Istanbul › Places and landmarks
Ferries
Vapur
The white ferries that carry Istanbul across the Bosphorus between Europe and Asia, from the quays of Eminönü.
Photo: Calistemon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
For a city on two continents, the ferry is the way to work. Steam ferries have crossed the Bosphorus since the 1850s, and today the white boats of Şehir Hatları, the city lines, run from Eminönü, Karaköy and Beşiktaş on the European side to Kadıköy and Üsküdar on the Asian side, in about twenty minutes.
On board a waiter goes round with glasses of tea on a tray, and people stand at the rail to look at the mosques on the hills and the palaces along the water. Longer trips go up the Bosphorus to the Black Sea, and out to the Princes’ Islands. Ride through Istanbul in 3D ›
More in Istanbul
Hagia SophiaJustinian’s great church of 537, with its dome 55 metres high: a church, then a mosque, a museum and a mosque again.
Blue MosqueThe mosque of Sultan Ahmed I, with six minarets and some twenty thousand blue tiles from İznik inside.
HippodromeThe long square where Byzantium held its chariot races, with an Egyptian obelisk and a bronze serpent column still on it.
Basilica CisternThe underground water store of Justinian, a forest of 336 columns standing in the water.
Topkapı PalaceThe palace of the Ottoman sultans for almost four hundred years, on the tip of the peninsula above the Bosphorus.
Grand BazaarOne of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world, some sixty streets and four thousand shops under one roof.
Spice BazaarThe L-shaped covered market by the New Mosque, full of spices, dried fruit, tea and Turkish delight.
New MosqueThe great mosque on the water at Eminönü, begun in 1597 and finished 68 years later.
Galata BridgeThe bridge over the Golden Horn from Eminönü to Karaköy, lined with anglers on top and fish restaurants below.
Sirkeci StationThe end of the line for the Orient Express from Paris, a station of 1890 by the sea.
Column of ConstantineThe column Constantine the Great set up in 330 for the founding of his new capital, held together by iron hoops.
SimitThe sesame bread ring sold from red carts on every corner, eaten for breakfast with a glass of tea.