strait

Reserve a Table →

Drinks package +€15 per adult: Unlimited all evening from the bar on board: beer, rakı, vodka, gin, red and white wine. Taken by whoever wants it at the table, not by the whole table. Imported spirits and cocktails are charged at the bar.
Hotel transfer +€5 per person: Both ways: from your hotel to Cibali in time for the evening, and back to the hotel after the cruise. Pickups run by district, so the ride may be shared; children 0–3 ride free. 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 less than the adult price, so €19.60, with their own main course and the same soft drinks.
Age 10 and over: The full €24.60. 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 place. 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 your name on the list at the gangway.

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 exact map pin, 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 two enclosed, heated salons and the only thing that changes is that the open decks close. 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, 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: one booking for the whole party, no deposit for the organiser. Groups and celebrations →
Families: Children under four sail free, ages four to nine pay €19.60, and the show holds a child's attention for three hours. The family evening →
Night owls: Dinner and the show first, then the DJ on the dance floor until the boat is alongside. The party on board →
The journey itself: Every stop from the Golden Horn to the second bridge and back, where the boat turns, and what you see from the deck and 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 €24.60?

Yes, all four courses: ten cold mezes, warm börek, a main course chosen from four and the house 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 eight-act Turkish night programme runs through dinner and ends with the DJ on the dance floor after dessert. There is no show supplement and no seat category for it.

Where does the cruise leave from?

Cibali Pier, on the old-city shore of the Golden Horn in Fatih, beside Kadir Has University. The T5 tram stops at Cibali, a short walk away and two stops from Eminönü; from Sultanahmet, take the T1 to Eminönü and change to the T5. From Taksim, the M2 metro to Haliç and 10–12 minutes on foot along the shore. By taxi, ask for “Cibali, Kadir Has Üniversitesi”. The exact map pin comes on WhatsApp with your confirmation.

Does it sail every night, including winter?

Yes, every night of the year at 21:00. Both salons are enclosed and heated, 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 four for themselves, so one table can have salmon, sea bass and both skewers on it at once. A vegetarian platter is prepared on request at no extra cost — tell us when you book.

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

First come, first served: tables are chosen on arrival, not assigned in advance. Doors open at 20:00, an hour before departure, and the earlier you board the more choice you have. Both salons have panoramic windows. If the table is for an occasion, the romantic table (+€15) is dressed for you before you arrive.

Is alcohol included?

No. Soft drinks are unlimited and included; alcohol is optional through the drinks package at €15 per adult, unlimited all evening — beer, rakı, vodka, gin, red and white wine. Imported spirits and cocktails are charged 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. There is a single evening sailing at 21:00, every night of the year, 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.