A Day Trip to Prince’s Island Turkey | Hidden Gem of Istanbul
Assalamu Alaikum and once again, welcome back from Istanbul. So today, we’ve finally decided to take a trip to Istanbul, which we’ve been meaning to do for a while. As you can see, we’re sitting on a bus. So, we ‘re heading a little further out of Istanbul. So, for that, we’ve chosen a day trip. There are two islands here. They’re called the Prince’s Islands. Well, this Princess is not the female Prince. Like, Prince and Princess’s Prince’s Islands. So, those two islands are called the Prince’s Islands. We’re going there via ship from here on the bus. But we won’t go there by bus. You can go there via ship or ferry. So, basically, we’ll evaluate whether this trip is worth it . For this, they’ve charged us how much I think 35 rupees per person. So, they’ve said that the return trip will be 35 rupees, and there will be a guided tour of both of them on the ferry . Plus, they might even provide lunch for the same amount . So, 35 is a considerable amount, but let’s see what they do. Well, our first experience with the bus wasn’t particularly good because they booked us and collected money from several hotels in the area, one by one. In one sense, it’s great that you’re getting door-to-door service. But on the other hand, if we were almost the first to board this coach, we arrived at the allotted time. We didn’t know that time has no value here. So, we sat down at our appointed time and waited, waiting. One person was coming, two people were coming. Then they finished at that hotel after waiting for about half an hour. Then they took us to another hotel. After that, you can also enjoy the view of the Bassein Forest Sea and the city. From there, we went from one hotel to another. It took me almost three hours, I think, to gather the people from our trip. Now, we’ve finally left the hotel area, Taskin Square, and are being taken to the port, or who knows where, where they’ll shift us. So, let’s head that way. It’s a good thing we can also enjoy some views of Istanbul . The glass window on the front of this bus is quite obstructing the view. Anyway, let’s enjoy what we have. So, let’s head to the port where we’ll see what kind of ships or cruise ships are like . Okay, everyone, good morning. My name is Suleiman. I’ll be your guide today. Actually, I’ll be the English-speaking guide on the boat. Well, this isn’t a port where we’ve landed. It’s just a deserted bay, and a ship is approaching. I was told this is the ship, and it ‘s coming in quite slowly because it’s very windy and there are waves, which I think is making it very difficult to portage. Meaning, it keeps veering from side to side. Okay, so let’s check inside the ship. There’s a similar temporary setup . Tables and chairs are there. Nothing is fixed. It seems like we’re renting a small ship and using it for multipurpose purposes, because all the chairs are of this kind. The chairs and tables aren’t fixed. It’s just that if there’s a lot of wind and waves on the ship, maybe the chairs will start moving around. Now we’re making announcements and introductions. So let’s listen to what they are saying. I think they will give the introduction, where do we go, what is the plan, and if there is some inflection, then let’s listen to them. Something we have a little problem with the sound system, some of the speakers are not available, if we look at it, really bad noise is coming, so that’s why, as I know, one speaker will be available, so that’s why the sound will not be good everywhere on the board, so that’s why, please, while we are giving in, it’s better if everybody could be quiet and everyone can get the message clearly, so please, while we are giving in, even if you don’t want to listen, please try to be quiet, so everyone can hear it clearly, okay, thank you so much, so today, today we are going with the silence, we should correct it . The introduction is still going on and it was getting quite long, so I thought we should take a little view of the outside as well, so I think that would be enough. Gone. Now let’s go again Let’s go inside and listen. Maybe it’s some infinitive because in the beginning you were providing a lot of unnecessary information, which is why I just came out here. We are now already in the Mar Sea, so we are divided into two parts: so the left side of the Wasserburgh side is Sultanahmet, this side’s area, even if we continue to the north, this is the European side, and the right side of the Wasserburgh side, this side in front of us is the Asian side of the hill. So the Wasserburgh separates the hill into two parts: Asia and Europe, the Asian side and the European side. And we have a total of five connections in between Europe and Asia. We have three bridges and two tunnels. So for the first bridge, the first connection in the city between Europe and Asia is the Wasserburgh Bridge. And it was built in three years between 1970 and 1973. In three years, it was built and it was billed by two companies. One of them was English and another one was a German company. And it cost 21 million US dollars. 52 years before, 21 million was the cost of the Vassphorus Bridge and it is 1560 meters long, one 1/2 km long, 35 meters wide and 65 meters high from the seaover. So, the Vassphorus Bridge is the first bridge, the first coordination in the city between your organizations. Architecture was the greatest architect in our history. So, his student built the Blue Moss. So, the right side of Blue Moss from this side we can see again, from the back door you can see again right there, the second building we can see the one with the fourth towers. That is Ayasofia. Actually, this is the third Iosophia in Stamul. So before this one the problem to software and the one this one by 500 532 537 it was completed and so this we see which is from the sixth century so it is almost 1000 500 this almost 15500 was a church as a church for more than 900 and after the end of by the 1453 by the decision of the man the second of it was considered as a symbol of the same time it was come from church in so it it was used as it was for about 500 years and after the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923 and after 11 years problem in 1924 the introduction has become very long I mean obviously I did not record the whole thing but it was that this guy provided information in very good detail this is one thing I found positive so far of this trip so well he has explained a lot about each and every thing I provided the information, so now the introduction is complete. So I said let’s take an overview of the rest of this ship as well. So, first of all, on the top, you saw that small shop-like structure at the back. So, from the top, we thought that right now, we can see Istanbul city, right now on our right side, I think this is the Asian side, that is also visible, and all the islands towards which we are going from here. I hope they are also visible. So, let me share with you all what I learned from the top and the view around and also see it myself. But one thing is that the wind is very strong today. This is not my opinion, this island is there, so is this island too, but we are definitely not going to this one because we have to go straight ahead to a total of two islands. I’ll go to this one on our way back, because we have to visit the far island first, and then we have to stop at another island on our way back. So, I don’t know which one we’ll go to first. This one, visible from this distance, is probably the one in front of us. It looks nice from this distance. It seems quite populated. These are islands, though. So, that means a lot of people live there. Anyway, let’s see which one we go to first, which one we go to later, and what the scenery is like there. Check out how amazingly beautiful this island looks. Firstly, because of the sunny weather, the light and the weather make the buildings look so beautiful up front. Then there are some beautiful buildings and a view of the mountains behind them . So, we’ll go back and see what else is there. But the view from here is absolutely beautiful, so Far Island looks very impressive . We’ve gathered everything after disembarking from the ship. The one with a flag, just like you have seen in most of the tours, there is a guy in front holding a flag so that everyone follows him. So basically they told us the time etc. I think almost more than an hour and they fixed the return time that we have to come back at 1:20. So after that they will pick us up from here. They are saying that cycles are available here on rent. So they will take us on rent from there. We will have to pay for that separately if we want to take it. Right now we are not in the mood to do that. We should take a bicycle, as it’s very windy and has a lot of ups and downs. If we have to venture out, we’ll explore the area ourselves, as we have plenty of time. First, we’ll explore a bit on our own to see what this town and island are like. Then, if we have time, we ‘ll consider taking a bicycle ourselves, as we’ll see if they offer a special discount. Otherwise, even if we buy it ourselves, it ‘s usually a disadvantage rather than an advantage to take it with the tour operators, as they’ll charge you more for the trip, but if you buy something without them, you might find it cheaper. Check out this mosque. The decision not to take a bicycle with them was a very good one. For one, there are bicycle shops available everywhere that rent bicycles. You can hire anyone at any time, and we’ve negotiated with some of them, and found that the tour operators offered us prices lower than those offered, some were offering higher prices, but you can negotiate. So, we ‘d miss these things on a bicycle, as they go straight up the mountain . But this is such a wonderful island, and check out the street style, the food and drinks—I think it’s a worthwhile place to explore, and you can explore it on foot. And check out this, right in front of the bicycle shop, there are bicycle shops everywhere. It’s not like you came with them and didn’t buy from the place they took you, so you’ll probably miss it. They’re everywhere, and so far, I’ve seen, everything on this island is electric. First, there are the bikes, and these bikes, etc., are also electric. Right in front, let’s say the main center point of this island, this is the bus station. These small buses run from here for local transport. And they’re all electric. So we wander around this square. I think not taking the bicycle again was a good decision because we can explore it all in peace. From here, it looks like people’s houses. That’s why I’m not going that way. On this side, I can see some restaurants and such. So we make videos here because it looks purely like a residential area. It’s also interesting to see how people live there, what kind of houses they have. But sometimes when you’re making videos in such places, many people object that this isn’t a tourist destination. This is a residential area. People have privacy. So they don’t think it’s appropriate to make videos there. So, we have so much space here, so we explore that area and don’t interfere with that area. But one thing I’ve observed about this island is that there’s a lot of peace here. Everything is so peaceful. I mean, we’re coming from Istanbul. Well, there was a Bagham Bagh in Istanbul, and perhaps that’s why we feel more at home, because after Istanbul, we can’t call this town a quiet town; it ‘s the entire island. We’ve arrived on the island. Firstly, there’s no traffic here, and the traffic that exists right now is bicycles, all these electric scooters, and rickshaws. We check if there’s a dessert shop here, and we’ve already checked for dessert. We didn’t take it, but we’ll eat it somewhere else later, because we’re not particularly hungry right now. So, as I was saying, if you look around here, there are bicycles, and if you look at the entire environment in this area, there’s a lot of relaxation. It’s so relaxing. After wandering around, we’ve come back to the main bus stand. So, we’ve explored a lot of the area , but there’s still a lot of space to explore. This is kind of the center point of the island . There are shops on both sides, and there are roads. But the best thing about this town, aside from the lack of traffic, is the lack of traffic. It’s all tourists. The locals, too, are comparatively unlike Istanbul, with all the Bagum Bags and all that. They’re very relaxing. And this is a self-contained shop. I think these shops are ideal for shopping . Rather, you see these copies being sold here. Mostly, they don’t allow videos, but I don’t know how people buy them. Every shop I’ve been to selling these designer copies is so bad that I don’t even get the idea to look at them. It seems like this quality isn’t going to be available anywhere. Anyway, not just the souvenirs, there’s also fresh fruit here. I don’t know if these were from this island or brought from somewhere else. So, our trip is almost coming to an end. Now, let’s slowly head back to our ship, as we’ve been wandering around for quite some time . And I think that if we had taken a bicycle, we wouldn’t have covered these things we did. And it’s quite possible that we could have covered some more things with the bicycle, so it’s vice versa. Meaning, there are pros and cons to both. So, you can decide for yourself that if you want to take this city-inside-city trip, you’ll have to avoid the bicycle. But if you want to do both, then it’s best not to take this trip. Public transport ships also come here anyway. So, you can see that the public transport is quite punctual. Every few minutes, a ship arrives from Istanbul, and it’s very cheap. Secondly, you have the freedom to spend as much time as you want here. I loved this island so much that I thought, if you had the time, instead of staying in Istanbul, someone could come here for a couple of days, book a hotel, and enjoy the relaxed lifestyle here . I can’t imagine seeing such a relaxed life on this island. Lunch is served on the ship. But check out the food. It was so overpriced, with so many course meals. It’s a matter of waiting in line for servings, and you’ll see how late you are. Luckily, we had already done a lot of munching. We weren’t hungry, and this is their serving. After lunch, I came out to enjoy the view of this island a little more before leaving. It was a very beautiful island and I hope to visit it again someday. On this island, it is called bye-bye. And I think there is a lot of noise coming from inside the ship. So let’s go inside and see what’s going on. There is a lot of commotion going on here. It seems that people have become very charged after seeing their dull boat. Or they have become angry and are venting their anger. Many local shops if you want you can see them and if you go this way the street in now on our left side but when we are in front of us if you go this way up about five minutes later on the second left there is a church Orthodox church Greek Orthodox church and if you don’t if you continue up not taken left third right there is an Armenian if you like you can see them if you are interested so the sea is getting more rough so please be careful while you are getting off watch your steps to windy days so now it is 2 o’clock after one hour at 3 o’clock we will leave from here ok 3 o’clock we will leave from here please everyone be careful with the time please once again it is only for one hour only. Now, like the previous island, it was definitely worth spending a lot of time on, and this one feels similar, offering a similar relaxed atmosphere. But I personally didn’t like the idea of being time-constrained, checking the map to see how large the island is. Even if you take a bus tour, there are established routes for the bus. You can also rent a bicycle, or if you want to explore in person, you can spend an hour exploring the island. You can truly enjoy the island. So, I think we’ll have to stay close by. First, we came to this mosque. When we were leaving the previous island, the prayer for prayer was being recited. But because we had to leave at that time because of the ship, we had to leave. So, let’s go to this mosque; it’s definitely open . So let’s take a look at this one: it’s not Turkish style. It’s a little different from the mosques found in most European countries. It ‘s not typical Turkish. The inside is also very beautiful . The mosque is very relaxed and quiet. The prayer times are also listed here. Check the current times. I don’t feel any difference between the two islands. The style there was exactly the same. The style of the houses, the style of the shops, and the same kind of singing arrangements. On the streets, luckily, there’s no traffic. Because of this, people can enjoy themselves sitting outside. And because there’s no traffic, the entire environment feels completely relaxed. Only the sound of the sea is heard in the background. The wind is blowing, luckily, so there’s a bit of that sound. Enjoy the view from above as well. So, see, the view is so relaxing that there’s no noise, like wherever there’s traffic, there’s always some noise, but here, there’s nothing like that . Everything is so relaxed that you’re transported to a different world, where everything seems to stop. This scene, this place, is simply amazing. These islands offer a wealth of unique offerings. On one side, look at the rows of palm trees. However, the wind is quite windy, making the sea quite rough. But even at this place, we’re supposed to sit and relax, facing Istanbul’s high-rise buildings. I’m just imagining how beautiful it would be if we were here in the evening. Back on the ship, the same commotion started. But all this commotion is nothing compared to the quiet and peacefulness of these islands. Well, our trip to the Princess Islands was complete, and the good thing about returning was that the bus was waiting and would drop us off wherever we asked . So, we weren’t going back to the hotel. We told her the bus was going to the Old Town, where Aya Sofia is located, so what would we do by going back to the hotel? So, we thought we’d go there. We’d spend some time there. We ‘ve already seen this place. But it’s still quite lively. We’ll go there and eat there. Let me give you a brief overview of this trip to see if it’s worth it. The islands near me are undoubtedly the best places to visit, but you should go with a tour because you ‘re bound by time. You can’t explore anything in an hour. Literally , you can’t even enjoy a nice lunch at a nice place . What’s the point of visiting these islands on these trips? If you’re going to Bagambagh and returning, I strongly recommend that you definitely visit these islands, and secondarily, you should go on your own, rather than taking public transportation. You won’t be time-constrained; in fact, if possible, spend a night or two there . It will be the best experience of your life. Anyway, we’re approaching the Old City. Even the bus drivers are having a hard time here. The roads are very narrow. So let’s end today’s vlog with this. See you in the next vlog. Until then, take care. Take care. Allah Hafiz.
Join me on a journey to Prince’s Island (Büyükada), one of Istanbul’s most beautiful and peaceful getaways. 🚴♂️🌊
In this vlog, I’ll take you through:
✅ How to get to Prince’s Island from Istanbul by ferry
✅ Exploring the island by bicycle & on foot
✅ Stunning seaside views and charming streets
✅ Local food and hidden gems you shouldn’t miss
Whether you’re planning a day trip or just curious about Istanbul’s famous islands, this video will give you a real taste of Büyükada life.
👉 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more travel vlogs around Turkey and beyond!
#PrincesIsland #IstanbulTravel #Büyükada