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Senkron Tours - Half Day Afternoon Tour

Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey

Senkron Tours is a travel agency located in the Arasta Bazaar. There was a representative outside (who spoke English) who told us they were offering half day cruise tours.

The representative told us his tour was better than the other ones we had seen because it had two cruises. He gave us an informational pamphlet (shown here) which outlined the two cruises, and the rest of the days itinerary. We were quite disappointed to find out that the tour only had one cruise. Although it was a fairly long cruise, we still felt the literature was misleading. When confronting the sales representative about this after the tour, he said the two cruises were on the same boat - two different parts of the same cruise.

Tour Itinerary

We were told that the tour left at 1:30pm, and we should be there 15 minutes early. We arrived just before that so we could pay for the tour (since we didn't decide if we were going or not until just before the tour). There was another tour that left at 2:00pm from just across the street, so we weren't worried about not being able to get a tour at the last minute.

The tour bus stopped near the travel agency at 1:40pm. Six people boarded the bus for the half-day afternoon tour. The bus already had 18 people on it that had taken the full-day tour.

The bus drove us to a dock on the Great Horn, where we boarded a boat at 2:00pm. The boat was a two-level boat - the lower level was inside, and the upper level was just the top of the boat with a canvas cover. The boat was quite old, but it didn't sink, so it couldn't have been too bad. There was a bathroom on the boat, but it was quite dirty and did not have running water. There was also a bar on the boat and a waiter came around serving hot tea during the cruise. I thought it was interesting that they didn't tell people the tea cost money until after they drank it.

The boat cruise lasted almost two hours. We sailed out the Bosphorus along the European side (so we could see all the sites there). Our tour guide gave us some descriptions about the sites and other history about Istanbul over a loud speaker on the boat. The boat turned around at 3:00pm, and then sailed back along the Asian side of the Bosphorus. The trip back was faster, since we were moving with the current.

It was interesting to see more of Istanbul from the cruise boat since we stayed in the main downtown area of Istanbul during our short visit. I think we would have enjoyed the cruise more if the weather had been a bit better. It was a bit of a chilly day, and most people ended up going down to the lower level where it was inside and warm. As well, the water was very choppy and our small boat rocked quite a bit on the way. I was very glad I had taken an anti-motion sickness pill beforehand.

When we arrived back at the dock, we boarded the bus at 4:00pm. The bus drove us up a hill where there was a nice view of the city. There was also a cafe and restaurant at the top. We had about 15 minutes to take pictures, then we took a cable car ride down the hill. The cable car cost 1.30 YTL, but that cost was included in the tour. The tour guide purchased tokens, and gave each of us a token so we could move through the turnstile.

We boarded the bus again at the bottom of the hill, and it made a couple stops near the old city where we could hop off the bus to finish the tour.

Cost

We payed 45 YTL per person for the tour. The pamphlet advertised the cost as being 25 euro.

Estimated Tour Time

The tour lasts approximately three and a half hours.