Buyukada Princes’ Island Guided Day Tour with lunch from Istanbul
Istanbul, Turkey
- 8 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Experience the serenity of the biggest Princes' Island in Turkey, Büyükada, on this full-day guided tour from Istanbul. After traversing the Sea of Marmara by boat. On Büyükada, learn about the island’s history from your guide.
- Full-day trip from Istanbul to Büyükada by boat
- Marvel at top Istanbul sights like Topkapi Palace and Kiz Kulesi
- Spend time at leisure on the largest of the Princes’ Islands and embrace laid-back island life
- Hear the island’s history from your guide and learn of its role as a place of exile for banished Turkish aristocrats
- Hotel pickup and drop-off by air-conditioned coach included
What's Included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- Round-trip boat crossing
- Local guide
- Lunch
- Food and drink, unless specified
- Gratuities
Meeting and Pickup
You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup
Operating hours.8:00 am
Itinerary
Meet your guide at your central Istanbul hotel and travel by air-conditioned coach to the port for your full-day Princes' Island tour. Hop aboard your boat and cruise to the biggest and most popular Princes Island, Büyükada. During your boat cruise, admire views of Topkapi Palace as the city shrinks behind you. Plus, capture views Kiz Kulesi (also known as Leander’s Tower or Maiden’s Tower) which was shot in the James Bond movie The World is Not Enough.
Disembark in Büyükada and stroll along with your guide enjoying the ambiance of this quiet island. Notice the lack of vehicles here and gain insight from your guide as to why. Then, take the best form of transportation on the island, a horse-drawn carriage. As you relax to the sounds of clip-clopping hooves, learn about the island’s history such as how former royalty and statesmen were once banished here. Plus, hear about the Christian monasteries that resided here during Byzantine-era rule.
Next, see prime examples of Ottoman-era architecture as you pass by elegant wooden mansions. Then, soak up gorgeous sea views and the surrounding landscape that’s highlighted by dazzling blue waters. During free time with your guide, grab a simit (bread with sesame seeds) and have some fun feeding the abundance of seabirds that happily live here.
Take a break at a restaurant for lunch and enjoy tasty seafood before your spend the remainder of your day on your own. After lunch, grab your swimsuit and head to the beach to swim or catch some rays. Or perhaps, duck into a coastal café or craft shop to check out the local scene. Finally, rendezvous with your guide at predetermined time and board your return boat to Istanbul. Once back on land, head back to your hotel where your tour concludes.
Disembark in Büyükada and stroll along with your guide enjoying the ambiance of this quiet island. Notice the lack of vehicles here and gain insight from your guide as to why. Then, take the best form of transportation on the island, a horse-drawn carriage. As you relax to the sounds of clip-clopping hooves, learn about the island’s history such as how former royalty and statesmen were once banished here. Plus, hear about the Christian monasteries that resided here during Byzantine-era rule.
Next, see prime examples of Ottoman-era architecture as you pass by elegant wooden mansions. Then, soak up gorgeous sea views and the surrounding landscape that’s highlighted by dazzling blue waters. During free time with your guide, grab a simit (bread with sesame seeds) and have some fun feeding the abundance of seabirds that happily live here.
Take a break at a restaurant for lunch and enjoy tasty seafood before your spend the remainder of your day on your own. After lunch, grab your swimsuit and head to the beach to swim or catch some rays. Or perhaps, duck into a coastal café or craft shop to check out the local scene. Finally, rendezvous with your guide at predetermined time and board your return boat to Istanbul. Once back on land, head back to your hotel where your tour concludes.
TopkapI Palace (Pass By)
KIz Kulesi (Pass By)
1
Buyukada
5 hours • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Please note: When reconfirming your booking, your local supplier will advise you on alternative meeting points for hotels which are not accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
3.4
based on 71 reviews
Jeff_R, Apr 2025
Our tour to Prince’s Island was very basic. Our guide John was contentious about our pick up, ferry ride boarding both way, lunch etc, but honestly had very little to tell us about the places we were seeing and the history of the place. He seemed to lack experience guiding even a small group of 9 of us. However the most surprising and disappointing part of the tour happened at the end. Even our guide seemed to be surprised by the forced stop at a leather store for a fashion show and shopping. No one was interested in this and it made us an hour and a half late getting back from the tour.
Response from Host, Apr 2025
Dear Mr. Gold,
We are truly sorry to hear about your disappointment. We wish you had informed us while you were still in İstanbul, as we would have done our best to make it right.
We have spoken with our guide, who is originally from the island and knows the area very well. He mentioned that you left a tip which he took as a sign of your overall satisfaction and he deeply appreciated it. Your feedback is important to him as well.
We have also taken the necessary steps on our side to prevent similar issues in the future.
We sincerely appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us.
Simon_H, Jun 2022
Very much recommend going to Princes Island, however don't use this tour.
This tour says "you arrive on the island to spend time exploring by horse-drawn carriage. Learn about the island's history from your guide. Enjoy ample time to lounge on its beautiful beaches.
Without going into too much detail..... There are no horse drawn carriage anymore. We were told the beaches were privately owned and we couldn't get to them. The your guide gave us 1.5hrs to mooch around by ourselves before telling us we needed to be back for lunch at 1pm.
Lunch was nice but then you get an hour after lunch before you're back on a boat leaving the island. We got no "history of the island" from our guide.
The island is lovely...... What you're promised on this tour is mostly not true. Go by yourself and enjoy the island with some time.
Asal_A, Jul 2019
Hardly any narration/guiding provided. Did not benefit by joining tour group. We were escorted to the ferry, then to carriage ride and that was essentially it. I feel like I could have done this myself.
Madhurita a, Oct 2018
The people who run this tour are rude, unprofessional and completely incompetent. I was forced to take a taxi twice to reach the tour. They refused to pick us up and then dropped us far away from the location. when we called them to enquire at their office the number was unavailable and the person co ordinating shouted at us. The tour is definitely not worth the money. It would be better to take the boat yourself and explore the island on your own. The guide made no great valuable difference by being there. We learnt nothing by having the guide there. We spent our time on out own. Complete waste of money. Don't go for it. Choose peace and go on your own.
SALIM H, Oct 2017
It was worth it
The boat ride was excellent
The horse carriage ride was fantastic
and the lunch was delicious
The pick up from the hotel was on time
I am glad we went
Sophia_Z, Sep 2016
We had a good time. Food was not to good. However we would repeat it in future.
Rate : 4
mitto, Apr 2016
A good boat trip to the island and back. Enjoy the scenic beauty of the island going uphill in the horse-drawn carriage 4 people with a ten minutes break to take pictures. Then get back to the carriage and enjoy the ride downhill. Time for sumptuous lunch @ Milto oops not my name Mitto restaurant facing the sea. Once done, guide will allow you to walk for 15-20 mins by your own. Enjoy the delicacy of ice-cream scoops by restaurants nearby. Walk back to the point where you had disembark from ferry. Waiting for the ferry takes time and relax your next one hour of boat journey. Hmmm.. that's the end of trip. Both the guides were excellent.
Clinton J, Jan 2016
Amazing trip. Love Istanbul. will return again and again.
Raul J, Nov 2015
The tour was very nice and organized. Everything exceed expections that was included, from horse carriage ride, to lunch and free time. The lunch entrée was very basic wether you ordered fish or chicken. We tried both. The tour guide was very nice and professional. This tour is best in the summer months do not go in winter.
DRSONA_M, Nov 2015
It was a good trip, it would have been much better if the quality of food is improved.
Patricia W, Oct 2015
This was a lovely trip, there was a very long wait in a queue for a ride in a horse and carriage around the island that could have been missed. A very busy place at this time and we were fascinated to find we were expected to pay to go to the beaches! Great guide who was enthusiastic about the history of Istanbul. Efficient pick up and drop off as well.
Phillip O, Oct 2015
We enjoyed this tour as we were able to relax on the boat and when we reached the Island we shown the harbour area before being escorted to the area where we boarded the horse and carriage ride. This ride was very pleasant and we were shown the highlights before walking back to the port and our lunch was well organised and waiting. Agreat days experience
nz_robyn, Oct 2015
We had a great day and was pleased we chose this tour as part of our IIstanbul experience. Osman, our tour guide was wonderful. He was very informative and we enjoyed his commentary very much. The boat trips were good, the hotel pickups were on time and very well organised. Buyukada was a small quaint island. A complete contrast to the hustle and bustle of Istanbul. We had a carriage ride which was quite fast paced but still fun. I'm not quite sure why they stopped at the top of the hill. There was no view or photo opportunity. We thought maybe it was to rest the horses.
Lunch was enjoyable too.
I would recommend this tour to anyone wanting to see another part of Istanbul life.
Anan Z, Aug 2015
The whole tour was great. We were picked up from our hotel on time and transferred to the port where we will take a ferry going to Buyukada. The place was very nice, had to ride a horse carriage as cars are not allowed in the Island. Milto, where we had our lunch , served very good food. We totally enjoyed Prince's Island.
Will recommend this to my colleagues
MrID_T, Jun 2015
Good guide Mehmet
Well organised tour- would recommend!
margi, May 2015
Very difficult to review this tour as it was raining and therefor not a very good day to travel to an island- glad we went though and got to see the island- lunch was good and the guide was very informative! Def would recommend if the weather is on your side!
Housewifetravel, Apr 2015
It was so crowd on the boat, Gosh! Nothing really on the island to see. But restaurant visit was good. On the way back boat was over crowd even more, people was standing 1 hour and half. Rediculese ! Not woth it.
osjones, Nov 2014
Hotel pickup and drop off was good, but then we had to wait quite a while to get out ( small ) group together. Unfortunately the weather wasn't good the day we went on this tour - it would have been great on a warm sunny day. Lunch was good and there was lots of free time.
Ronald C. C, Oct 2014
After walking around Istanbul for two days, this tour was an enjoyable respite. It also showed us a different facet of Turkish life from the mainland. The boat trip over and back also enabled us to see the shoreline of both parts of Istanbul. Guide was helpful. The food was good. Well worth the cost.
Andrew F, Oct 2014
I enjoyed the tour but it was much shorter than described. The online tour information says that it is 8 hours long and starts at 9am. Our tour group didn't arrive at the ferry to Princes' Island until 10am. It took an hour to get to the island, and had to catch the return ferry at 2.30pm, so we were on the island only 3.5 hours at the most. Lunch was included and it was very good. The horse cart ride seemed rushed but it was generally ok. On the bus back to our hotel, the tour guide twice mentioned tipping, and I thought this was inappropriate. We were given minimal information about the history of the island.
Genevieve A, Sep 2014
This was one of the most disappointing tour of our visit . We were looking forward to it, but it failed in lots of ways. Firstly the guide was neither entertaining, nor knowledgeable. He hardly spoke at all. In fact he only spoke for about 15 minis and that was it for the entire day. We wondered around the island without any tour information. The lunch was also very mediocre, and lots of people complained about it. Not one to moan much, I had to write this review, because Viator must review the tour company providing this service in istanbul. For the money being charged , the standard is very poor. Especially as most of the Viator tours we have been on in other countries have been very good.
weteyelashes, Sep 2014
the tour was great, but again there is an issue of informing of arrival timings to the customers, Viator tour could service its customers with high efficience if customers can be contacted by the guide upon arrival at pick up location so that at least they can be informed, instead of just waiting and wondering whether they had missed the tour.
Nabil Z, Sep 2014
This place is worth the visit but never try it if the temperature exceeds 23 C. We were toasted under the sun waiting for our turn of the horse cart. It was a nice experience to see the island form the horse cart.
The restaurant chosen by the company was good.
However, I don't think visiting this place requires a tour.
Shoon Thai C, Aug 2014
The Princes Islands are just too crowded during the summer for us to enjoy our trip.
The hotel pick-up was not "dedicated" and we were picked up from our hotel, brought to a "hub" on the south side of the city, put on another bus, and then taken to the jetty on the north (Eminonu) side of the city.
The ferry ride itself turned out to be the best part of the tour.
Once the ferry reaches Buyukada it was a long wait for the carriage ride as literally hundreds of tourists from a few tour groups queue for the line of carriages. It was hot, the place was smelling of horse manure, and the horses and drivers looked overworked. Everything had a rushed feel and it wasn't a relaxed day on a quiet island as expected. We ended up giving up the ride, took a walk on our own, and getting our own lunch and ferry back to Istanbul.
I don't think it's the fault of the tour operator or the guides, just a function of a tourist attraction being over-subscribed. Perhaps an alternative like a bicycle or a walking tour can be offered in the future?
M M, Aug 2014
This tour did not include everything that was indicated in the description. To give you a summary: we left one hour later from Istanbul, arrived on the island at about 10:30 am, waited for 45 minutes for the horse drawn carriage (like all the people who did not pay for a tour), then went for lunch and had about one hour max. to walk through the island. No swimming, no beach. If I went there by myself, I would have spent maybe 50 $ to get there with my family and visit the island. Very disappointing.
Ebird526, Jul 2014
It was interesting....... But our guide did not offer much history. The horse and buggy ride was sad due to the conditions of the horses. They are somewhat abused and malnourished. We met a nice lady in Starbucks who really explained the history of the island.
RODELIA C, Jun 2014
The whole tour was great. We were picked up from our hotel on time and transferred to the port where we will take a ferry going to Buyukada. The place was very nice, had to ride a horse carriage as cars are not allowed in the Island. Milto, where we had our lunch , served very good food. We totally enjoyed Prince's Island.
Will recommend this to my colleagues.
Kevin M, Apr 2014
The transportation back and forth from hotel was great). The knowledge and humor of the guide was great. I think he made this trip interesting). The history and experience from trip, is priceless). Lunch was healthy but so-so for the best fish in Istanbul, I will let you judge.
haitham a, Dec 2013
The tour was well organized the pick-up, lunch and the activities were perfect. I strongly recommend viator for any traveler who just loves to travel in ease.
Randa M, Oct 2013
Love it, and I did not want to go back to the hotel. I wish I can have a home over there. A Must go place. Lunch was choice of grilled fish or chicken an okay lunch.
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