The Asian side of Istanbul: two continents in one day

What to see on the Asian side

Kadıköy's market streets, Moda's seafront, Üsküdar's Ottoman shoreline and the view across to Maiden's Tower

Duration

8 hours, door to door

Private group

Only your party — from €150 per group per day, not per person

Ferry crossing

About 20 to 25 minutes, Eminönü to Kadıköy, on the Şehir Hatları commuter ferry

Best days for it

Tuesday or Friday, when the Kadıköy Salı Pazarı runs — any other day is a quieter, still worthwhile version

Walking

About 5 km, flat and easy — none of the hills or cobbles of the Old City

How the day runs

Timings below are the ones we actually use, not a brochure. Everything here is movable — it is your day, and your guide will happily rebuild it over breakfast.

1. 08:30

   Pick-up

   We collect you from your hotel or the ship. This is a fuller day than most of ours, so an on-time start matters more than usual.

2. 09:00

   Eminönü and the Spice Bazaar

   The working harbor side of the Old City rather than the monuments — fishermen mending nets, the smell of the Spice Bazaar, boats loading for the Bosphorus. Twenty minutes here sets up the whole day.

3. 09:45

   Across the Galata Bridge on foot

   The fishermen on the upper deck, the fish restaurants tucked underneath, and the first proper look at the Golden Horn opening into the Bosphorus.

4. 10:15

   The ferry crossing

   This is the best twenty minutes of the day and we mean that. A window seat, a glass of tea from the boat's samovar if the trolley comes round, and Istanbul splitting into two continents on either side of you. No tour bus does this.

5. 10:45

   Kadıköy market streets

   On a Tuesday this is the big street market — stalls the length of several blocks, mostly local shoppers, not tourists. On any other day it's the fish market and the permanent grocery lanes around Güneşlibahçe Sokak, which are worth the visit on their own.

6. 12:15

   Lunch in Kadıköy

   Your choice, at your pace. We'll point you toward a proper esnaf lokantası or the fish market's own restaurants, or eat with you if you'd like the company.

7. 13:30

   Moda

   A slower half hour on the seafront promenade — tea on the water, the old cinema, a look at why this neighborhood has become the one Istanbullus themselves talk about moving to.

8. 14:30

   Üsküdar

   A short drive up the coast to the Ottoman waterfront: the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, the view across to Maiden's Tower, and a shoreline that has changed far less than the European side's.

9. 16:00

   Back across the Bosphorus Bridge

   We drive back rather than ferry a second time, so you see the strait once more from above before we drop you at your hotel, or back at the ship with time to spare.

Priority access · included

Skip the line at every gate

Most of this day is markets, ferries and neighborhoods, and they have no gates to queue at. When a ticketed sight joins the plan, such as the Maiden's Tower or a palace on the Bosphorus shore, the tickets are bought before you arrive and you use the priority entrance, so the day keeps its easy rhythm.

• Skip-the-line tickets — bought before your day, never at the gate with you standing in the line
• Fast pass at the busiest sites — the priority lane wherever a site operates one
• Priority entrance in every region — Istanbul, Ephesus, Cappadocia, Pamukkale and everywhere else we guide
• Nothing added to the tickets — we add nothing on the fast-pass tickets. You pay exactly the official price charged at the entrance, set by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism or the administration that runs the site

To be precise about what this is: we skip the ticket line, not the security check, and no agency can override a site's own capacity limits.

How skip-the-line entry works in Istanbul

Where we meet, and what happens if plans change

What is there to see on the Asian side of Istanbul?

The Asian side is not a monument list, and we would rather say so at the top than have you cross the water expecting a second Topkapı. What is over there is a working city with a seafront: the market streets of Kadıköy, the tea gardens of Moda, the Ottoman shoreline at Üsküdar, and the closest look anyone gets at the Maiden's Tower without a boat.

Kadıköy and Moda

Kadıköy is where the ferry lands and the day properly begins. The fish market and the grocery lanes around Güneşlibahçe Sokak trade every day of the week — cheese counters, pickle shops, coffee roasters, and a crowd doing its shopping rather than photographing it. Moda is a walk south: a seafront promenade, an old movie theater, and the reason Istanbullus themselves talk about moving over here.

Üsküdar and the waterfront

Üsküdar, a short drive up the coast, is the older and quieter of the two — the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, the view across the water to Maiden's Tower, and a shoreline that has changed far less than the European one. Çamlıca, the hill above it, puts both continents in one view on a clear afternoon.

What is the Asian side of Istanbul called?

In Turkish it is the Anadolu Yakası — the Anatolian side. The European half is the Avrupa Yakası, also called Rumeli. One confusion worth clearing up: Taksim is not on the Asian side. Neither is Beyoğlu, İstiklal Caddesi, Galata, Karaköy, Nişantaşı, Beşiktaş, Ortaköy, Eminönü or Sultanahmet. All of those sit on the European side, and so, almost certainly, does your hotel. The Asian side means Kadıköy, Üsküdar, Moda, Bağdat Caddesi and Çamlıca — and reaching any of them means crossing water.

What is the difference between Istanbul's European side and Asian side?

They are not two versions of the same city. One was the imperial capital; the other is where the city goes home at night.

How do you get to the Asian side, and what does the ferry cost?

By ferry, and it is the best twenty-odd minutes of the day. The Şehir Hatları commuter boats run from Eminönü to Kadıköy roughly every fifteen to twenty minutes, and the crossing takes about twenty to twenty-five minutes. You pay with an İstanbulkart and the fare is a couple of lira — we print no figure, because transport prices here date within a season. Your guide taps the card and stands at the rail with you. No commentary; this is the boat the city uses to get to work.

Eminönü is a good place to start anyway. The Spice Bazaar is beside the New Mosque and opens daily, Sundays included, and the Galata Bridge is two minutes away. There are ferries to Üsküdar too, the Marmaray rail tunnel runs under the Bosphorus, and a car can take a road bridge. We use the boat out and the bridge back. For longer on the water you want a Bosphorus cruise instead, and the Istanbul public transport guide covers the İstanbulkart if you cross alone.

Is the Asian side of Istanbul worth visiting?

Yes — and not on a first visit of one or two days. With two days, spend them on the old city and the Bosphorus, as our two-day Istanbul itinerary lays it out. From a third day onward it becomes one of the better uses of your time, which is why it sits in our three-day itinerary and near the top of the things actually worth your time in Istanbul.

One scheduling note that saves a day: if your trip includes a Tuesday, cross on the Tuesday. Topkapı is closed on Tuesdays, so the old city is missing its largest sight anyway, and the Kadıköy market is at full stretch. A Sunday works in reverse — the Grand Bazaar is closed every Sunday and the Asian side is not. Guests who have done our Best of Istanbul day almost always choose this one second.

Is the Asian side cheaper, and is it safe?

Cheaper, generally yes, and noticeably so for food and drink. The same lunch costs less two streets back from a ferry pier in Kadıköy than beside a monument in Sultanahmet, and the coffee and the taxi follow suit. Hotels are the exception; the saving is smaller than the commute costs you. We publish no lira figures on purpose: anything we printed would be wrong within a year. Ask us for the current one.

Safe, yes, on the same terms as the rest of the city: crowded, well lit, full of families out late, and worth attention to your bag on a packed ferry. Kadıköy after dark is one of the livelier corners of Istanbul and one of the most relaxed. Our long answer is in is Istanbul safe for tourists, and the practical ground is in our Istanbul travel tips.

Where do you eat, and what is the Kadıköy market really like?

The market first, because this is reported wrongly almost everywhere. The Salı Pazarı runs twice a week — Tuesday and Friday — and keeps the name Tuesday Market on both days. Tuesday is the clothes-and-produce day and the bigger of the two; Friday leans further toward second-hand. Both run roughly nine to six, both are set up for local shoppers rather than visitors, and both are a pleasure to walk. Sellers are warm, bargaining is good-humored, and nobody minds if you buy nothing. For carpets, ceramics and jewelry we use insured, cruise-line recommended addresses where you are welcome to look and never obliged to buy — what is genuinely worth buying in Istanbul covers that.

For eating, Kadıköy is the best value in the city. An esnaf lokantası does honest home cooking by the tray, chosen by pointing, and the meze counters around Güneşlibahçe Sokak are worth an hour. Your guide will point out three or four and leave the choice to you. If food is the whole reason you came, take our Istanbul food tour instead.

What does this tour cost?

This private day runs from €150 per group, per day — per group, not per person, so a family of four pays what a couple pays. Guide, private car and driver, hotel or cruise-port pick-up and the day's planning sit inside that figure. Museum tickets do not: Gezginol is a licensed TÜRSAB agency, number 15746, so we buy them in advance at the gate price with no markup, add them to your quote, and you enter by the priority entrance rather than the line. Tips are customary and entirely at your discretion — never included, never expected.

Cruise guests can do this day from Galataport on a long call, and our Istanbul shore excursion page explains the timing against your ship. Otherwise look through our full list of Istanbul tours, or tell us your dates and we will say honestly whether the Asian side belongs in your trip — from €150 per group per day, ferry crossing included, guide at the rail beside you.

Two Continents in One Day — frequently asked questions

What you'll see

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