Экскурсия на Принцевы острова из Стамбула: паром, туры и Троцкий

An excursion to the Princes' Islands from Istanbul takes a full day, and the city ferry from Kabataş reaches Büyükada, the largest island, in about 90 minutes. You can go on your own with an İstanbulkart, join a guided day from $34 per person, or take our Princes' Islands day tour with ferry, Büyükada and lunch from $90 per person. There are no private cars on the islands, so you see them on foot, by bicycle or on the municipal electric buses. This page compares the ways to go, then walks you through what is worth seeing on each of the four main islands, including the house where Leon Trotsky lived before his last exile in Mexico.

Four ways to do the excursion

The islands are easy to reach on your own, so the choice is about comfort, time and how much you want explained.

Our prices are in US dollars. The ferry fare is set by the city and changes during the year, so check it at the pier or on the Şehir Hatları website on the day.

The ferry: piers, crossing times and the way back

The public ferries of Şehir Hatları, Istanbul's city ferry company, are the main way to the islands. They carry foot passengers only.

• Kabataş, on the European side, is the most practical pier if you stay in Sultanahmet (on the T1 tram line) or Taksim (on the funicular). The crossing to Büyükada takes about 90 minutes, longer on boats that call at every island.
• Kadıköy and Bostancı, on the Asian side, also have island ferries. Bostancı is the shortest crossing.
• Paying. Tap an İstanbulkart at the turnstile. No reservation is needed. Give each traveller their own card if the group might split up on the way back.
• The order of calls. Boats from the city stop at Kınalıada, Burgazada and Heybeliada before Büyükada, so the first islands are the closest.
• Timetables. There are fewer sailings in winter. Look up the last ferry back the moment you arrive, not at the end of the afternoon.

On summer weekends and public holidays the morning boats fill up and the late-afternoon return is crowded. A weekday is calmer. Our Princes' Islands day trip page has a fuller guide to the ferries and the island timetable.

What to see on Büyükada

Büyükada is the island almost every excursion visits. You arrive at the pier in the town centre, next to the clock tower square, and everything starts from there.

• The clock tower square and the market streets. Cafés, bakeries, ice cream and the bicycle rental shops are all within a few minutes of the pier.
• The mansion streets. Behind the waterfront, lanes climb past large late-Ottoman wooden houses in their own gardens, built as summer homes for the city's wealthier families. Spring and early summer bring bougainvillea over the walls.
• The Hamidiye Mosque, a small mosque in the town, built in the late Ottoman period.
• The Prinkipo Greek Orphanage, a huge wooden building on the hill of Christos, abandoned for decades. It is closed to visitors and can only be seen from outside, but its size alone makes the walk worth it.
• The Monastery of St George (Aya Yorgi) on Yücetepe, the island's southern hill. The final stretch is a steep cobbled path. At the top are a small church and a café with a view over the Sea of Marmara. On 23 April, the feast of St George, the path is packed with pilgrims.
• The far side of the island. Pine woods, small coves and beach clubs, reached by bicycle or the electric buses.

The horse-drawn carriages (fayton) that once carried visitors around Büyükada have been withdrawn. The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality now runs electric vehicles on set routes, paid with the İstanbulkart.

Trotsky's island, and the road to Mexico

For visitors from Mexico and the rest of Latin America, Büyükada has a story that ends close to home.

Leon Trotsky, one of the leaders of the Russian Revolution and founder of the Red Army, was expelled from the Soviet Union and arrived in Türkiye in February 1929. He spent most of the next four years on Büyükada, which he knew by its Greek name, Prinkipo. Here he wrote much of his autobiography and his history of the Russian Revolution. For part of that time he lived in the Yanaros mansion, a wooden house by the sea. He left the island in July 1933 for France.

His exile then took him to Norway and, in January 1937, to Mexico, where the government of Lázaro Cárdenas gave him asylum. He lived in Coyoacán, first in the Blue House of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera and then in his own house nearby. In August 1940 he was killed there by Ramón Mercader, a Spanish-born agent of Stalin's secret police. The Coyoacán house is now a museum.

The Yanaros mansion on Büyükada is in poor condition and closed to the public. It has been offered for sale, and there have been proposals to turn it into a museum, but nothing has opened. A guide can show you where it stands; do not expect to go inside.

Heybeliada, Burgazada and Kınalıada

Most excursions stop only at Büyükada, but the three smaller islands each have their own character.

Heybeliada, the second largest, is greener and quieter than Büyükada. On the hill stands the Halki Seminary, the Greek Orthodox theological school closed to students in 1971; its reopening has been discussed for years, so ask your guide about the current status. The island also has the large naval school buildings by the shore, pine woods and the bay of Çam Limanı. Our shared full-day tour of Büyükada and Heybeliada, from $34 per person, includes both.

Burgazada is a small village island, best known as the home of the writer Sait Faik Abasıyanık, whose house is now a museum. It is a short, peaceful walk.

Kınalıada is the closest island to the city, small and fairly bare, with a long Armenian community history. It is the first stop on the ferry and rarely on a tour.

Trying to see all four islands in one day leaves no time on any of them. Büyükada alone, or Büyükada with Heybeliada, is the realistic plan. Our Princes' Islands page has the history of each.

A day on the islands, hour by hour

This is the rhythm of a typical guided excursion. Times vary with the ferry timetable and the season.

1. Morning. Pickup or meeting point in the city, and the ferry from the European side. The first views are of the old city skyline from the Sea of Marmara.
2. Late morning. Arrival at Büyükada. A walk through the town and the mansion streets with the guide.
3. Midday. Lunch by the water or in the town. On our day tour with lunch, the meal is included.
4. Early afternoon. Free time, or a ride around the island by bicycle or electric bus. The fit can walk up to Aya Yorgi.
5. Afternoon. On the two-island tour, a ferry hop to Heybeliada.
6. Late afternoon. Ferry back to the city, with the light falling on Istanbul's domes and minarets.

Wear proper walking shoes, take water and sun protection in summer, and bring a jacket for the ferry deck, which is windy even on warm days. Carry some Turkish lira in cash for small cafés and bicycle rental.

For travellers from Spain and Latin America

• Visas. According to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, citizens of Spain, Argentina, Chile and Colombia can visit Türkiye without a visa for up to 90 days, and Peruvians for up to 90 days within 180. Mexican citizens need a visa; the ministry lists an online e-Visa option, so check the current conditions at evisa.gov.tr before you fly.
• Time. Istanbul is on UTC+3 all year: two hours ahead of mainland Spain in winter and one hour in summer, six hours ahead of Buenos Aires, eight ahead of Bogotá and Lima, and nine ahead of Mexico City.
• Language. Shared tours to the islands run in English. On a private tour, a Spanish-speaking guide can be arranged on request, subject to availability. See our Spanish-speaking guide in Istanbul page.
• A Spanish thread in Istanbul's history. After the expulsion of 1492, many Sephardic Jews from Spain settled in the Ottoman Empire, and their Judeo-Spanish language, Ladino, was spoken in Istanbul for centuries. The islands, like Balat on the Golden Horn, were part of that world, as summer retreats for the city's Greek, Armenian and Jewish families. Our guide to things to do in Balat picks up the story in the city.

If you are planning a longer trip, our best tours in Istanbul for Spanish-speaking travellers page and the Turkey tours from Spain and Turkey tour packages from Mexico pages put the islands into a full itinerary. For more city days, our sister company Get Istanbul Tours runs private tours in Istanbul as well.

Tours that cover this

• Princes' Islands day tour from Istanbul: ferry, Büyükada and lunch, from $90 per person, 8 hours.
• Princes Islands full-day tour from Istanbul: Büyükada and Heybeliada, from $34 per person.
• Büyükada romantic getaway: private overnight trip for couples, from $440 per person, 2 days and 1 night.
• Istanbul tour package 8 days: private old city, Bosphorus and islands, from $1,499 per person.

More ideas for a day out of the city are on our Istanbul day trips page and the Istanbul destination guide.

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