The Princes’ Islands by Yacht: A Practical Guide

What the Princes’ Islands actually are

Nine islands sitting in the Sea of Marmara, about an hour south-east of the city, four of them lived on and visited. They were where Byzantine emperors sent people they wanted out of the way, later where wealthy Istanbul families built summer houses, and today the closest thing the city has to a place where nothing is in a hurry.

The detail that changes everything: private cars are not allowed. You get around on foot, by bicycle or by electric shuttle. No traffic, no horns. That single rule is why an hour from a city of sixteen million feels like a different decade.

The four islands you can visit

Büyükada — the big one

The largest and the most visited, and the one most day trips mean when they say “the islands”. Pine woods, wooden mansions in various states of grandeur and decay, and a climb up to the hilltop chapel of Aya Yorgi with a view back across the water to the city. Busy in July and August, and worth it anyway.

Heybeliada — the swimming one

Quieter, greener, and the best of the four if you came to be in the water. Small beaches, sheltered bays, and a naval school and a hilltop seminary that give the island its particular character. If someone in your group wants a beach rather than a museum, this is where they will be happiest.

Burgazada — the small one

Smaller again, and the one that looks straight back at the Istanbul skyline — on a clear evening it is the best view of the city from any of the islands. A handful of quiet places to get into the water and very little to tick off, which is rather the point.

Kınalıada — the closest one

Nearest to the mainland and the barest of the four, with reddish soil that gave the island its name. Fewer trees, fewer crowds, and the shortest crossing if time is tight.

Getting there: ferry or private yacht

Let us be straight about this, because both answers are legitimate.

The public ferry is cheap, frequent, and a genuinely good way to see the islands. It runs from the city to the main island piers on a fixed timetable, takes roughly an hour to an hour and a half depending on where you board, and drops you in the middle of whichever town it serves. If you are one or two people and price leads the decision, take it.

A private yacht buys you the thing the ferry cannot: the water between the islands. Ferries go pier to pier. A yacht anchors in a bay, puts a swim ladder down, waits while you swim, and then takes you ashore wherever you actually want to be rather than wherever the timetable ends. There is no last boat back to worry about, and lunch happens on deck.

A day at the islands is a full-day charter — private charter starts at €150 per hour with a two-hour minimum, and the islands need the day. From around nine guests the yacht also works out cheaper per head than buying seats on anything shared. A full day is priced differently: on bookings of six hours or more the rate starts from €120 per hour, because the yacht and its crew are yours for the day rather than for an evening. Six or eight hours is the usual shape of a swimming day, and we can run it shorter or longer to suit you.

If the day is about the water rather than the towns, the bays are a subject of their own — see swimming around the Princes’ Islands.

When to go

June to September if you want the water. May and October if you want the islands to yourself and do not mind staying dry. Weekends in high summer are the busiest the islands ever get, and midweek is a noticeably different experience for the same money.

Making a night of it

The islands are also the natural second day of a multi-night stay on board, where the yacht is both your hotel and your transport: a full day on the Bosphorus, a day anchored off the islands, and a day in the old city, without a hotel check-in between them. That runs from €1,400 a night for the whole yacht, breakfast and mooring included.

What is actually worth seeing ashore

Büyükada

Aya Yorgi sits on the island’s highest hill. The climb is steep and unshaded, about thirty to forty minutes on foot from the centre, and the small chapel at the top is less the point than the view over the whole archipelago. People tie ribbons and unwound thread along the path on the way up; it is a living custom rather than a display for visitors.

The Prinkipo Greek Orthodox Orphanage is the enormous derelict timber building visible from the water on the northern side — the largest wooden building in Europe, empty since 1964 and slowly losing its fight with the weather. You cannot go in, and it is more impressive from the sea than from the road.

Trotsky’s house, the Yanaros mansion, is where he spent his first years of exile after 1929 and wrote much of the history of the Russian revolution. It is a ruin behind a fence, and worth the detour only if the name means something to you.

Along the main streets, the wooden mansions are the real museum — late-Ottoman and early-Republican summer houses in every condition from immaculate to collapsing, which together tell you more about the island than any single monument.

Heybeliada

The Halki Seminary crowns the island’s highest hill. It trained Orthodox clergy from 1844 until it was closed in 1971 and has stayed closed since; the building and the grounds are still maintained, and the walk up through the pines is the reason to go even if you have no interest in the politics. The Naval High School occupies the waterfront near the pier and gives the island its second character.

Burgazada

The Sait Faik Abasıyanık Museum is the house where the writer spent his summers, kept much as he left it. It is small, it takes twenty minutes, and it is the most atmospheric thing on any of the four islands if you have any interest in Turkish literature.

Kınalıada

The island has a long Armenian community and the Surp Krikor Lusavoriç church at its centre. The mosque is worth a look for a different reason — it is a piece of modern architecture rather than a historical building, and it is nothing like what people expect on a Prince’s Island.

Walking and trekking

There are no cars, the roads are quiet, and the islands are small enough to walk properly. Three routes are worth the effort:

Büyükada, the two hills. The island is shaped around two rises. A loop taking in the climb to Aya Yorgi and then down and across towards Dil Burnu is about three hours at a normal pace, most of it under pine. Take water; there is very little shade on the climb itself.

Heybeliada, the island loop. A single road runs right around the island, roughly eight kilometres, almost entirely through pine forest with the sea appearing on your right the whole way. Flat enough for anyone and the best of the three for walking rather than climbing. Two to two and a half hours.

Burgazada, the full circuit. The smallest of the walks, about two hours, and it ends naturally at Kalpazankaya on the western side, which is where you want to be in the late afternoon anyway.

Bicycles are for hire on Büyükada and Heybeliada and are the sensible way to cover the loop roads if walking is not the point. Flat shoes either way — the island roads are cobbled in places.

Eating and drinking

The reliable pattern on all four islands is the same: fish restaurants clustered around the ferry pier, meze first, whatever came in that morning second, and a bill that is noticeably higher than the mainland equivalent because everything arrived by boat. That is the trade and it is usually worth it.

Away from the piers it thins out quickly. Büyükada has the most choice and the most tourist pricing. Heybeliada and Burgazada have a handful of places each and close earlier than you expect outside high summer. Kınalıada is the thinnest of the four.

Two things worth knowing. Kalpazankaya on Burgazada is the one meal most people remember, because of where it sits rather than what arrives on the plate — book it for sunset, not for lunch. And ice cream on Büyükada is a genuine local institution rather than a tourist tax; the places around the clock tower have been doing it for generations.

If you are with us for the day, the alternative is eating on board at anchor: a meze table or a full lunch, arranged before you sail and priced before you confirm. Most groups do one of each — lunch on the yacht in a bay, dinner ashore where the yacht drops them.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to reach the Princes’ Islands?

Roughly an hour to an hour and a half by public ferry, depending on which island and which pier you leave from. By private yacht from Karaköy it is a comparable crossing, but the clock matters less because you are not tied to a return sailing.

Can you visit more than one island in a day?

By ferry it is possible but tight, and you will spend a good part of the day waiting for connections. By yacht it is straightforward — the crossings between the islands are short, so a day can easily take in a swim stop off one island and a walk ashore on another.

Are there really no cars?

No private cars. Getting around is on foot, by bicycle or by electric shuttle, and service and emergency vehicles are the exception. It is the reason the islands feel the way they do.

Which island should we choose if we only have one day?

Büyükada if it is your first time and you want the classic version — the mansions, the pine woods and the climb to Aya Yorgi. Heybeliada if you want quiet and green. Burgazada if you want the smallest of them and the best view back at the city. On a yacht you do not really have to choose, because the crossings between the islands take minutes rather than a ferry connection.

Is a yacht day at the islands worth it over the ferry?

It depends entirely on what you want. For a first look on a budget, the ferry is the right answer and we will say so. For swimming in the bays, for a group of nine or more, or for a day with no timetable in it, the yacht is a different trip rather than a more expensive version of the same one.

What should we wear for a day on the islands?

Flat shoes above everything — the island roads are cobbled in places and Büyükada is a hill. Beyond that, one more layer than the forecast suggests, because the crossing is windier than the streets, and sun protection if you are walking in the middle of the day.