Take a leisurely afternoon cruise along Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait, and enjoy an onboard lunch and visit to the Black Sea, too! After savoring delights such as Turkish meze and grilled chicken while the sightseeing boat is docked, cruise from Rumeli Hisarı Fortress along the Bosphorus Strait, passing Galata Tower, Bosphorus Bridge and more. Pass into the open waters of the Black Sea, and stop for a swim at the coastal village of Poyrazköy or explore the medieval ruins of Anadolu Kavağı before returning to Istanbul.
Posted By : V8KRichard
Avoid this dishonest tour company! As reported by a previous reviewer, IBO claimed they would pick us up at our hotel, but did not. They tried to trick us into walking an excessive distance to a bus.
Because my wife has difficulty walking, we had booked a 60 euros per person cruise through our hotel with IBO because their brochure promised "free pick-up service from your hotel". On the morning we had booked for the cruise (24 Oct), a young man arrived late at our hotel and told us the bus was waiting a 5 minute walk away. After walking at least 20 minutes (slowly due to my wife's disability), there was still no bus in sight. When we asked again, we were told the bus was near the Sirkeci Train Station - which Google Maps shows as almost one km from our hotel!
When we said we were cancelling, our escort phoned his boss who claimed the bus could not pick us up at our hotel due to construction. This was obviously untrue since we had seen other tour buses picking up people there. Fortunately, we had not yet paid the 120 euros for the two IBO cruise fares.
When we returned to our hotel, the desk manager wanted us to know that he had also been deceived - being told that the bus was waiting for us and that it would be just outside the hotel. He said he had told IBO Tours that the hotel would not deal with them again.
Another of the hotel desk managers explained to us how we could use our Istanbulkart travel card to take a tram and ferry to the Asian side of the Bosphorus and transfer to another ferry that makes several stops at interesting little ports along the Bosphorus shore toward the Black Sea. We did this the next day and it was great! The other passengers were almost all Turks doing the same thing. At the half-way point of our DIY ferry cruise, we got off at a charming village and treated ourselves to an excellent lunch. At the end of the day, we still had most of the money we would have paid IBO left over - and we had a much more authentic Turkish experience.
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Posted On : 2023-11-23 18:30:44 
Posted By : Brian_S
The cruise was wonderful and just the right length. Everyone involved, from the people who picked us up to the crew on the boat, were very friendly, very nice, and made us feel as much like friends as guests. The 5-hour cruise to the Black Sea is the perfect duration. We were able to see the Black Sea and all of the Bosphorus. The young man who picked us up was very knowledgeable about everything we asked about on the bus ride to the boat, and the tour guide on the boat was extremely knowledgeable about everything on the shore and in the water. He gave us a lot of information while making it interesting. The cruise started off with lunch, which was very tasty. We had a snack midway through which was the perfect size and content; the fruit was wonderful and really hit the spot as we started to head back. 5/5, would repeat!
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Posted On : 2023-10-27 23:22:01 
Posted By : Ivan_V
We wer shocked after booking in Sydney with Hotel pick up that the agent informed us that pick up was not possible. After communication with agent they agree to pick up. Miscommunication between organiser and driver made us waste over an hour before we managed to get on the boat.
The guide was well informed and shared knowledge. Credit to the boys at the front end and the driver who picked us up and took us back to the hotel.
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Posted On : 2023-10-15 04:50:56
Posted By : Jin_L
Beautiful cruise along the Bosphorus Strait overlooking both sides of the continents, Asian side and European side. Visiting a fishing village and the Overlooking the Black Sea was also enchanting. Very enjoyable time!
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Posted On : 2023-10-10 18:58:15
Posted By : Camper87276
What a great experience. Despite a delay starting due to traffic taking us to the boat the guide was very apologetic and courteous. Trip up the Bosporus was very interesting with excellent commentary from the guide. Stopped off for 30 mins at lovely little fishing village - Anadolu Kavagi, followed by a swim from the boat near the Yavuz Sultan Bridge. A thoroughly enjoyable trip. Can strongly recommend it.
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Posted On : 2023-10-08 14:05:47
Posted By : Nino_P
Both the boat and trip was excellent. Next time in Istanbul I will order a boat trip through your agency again
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Posted On : 2023-10-05 02:30:36
Posted By : Peter_S
Great company, wonderful cruise, delicious lunch and swim in the Black Sea. The commentary was interesting but more history would have been good. Would recommend.
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Posted On : 2023-09-25 07:46:34
Posted By : Mitchell_B
Enjoyed the ride, lunch, and swim. Guide was informative. Long drive from hotel but it was worth it.
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Posted On : 2023-07-03 16:27:19
Posted By : shariqdean1988
I can’t say enough about how great this team is, from getting picked up from our hotel to the moment we got dropped off. They did a great job, this is a professional staff. They take care of their customers and make sure that you are happy and enjoy the experience. Our guide on the boat was amazing and the service staff was awesome, I would highly recommend you check it out. Unfortunately if you read some of the negative reviews, it sounds like the customer’s situation caused problems that prevented them from enjoying this team’s amazing services. I would ignore them and give these guys a shot.
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Posted On : 2023-06-23 12:04:23
Posted By : Emadym
I joined this trip upon a high recommendation from a very friendly family (American Husband and Russian wife) we met them in Lokanta 1741 Turkish Restaurant last week, and they were totally right. So beautiful 5 hours cruise in the Bosphorus. Good boat, beautiful weather, relaxing cruise, excellent informative guides by Deniz and very delicious home made Turkish food. Met new people and joined them in jumping into the Bosphorus water. All my family members did enjoyed this trip.
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Posted On : 2023-06-20 21:00:00
