Bosphorus Cruise from the Continent of Europe to the Continent of Asia

We’ll pick you up from your hotel between 08:00-08:30.You’ll visit firstly Golden Horn. Golden Horn was an old trading point and popular shoreline residential area during the Byzantine period. It was largely inhabited by Jewish immigrants from Spain during the Ottoman period. The mixtures of Armenians, Greeks, Gypsies and Turks living along its shores reflected the city's colorful mosaic.As our tour continues, we visit the oldest historical city walls of Istanbul.

The Egyptian Market or The Spice market Istanbul was built in 1597 and 1664 in the complex of the new mosque (Yeni Cami), the rent of the stalls being planned to finance the maintenance of the mosque.The Spice market Istanbul is the second covered market in Istanbul after the Grand Bazaar. It is Sultan Hatice Turhan (the mother of Sultan Mehmet IV – he became Sultan at 7 years old, his mother Hatice Turhan ruled the Ottoman Empire for 34 years. She is one of the most powerful women of the Ottoman Dynasty of 6 centuries) who commissioned the construction of the market from the imperial architect Mustafa Aga.The market was built like caravanserais, but in the shape of an L, unique for the Bazaars among the Ottomans.The market was built by the taxes collected in Egypt, that is why the Bazaar took the name of Egyptian Bazaar. The first traders who occupied the premises from the XVII century were the Venetians who already owned concessions in the vicinity. Later the Armenian, Greek and Muslim merchants settled there. Today we find at the Spice market Istanbul still some traders of Greek and Armenian origin.Istanbul was the end of the Silk Road, the goods were directed to their final destination, Europe.The atmosphere is oriental, exotic in the Spice market Istanbul, take your time to discover this part of the city so distracting.

Bosphorus Cruise By Boat : We continue our tour on the boat. Your professional guide will give you detailed information about all historical points during the tour.

Lunch :We take a short break with the lunch we took during the tour. 

Beylerbeyi Palace, located in the Beylerbeyi district right next to Üsküdar in the most beautiful spot of the Bosphorus, is one of the most magnificent palaces of Istanbul with its European baroque style architecture and oriental texture.

In the last hours of our tour, we visit Çamlıca Hill. Camlica got its name from the pine trees in the area (Çam means Pine in Turkish). First settlers turned the entire region into a pine forest, which survived not only the Roman period but also the Byzantines. According to the book of Turkish historian Ismail Hakki Konyali, in ancient times both Camlica hills were covered with pine trees so thick that no sunlight could shine through them. There were also wildflowers in all colors and poppies.

Our tour ends in Istanbul's exclusive stores for you to shop.

The tour finishes at 16:30-17:00 (at the hotel)

We’ll drive you back to your hotel