Where in Istanbul ends Europe and whether to go to the Asian coast

Most tourists spend three to four days in Istanbul and do not leave the European part. Hagia Sophia, Topkapi, Grand Bazaar, Galata Tower – all this on one bank of the Bosphorus, and the route is easy to collect without ever crossing the strait. The main monuments are collected in the old city, so excursions to Istanbul almost always begin with Sultanahmet, and the Asian side is left for later or not taken on the route at all. We will tell you where the border between parts of the world passes, how to get to that shore and who should spend half a day on it.

Europe and Asia are separated by the Bosporus with a width of 700 meters to 3.7 km

The strait stretches for about 30 km from the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea. The West Bank is considered Europe, the East – Asia.

The European part is also divided by water. The Golden Horn Bay cuts off the old town with Sultanahmet from Galata and Beyoğlu, so "crossing the bank" in Istanbul can mean two different things. The Golden Horn crosses the Galata Bridge on foot in ten minutes. You can't walk across the Bosphorus.

The division can be seen even by phone codes: the European side +90 212, the Asian side +90 216.

The Asian coast has been inhabited before. Greek colonists from Megara founded Chalcedon (now Kadyköy) there even before Byzantium. Herodotus writes that the Persian commander Megabaz called the Chalcedonians blind. Only a blind man, Megabaz said, could have chosen a worse place when a cape with a convenient harbor was empty opposite.

Tourists will have three ways of crossing

The coast is connected by three bridges and two tunnels. The bridges were built in 1973, 1988 and 2016, the newest is located far north, almost by the Black Sea. Tourists need three options: ferry, Marmaray train and taxi.

Ferry

The easiest and most popular way. The ferries of Şehir Hatları city company run from Eminönu and Karaköy marinas to Kadıköy. The road takes twenty minutes, during the day the ferries leave every 15-20 minutes. There are flights to Usküdar, including from Kabatash.

It is also a short walk through the strait. From the upper deck you can see Topkapi on the Cape, the Maiden Tower and the Asian embankment.

Practically: the fare is paid by Istanbulkart card, the same as in the metro. Check the price on the spot, tariffs in Istanbul are reviewed several times a year. The last ferry from Eminyun to Kadyköy leaves at about 23:00, from Karaköy ferries run later.

Marmaray

Under the Bosphorus, a suburban railway tunnel was laid. Underground stations are in Sirkeji, near Sultanahmet, and in Usküdar on the Asian coast, and the strait itself train passes in a few minutes.

The numbers by the tunnel are impressive. It was opened on October 29, 2013, a tunnel section with a length of 13.6 km, of which 1.4 km under water, in the deepest place - 60 meters below the surface of the strait. According to Wikipedia, deeper lies only the Japanese tunnel Seikan.

The disadvantage of Marmaray is one: the strait from the car is not visible. If you need a crossing for the sake of the view, choose a ferry.

Taxi across a bridge or tunnel

Cars travel on the Bosphorus Bridge or through the Eurasia Tunnel. Opened in December 2016, it connects Kumkapi in the old town with Kadyköy. During weekday peak hours, the bridges are in traffic jams, and the ferry is faster than the car.

From the ferry you can see how the strait lives

The Bosphorus looks like a calm river, but flows in two directions at once. The upper layer of water, less salty, goes from the Black Sea to the Marmara at a speed of up to 2 meters per second. Lower, saltier, flowing towards, north. This double current in 1881-1882 described Stepan Makarov, then not an admiral, and the commander of the stationary of the Russian Embassy.

Shipping here is dense: more than 40 thousand ships a year, and city ferries all day cross their course.

If you sail north on the Bosphorus on a pleasure boat, the strait narrows at Rumelihisar. The Ottomans built this fortress on the European coast before the siege of Constantinople in 1453, and opposite Anadoluhisar was already at the end of the XIV century. Together they blocked the path of ships going to the besieged city.

Kadyköy and Usküdar - neighbors with different character

On the Asian side, tourists are most often in two areas. They are neighboring, but the days are very different.

Kadyköy

People come here to eat. Fish shops and diners with mussels begin right at the pier, followed by a market, coffee shops and bars, fashion streets overlooking the Sea of Marmara and an old ring tram. There are almost no museums and large mosques in Kadyköy. It is interesting as a living, non-tourist city.

Uskudar

Uskudar is quieter and more conservative. There are old mosques, the embankment opposite Topkapi and the Maiden Tower on an island 200 meters from the coast. The tower was restored for two years and reopened to visitors in May 2023. Boats go to her from the piers of Uskudar and Kabatash. On the hill above the area is the new mosque of Chamlija, the largest in Turkey, and from the observation deck nearby overlooks both banks and bridges.

A little to the north, on the shore of the strait, is the palace of Beylerbeyi, the summer residence of the sultans of the XIX century. Walking from Uskudar is far, more convenient by taxi or with a tour.

When the Asian coast can be missed

If you are in Istanbul for the first time and for three days, the Asian side is optional. The trip will take half a day, which is better to give Topkapi or Sulaymaniyah.

It is worth going to that shore on the fourth or fifth day or on the second arrival, when you want to see the city without crowds. However, there are no monuments of the level of Hagia Sophia, and if you have only Byzantium and great mosques on the list, Kadyköy will seem an ordinary sleeping area.

The compromise for a short trip is a boat ride on the Bosphorus. In a couple of hours you will see both shores, fortresses and bridges, but you will not go to the Asian coast.

How to enter the crossing in the route

Swim to Kadyköy after lunch and return at sunset. From the deck of the return ferry, you can see the silhouette of the old city with the domes of Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, and this is perhaps the best view of Istanbul for the price of a normal fare.

If you want to get to both areas in a day, start with Usküdar, get to Kadyköy by water or by bus and leave by ferry to Karaköy or Eminön. You don’t have to go back the same way.

Tip: Check which pier your ferry leaves from. Eminenu has several piers, and flights to Kadyköy and Usküdar depart from different ones.