Bosphorus Day - (Spice Market and Galata District)

A day trip on the Bosphorus by boat, along the coasts that separate Europe from Asia. We will see a surprising mixture of the present and the past, the wooden houses (Yalis) and the palaces, the fortresses and the neighborhoods that were small fishing villages as well as modern and residential neighborhoods. During the trip our boat passes in front of the magnificent Dolmabahce Palace, the Ciragan Palace (transformed into a luxury hotel), the two suspension bridges, the famous neighborhoods like Ortaköy with its superb Ortakoy Mosque. Bebek which is a very residential neighborhood. and all the famous Yalis of Istanbul.

On the way back we visit the Spice Bazaar; a very popular market and the second largest covered market in Istanbul. In the alleys we can stroll with the smell of all kinds of spices such as thyme, saffron, cinnamon and others and dried fruits. Then we cross the Galata Bridge on foot with an unchanging view of Istanbul. We visit the Galata district which was a Genoese colony before the capture of Constantinople by the Turks. Even though the district became Turkish after the conquest, it managed to obtain several privileges from the Turkish Sultan and managed to preserve its ancient, multinational and multicultural character. We will see the Bank Street, the Camondo Stairs, the Synagogue of Turkish Jews founded 500 years ago and the Galata Tower. Our excursion ends at the Tunnel which was a first attempt at a metro in the 19th century in Istanbul.