Your Advice: Bosphorus Cruise. Ortakoy and Dolmabahce Palace
 

Hi. Am wondering if any members of this forum have ever combined a visit to the Dolmabache Palace with one of the ferries or other boats that regularly travel the Bosphorus. We are thinking to combine the two in one day - possibly a Sunday so we could also visit the market in Ortakoy. Does this sound feasible? Alternate recommendations? Would this take up an entire day do you think?

Thanks!

AMV...we combined Doomabache with the Bosphorus ferry. Saved Ortakoy for the following Sunday. Those baked potatos with massive stuffings are wonderful and are not to be missed! Dolmabache is an elegant old palace and the ferry stop is very close by.
We sailed to the end of the line and waited in the town of Anadalou Kavagi two and a half hours for the return ferry so we could explore the fortress ruins on the hill, overlooking the end of the Bosphorus as it met the Black Sea. Gave us ample time to have lunch at one of the many sea food restos.(see pix below). Great experience. I would suggest not to try to couple Ortakoy with the ferry and the palace.

http://picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/ScenesOfTurkey#

(enlarge by clicking on magnifying glass icon and move mouse to move pix)
Stu tower

pix are pre-digital, scanned.

Thank you Tower. Your pictures are very evocative. Since we will basically only have one full Sunday, do you recommend that we spend it in Ortakoy? How long does it take to get there and what is there to see and do? Thanks again!

amv: If Sunday is all you have I would recommend the special cruise trip up the strait. If you catch the earliest one, spend some time in Andalou Kavagi, you could still get back by mid afternoon, get off at Beskitas,nearest stop toOrtakoy, a fairly short walk over to the large strait-side park/market in Ortakoy ...both Beskitas and Ortakoy are
suburbs of Istanbul...not separae cities/towns....and taxi back to your hotel. If you're traveling in summer, Special Sunday departures are around 10 am. from Eminonu...and take the 2:30 (1430) back from AK, stopping at Beskitas for easy access as stated to Ortakoy. This should work for you. Suggest you get lonely Planet Guide book...good mapping and a full description of what I referred to above.
stu

Bookmarking

Stu, thanks for this advice. we have other days to visit Ortakoy and the suburbs, but our weeklong visit only overlaps with one Sunday which is why we thought that would be the best day due to the market. We are also not traveling in the summer but in early October. Does the market take place only in the morning or does it run all day? Would Dolmabahce be overly crowded on a Sunday?
Thanks again.

It was going strong in the middle of the afternoon..and it was in April. But the ferry schedule changes for the fall. Best check in a Lonely Planet guide. If I remember, the schedules are reduced for anything outside of summer...but there is still a 10:30 to AK and a 3 (1500) return which would still give you plenty of time to do both. I wuld imagine Sunday crowds at Dolmabache will be the largest of the week.

The Ortakoy market is on everyday but on a smaller scale.

The Ortakoy mosque is unique, the view from the square is excellent with good photography opportunities.

House cafe and Banyan or Angelique at night are good watering holes.

check schedules of ferries at sehirhatlari.com should also have English page. Consider taking an evening commuter ferry from Eminonu to Arnavutkoy or Bebek also.

This is fabulous input. Thank you so very much for taking the time to respond to my sometimes naive questions. FYI, since DH is a photographer, any suggestions about beautiful vantage points and views and slices of life are much appreciated.

AMV...as in my scanned pix, the Pierre Loti Cafe offers panoramic views and a very nice place for tea, sitting outside overlooking that Golden Horn view. It's a cab ride from Eminonu. Go there just before 5 pm an the "call to prayer" will emanate from all over the city (slightly out-of-sync)..but notable.
Also, those views from the fortress in AK are great..a good phtograoher can do a lot more justice to the views of the canal and the entrance to the Black Sea. Slice of life? Anywhere near the Grand Bazaar and Spice Markets..or on the ferry rides.

This is also in response to your question on the hijacked thread: I copied from something i wrote on trip adisor last month methinks:

take a dolmus.minibus or taxi to Uskudar

You can walk to Uskudar market, and to salacak, across from leander's tower for the Historic Peninsula silhouette (good photography early morning and at sunset).

Eat at Kanaat restaurant of traditional istanbul home cooking pot dishes and hot plate specials. Do not miss Ozbek pilav. Kanaat is behind architect Sinan's apprenticeship mosque.

Take a bus or dolmus to Cengelkoy, right after Beylerbeyi palace, with its terrific views, seaside restaurants, cafes, small, crisp cucumbers, and unique village atmosphere. Hike up any of the steep narrow streets for renovated old mansions and old time Istanbul homes in historic gardens full of fruit trees.

Eat bonito (palamut) or blue fish (lufer) at fish restaurants. both will be in season but one will chase the other and if one is plentiful the other will not be. Prefer them grilled, although the larger bonito may be better fried.
Always ask the price of fish and possibly negotiate beforehand at fish restaurants. Any sea bass or sea bream will be from fish farms no matter what they say. So if you like either of those get the standard one and not the one they say was caught in the sea which will be 3-4 times the price.

This is making me very hungry -- food wise and view wise. Can't wait to be there already! Thank you!

bookmarking, even though it's not recent

bookmarking, thanks