(Available everyday.)

Itinerary:

Around 8:30 AM, you will be picked up from your hotel for this splendid tour.

An hour's boat ride from the city center, this group of islands takes its name from Byzantine times when princes were sent here on exile. There are nine islands, five small ones and four relatively large ones. No motorized transportation is permitted, which is why you will see horse-drawn carriages (fayton). On the islands, there are many glorious19th-century mansions with overhanging balconies, many of which are typically inhabited in summer by wealthy Istanbullus.

The tour starts with a drive to the pier. Onboard the private deluxe motorboat, refreshments are served. Upon arrival on the largest of the islands, Buyuk Ada ("big island"), horse-drawn carriages whisk you away on a tour of the island through the pine forest, and along picturesque bays strewn with old villas.

Lunch is served at a seaside restaurant. Time is left to enjoy the cheerful local life on the village square. While cruising back to the city center, musicians will entertain you on the boat.

* Princes' Islands: during the Byzantine period, princes and other royalty were exiled to the islands, and later, members of the Ottoman sultans' families were exiled here too, giving the islands their present name. They were taken by the Ottoman fleet during the siege of Constantinople in 1453. During the nineteenth century, the islands became a popular resort for Istanbul's wealthy, and Victorian-era cottages and houses are still preserved on the largest of the Princes' Islands.

Sociologically, the islands are an interesting anomaly as they allow for a very rare, albeit incomplete, insight into a multi-cultural society in modern Turkey, possibly alike to the multicultural society that once existed during the Ottoman Empire. Prior to 1950s, each of the inhabited islands had significant communities of ethnic minorities of Turkey, which is only the case to a much smaller extent. Since the vast majority of the residents and visitors are Turkish, today their legacy is of cultural rather than of demographic importance.

After the tour, which will conclude at around 5:00 PM, you will be transferred back to your hotel.

Prices are starting from 60 Euros per person in a double, contact us to get a price quote for your dates

Includes:
* Pick-up and drop-off to the hotel
* Professional, English-speaking tour guides
* Carriage (fayton) ride
* Lunch at a local restaurant
* All taxes and service charges