willit

I'm planning to visit Istanbul in a couple of weeks. I've never been to Turkey before (other than to change aircraft), so it will all be new to me. One thing I've read in various places is that the boat trip up the Bosphorus that stops in Anadolu Kavagi is good, but has a three hour stop in what is described as a "tourist trap with mediocre fish restaurants" . Has anybody done this trip and can comment? Is it worth taking the one way trip and getting public transport back to somewhere else (? Kanlica) for lunch and make our own way back?
I would plan on using ferries several times , if only because I love boat trips, even short ones - but the longer Bosphorus trip does sound interesting.

isabel

I did that boat trip on the Bosphorus when I visited Istanbul back in 2009. It was one of our favorite days (we were there for 8 days). I really didn't feel the three hours there was too long (at least not by much). We had waffles at a tea shop rather than fish that day.

Anyway, here's the link to my trip report - http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ith-photos.cfm

emily71

My family did the boat ride in 2013 and it was a nice relaxing ride. While Anadolu might be a tourist trap, it was nice to hike up to the castle-all the while being followed by a pack of sweet dogs and take some pictures of the view. While the fish sandwich we had was mediocre, the fresh Kanlica yogurt they sell onboard was so delicious. The powdered sugar with the sour yogurt was unusual but so good.

If you are really pressed for time I wouldn't do the three hours but otherwise I'd recommended it.

kja

I had mixed reactions to that trip. While I enjoyed seeing the castle at Anadolu Kavagi, and especially the views from it, the ferry ride itself was about twice as long as I would have preferred. (I used the regular commuter ferries, not a special tour boat.) Too, I don't eat lunch, so the stop seemed overly long to me. There was so much that I wasn't able to see in just 5 full days in Istanbul that I really wish I had found a way to cut that day in half.

FWIW, I thoroughly enjoyed my much shorter ferry ride along the Golden Horn.

Istanbul is stunning -- enjoy!

wtm003

We were in Istanbul last week for 4 days and took the shorter TurYol Bosphorus cruise. It was only 1.5 hours and 12 TL per person. If I go back a longer boat trip would be nice, but this was the right length for this trip and we really enjoyed it. I'm sure you'll love Istanbul!

willit

Thanks for the replies. I'll definitely do the trip up as far as Anadolu Kavagi. I didn't know there was a Castle there (There is no such thing as "too many castles"), and I want to see the new Selim bridge, which is still, AFAIK,under construction.

Isabel, I'm still reading and enjoying your trip report, but got sidetracked by your stunning photographs.

kja

The castle at Anadolu Kavagi is a ruin with stunning views out over the Bosphorus and the entry to the Black Sea. From my trip report: "At the far end of the Bosphorus, I stopped at Anadolu and climbed to the castle, where I found all the gates closed. There was a place where a fence had been separated by human intervention from the wall, and people were squeezing their way through and finding their way into the castle. I was tempted – sorely temped! – but I do try to respect the limits that are set on tourists. And really, I couldn’t complain because the views from the area in front of the closed castle gates were fabulous. Finally tearing myself away, I started back downhill and found that an entrance to the castle ruins that had been padlocked when I first passed (I know because I took a brief respite in that very gate) was now open! I’m so glad, because there were some very special (if not necessarily “better”) views from within the ruins. For example, it was interesting to see the arched stonework of the old castle walls and the fields of wildflowers that they enclosed and, perhaps best of all, to find a place from which one could look down at the water’s edge and realize that I was seeing through the waters of the Bosphorus to the rounded rocks beneath the surface. How is it possible that this ship-filled stretch of water retains that degree of clarity? Stunning! And then, as I left by the once locked gate, I saw a man who held the key to the gate. I had been on the 1st ferry of the day, and I hadn’t stopped for food, so even though I made my way up the hill rather slowly and others had arrived before me, I was probably a rather “early” arriver. My guess is that the gatekeeper probably timed his appearances at the gate to the ferries and was just a tad late on that particular day. So, if you climb up to the castle at Anadolu, don’t “sneak in” if you can help it – wait for at least a little while to see if the site is opened to you."