# Istanbul Yacht Stay: Sleep Aboard, See the City From the Water

- Site: Constantine Yachts
- URL: https://constantineyachts.com/istanbul-yacht-stay/
- Language: EN
- Last updated: 2026-08-29

## Description

What it is. A private yacht that is your hotel and your transport at once. You sleep on board, wake up on the water, and see Istanbul across three completely different days — the old city, the northern Bosphorus and the Princes’ Islands — with no hotel check-in and no transfers between them. Who it suits. Small groups, from a couple up to ten guests, who would rather spend their nights on a yacht than in a room. From €1,400 per night for the whole yacht. Four guests sharing works out at €350 each per night; eight at €175. Breakfast, fuel and mooring are included. Departs Karaköy · TÜRSAB licence A-805 · on the Bosphorus since 1967 · free cancellation up to 72 hours before boarding. The northern Bosphorus, on the way to the coves where we anchor and swim. Not a boat trip. Several days of living on the water. Most visitors book a hotel and buy a Bosphorus cruise as an excursion — two hours on the water, then back to the room. This is the other way round. The yacht is where you sleep, and it is also how you move. Breakfast on deck, step off into the old city, swim in a cove in the afternoon, and let the crew drop you at a waterfront restaurant for dinner and collect you afterwards. What this really removes is friction: no check-in, no check-out, no working out which pier tomorrow's tour leaves from. You decide in the morning what kind of day you want and the yacht follows. The three days that make the trip Day on the Bosphorus — the full strait, south to north This is the day most guests remember, and it takes a full day precisely because the Bosphorus is longer and stranger than the two-hour tours suggest. Leaving Karaköy you pass Dolmabahçe Palace and the Ortaköy Mosque sitting under the first bridge, with Beylerbeyi Palace facing you from the Asian shore. Past Bebek the strait narrows at Rumeli Hisarı, the fortress Mehmed II built in 1452 to cut the city off from the Black Sea; directly opposite stands Anadolu Hisarı, older by nearly sixty years. Beyond the second bridge the water quietens and the shoreline turns residential: Kandilli, Kanlıca — where the yoghurt has its own reputation — then Emirgan, İstinye, Yeniköy and Tarabya, where the wooden yalı mansions line the European bank. North of Sarıyer the character changes again. The hills get steeper, the traffic thins, and you reach Rumeli Kavağı and, on the Asian side, Anadolu Kavağı — a working fishing village below Yoros Castle, the 13th-century Byzantine fort that once guarded the entrance to the strait. A matching castle stood on the opposite shore, and a chain could be drawn between them to close the Bosphorus to ships coming down from the Black Sea. Past the third bridge lie Poyrazköy and the lighthouses at Anadolu Feneri and Rumeli Feneri, where the strait opens to the Black Sea. This is where we anchor and swim: the water is cleaner, the coves are quiet, and the shipping traffic is behind you. We go as far as the mouth of the Black Sea — not out into it, so the water stays sheltered the whole way. Day at the Princes' Islands Nine islands in the Sea of Marmara, four of them inhabited, and no private cars on any of them — which is why they feel like a different decade rather than a different district. Büyükada is the largest and the most visited: pine woods, wooden mansions, and the climb up to the hilltop chapel. Heybeliada is quieter, with small beaches and sheltered bays that are the easiest swimming on the islands. Burgazada is smaller again, looks straight back at the Istanbul skyline, and has a handful of quiet places to get into the water. Kınalıada is the closest to the city and the least wooded. We anchor in a bay you choose, put the swim ladder down, and eat on deck. If you want to go ashore and walk or cycle an island, the yacht waits and picks you up where you like. The historic peninsula — as much or as little as you want Moored centrally, you walk off the yacht into Sultanahmet: Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapı Palace, the Basilica Cistern and the Grand Bazaar are all within a short walk of each other. The yacht stays where it is while you spend the day ashore. On shorter trips this can be a half day, or dropped altogether if you have seen the old city before — tell us and we will give the time back to the water. A guide and a transfer can be arranged for this day if you want one; both are optional and quoted separately. Sample itineraries Four nights, five days. Board at Karaköy · full day on the Bosphorus with swimming in the northern coves · full day at the islands · a day in the old city · breakfast and disembark. Three nights, four days. The Bosphorus day and the islands day stay whole; the old city becomes a half day or comes out entirely. Two nights, three days. One full day on the water and one shorter day ashore. Built for a short stop or a long layover. Where you sleep In the city — moored at a marina. Central and quiet, and you walk straight off into Istanbul. This is what you want on the days you are ashore. At the islands or in a cove — at anchor. Around the islands and in the northern Bosphorus we can anchor in a bay you pick. Swim off the back of the yacht, eat on deck, and sleep with nothing around you but water. Most guests want both, and there is no reason to choose — the route is set with you before you sail and adjusted as you go. Dinner ashore, arriving by yacht You do not have to eat on board every night. The crew can drop you at a restaurant on the Bosphorus and collect you after dinner. Arriving by yacht and leaving the same way is a small thing that turns out to be what people describe when they get home. What is included, and what is not Included: the yacht and its crew · breakfast on board · fuel for your route · mooring and harbour fees · route planning before you arrive. Optional, quoted before you confirm: a guide and transfer for the city day · lunches and dinners on board · restaurant bookings ashore · anything else you ask us to arrange. Not included: meals ashore · drinks beyond what is agreed · museum tickets. There is no port tax, booking fee or service charge added at the end. When this is the wrong choice This is not for you if you want a different bar every night and a concierge desk — a hotel does that better. It is not built for large groups; the point is a small number of people with the yacht to themselves. And if someone in the party is genuinely uneasy on water, several nights is a long time to find that out. Tell us about your charter Tell us the date, your group size and the occasion — you get a fixed whole-yacht price in writing the same day. No port tax, no booking fee, no service charge at the end. Prefer to chat? WhatsApp us — price & availability in minutes. Free cancellation up to 24 h before departure. Frequently Asked Questions Do you really sleep on board? Yes. These are proper cabins, not day-boat benches — the master cabin has a king-size bed — and this is a multi-night stay rather than a long day trip. How many guests can stay on board? Our fleet includes yachts that sleep up to ten guests. Tell us your group size and we will match the yacht to it. Is there a shower and hot water? Yes — the yachts have showers with hot water. Where is the yacht at night? Either moored at a central marina, so you can walk into the city, or at anchor in a cove you choose around the islands or in the northern Bosphorus. You can do both on the same trip. Are the city tours included? The yacht, crew, breakfast, fuel and mooring are included. A guide and transfer for the city day are optional and quoted separately, as are meals ashore and museum tickets. Can we swim from the yacht? Yes. We anchor to swim in the quieter coves north of the third bridge and in the bays around the Princes' Islands, weather permitting. Why is a night cheaper than a day of hourly charter? Because you are paying for different things. An hourly charter is priced for time under way — from €150 per hour with a two-hour minimum. A multi-night stay is priced per night for the whole yacht, because most of those hours are spent moored or at anchor rather than cruising. If what you want is a single evening on the water, the hourly charter is the cheaper answer and we will tell you so. Is there air conditioning? Yes. The cabins and the saloon are air conditioned, which matters most in July and August when the city is at its hottest. Will we feel the yacht move at night? The Bosphorus is a strait rather than open sea, and we anchor in sheltered bays or lie alongside in a marina, so nights are calm. We reach the mouth of the Black Sea but do not sail out into it. Can we do this with children? Yes, and the swimming days tend to be the part they remember. The Bosphorus is sheltered water, life jackets are on board including children's sizes, and cabins are allocated to suit the family. Tell us their ages when you enquire. What is the cancellation policy on a multi-night stay? Free cancellation up to 72 hours before boarding. That is longer than the 24 hours on our shorter cruises, and deliberately so: a multi-night stay holds the yacht and its crew for several days rather than an evening. Is a special permit needed to sleep on board? No. We operate as AST Tourism under TÜRSAB licence A-805 and have worked the Bosphorus since 1967; overnight stays run under our existing licences. Plan your stay Tell us your dates, how many of you there are and how many nights you want. We will come back with a route and a whole-yacht price. WhatsApp is fastest: +90 536 399 14 42.

## Translations

- [TR] https://constantineyachts.com/tr/teknede-konaklamali-istanbul-turu.md
- [DE] https://constantineyachts.com/de/uebernachten-auf-der-yacht-istanbul.md
- [RU] https://constantineyachts.com/ru/nochevka-na-yahte-stambul.md
- [FR] https://constantineyachts.com/fr/nuit-a-bord-yacht-istanbul.md

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