Istanbul/Princes' Islands

An archipelago of nine islands in the Sea of Marmara just off the Asian coast of Istanbul, the Princes' Islands (Turkish: Prens Adaları, also İstanbul Adaları, Kızıl Adalar or just Adalar, "the Islands of Istanbul", "the Red Islands", and "the Islands" respectively) are a perfect escape whenever the frantic crowds of Istanbul start to overwhelm you.

Understand
Named after the dynasty members who were exiled here after falling out of favour during the Byzantine and Ottoman periods, the Princes' Islands were back then desolate and remote, despite being within the eyesight of Constantinople (a fact which should have made exile here even more painful), and sailing to them was more of an expedition until the mid-19th century, when regular steamer transportation was introduced to the Sea of Marmara. Before then, only a handful of hermits seeking seclusion had voluntarily lived on these islands; this is how their Ottoman Turkish name, Keşiş Adaları, "the Monks' Islands", derived.

The Princes’ Islands consist of four major and five minor islands. Ordered west to east (also smallest to largest), the major ones are Kınalıada, Burgaz, Heybeliada, and Büyükada. Apart from these, the only other island of the archipelago with residents is Sedef east of Büyükada. The other minor islands are Tavşan south of Büyükada, Kaşık between Burgaz and Heybeliada, and the duo of Yassıada and Sivriada further out in the sea southwest of Kınalıada; these are all uninhabited, sort-of except Yassıada which was developed as an overbuilt exclusive resort in the 21st century. This article will focus on the four major ones, as public transport to the uninhabited islands is virtually non-existent, and Sedef and Yassıada are mostly private property with limited access.

The islands are an interesting anomaly because they allow for a very rare, albeit incomplete, insight into a multicultural society in modern Turkey, possibly alike to the multicultural society once existed during the Ottoman Empire in places such as nearby Istanbul/Constantinople. Prior to the 1950s, each of the inhabited islands had significant communities of the Turkish ethnic minorities, which still is 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: Kınalıada ("henna island" due to its reddish soil; Greek: Proti, "first", implying its position on the approach from Constantinople) has been the summer retreat of the Armenian community of Istanbul, Burgaz (from Greek pyrgos, "fort tower"; Greek: Antigoni, after Antigonus I Monophthalmus, one of the successors of Alexander the Great and who had that tower built here) was a sleepy Greek village living off fishing, Heybeliada ("saddlebag island", from its geographical form; Greek: Halki, "copper" from its ore mined in antiquity) was the main Turkish settlement of the island group, while Büyükada ("big island", sufficiently descriptive; Greek: Prinkipos, "prince" or "foremost", also descriptive in itself) was mostly favored by local Jews and European residents of Istanbul, although members of all Ottoman / Turkish ethnicities could be encountered on Büyükada. This is partially responsible for the different characters of the islands that lie so close to each other.

These islands prove to be a good day-trip especially when you've had enough of the crowd, noise, and traffic of Istanbul. Quite a shock is what many travellers experience upon their return to the city, when full-blast car horns are still as prevalent as when they departed early in the morning.

The best times to be on the islands is during spring (Apr & May) and autumn (Sep & Oct). During these seasons, the temperature is pleasantly free of the extremes, and the islands are not very crowded. During early spring (around late Mar specifically), the silver wattles are in a yellow flush of their showy bloom, quite iconic to the islands and add to their charms. On the other hand, at summer weekends (Jun to Aug), expect crowds on the islands as well as in the ships. Avoid if you can. During winter (Nov to Mar), the exact opposite is the case. However, if you want to enjoy the islands blanketed by snow and/or in a very gloomy and almost deserted “ghost-town” experience and don’t mind the biting cold, then winter is definitely that season.

If you don’t have time to visit all of the islands, pick Büyükada: it’s undoubtedly the “queen” of the islands.

Online, you may run into various incorrect spellings for the name of the archipelago including the "Prince’s Islands" or the "Princess’ Islands".

Büyükada


Upon getting off the ferry, you’ll recognize the clock at a square just a block up in front of you. This is the main square, and is the focal point of the town centre. Most grocery stores are to your left, and so are the waterfront restaurants. From here, the main roads of the island diverge left (east), right (west) and straight ahead (south) towards the hill and there is a range of narrower streets and alleys connecting these. The main roads join again at Birlik Meydanı ("union square", perhaps because the roads "unite" there), the geographical centre of the island, on a piney plateau between the two main summits. From that square, taking either direction will bring you back to the same square, as the road encircles the southern half of the island, at some distance away and over the sea. The Church of St George is at the end of another, cobbled path uphill from Birlik Meydanı.

There is a large and detailed map of the island posted to the left of the port exit.

From Istanbul
The only way to get here is by sea: whether Istanbul ferries or fast ferries, available at various hours every day. From the European Side of Istanbul, you can take a ferry from either Beşiktaş, Kabataş or Eminönü. On the Asian Side, the piers with a connection to the islands are in Kadıköy, Bostancı, Maltepe and Kartal. The most frequent departures are from Bostancı (especially in winter), which also has private mid-sized boat connection to the islands in addition to liners and fast ferries. See the Asian Side article for an extensive detail of how to get to Bostancı from the more central parts of the city.

A trip on liners takes around 1½ hours from the European Side, and 45 minutes from the Asian Side, and costs about 25 TL one way with Istanbulkart and significantly more without it. Seabus fast ferries (deniz otobüsü) are more than twice as expensive but will get you much faster to the islands and have air conditioning. However their service quits earlier and they run less frequent.

Almost all ferries call at all four major islands in a row when departing from the European Side, so you can also use them for island-hopping. From Bostancı, Mavi Marmara ferries typically go to Büyükada and Heybeliada islands, and the second route to Kınalıada and Burgazada islands (ada = "island"). The island names are not announced by voice inside the ships, but the signs on the quays are large enough. Besides the Mavi Marmara line you find also the city line of ferries (Şehir Hatları) which are larger than the Mavi Marmara ferries which are more like large boats rather than ships.

On the islands
Due to animal welfare issues, the horse-drawn carriages (fayton), which became iconic for the islands, were banned in 2020 and replaced by custom designed electric minibuses with open sides. These are run by the metropolitan transportation authority, İETT, on fixed routes and schedules.

Other than these minibuses, and service vehicles such as ambulances or garbage trucks, any motorized traffic is prohibited on the islands.

Renting a bike is an alternative. The fare was 20 TL per day in 2018. Most renters require you to leave an official identification to be returned after the payment is made. A student ID may suffice. Some renters distribute a road map of the island free of charge, don’t forget to ask for it.

Walking the streets of the islands, past some of the country's most beautiful residential buildings surrounded by well-landscaped gardens, is also a very pleasant alternative.

See




Do

 * Great Tour (Büyük Tur, the full circumference of the island, about 15 km in Büyükada) by bike. The roads are well paved, are scenic, and there are few gradients.
 * Have a picnic in a scenic spot.

Sleep
Most of the islands' accommodation is on Büyükada close to the ferry pier. Some can also be found on Heybeliada.

Stay safe
If you are doing the great tour of Büyükada by bicycle, near the cemetery beware of dogs, which suddenly start barking at and chasing you when you are about to re-enter the built-up area in the east of the island if your tour is counter-clockwise, or after you have just entered the forested section if clockwise. The best reaction is to speed up as much as your legs and the bicycle can endure, as they give up after a certain length of chase. Be particularly careful in winter.

Don’t be fooled by the absence of private motorized vehicles: Always check the road first when crossing a road.

Connect
The telephone code for islands is (+90) 216, shared with the Asian Side. Landline calls to the European Side are "intercity" and require dialling the area code (212).

Go next
If you are not going to stay overnight in the islands, don’t forget to take a note of departure times of ships back to the city before leaving the quay building. Ships are less frequent after the night falls, especially in winter. Generally the most frequent line (and the one with the latest departure) links to Bostancı east of Kadıköy. From Bostancı, you can take dolmuşes and public buses to the European Side, from the stops north of the railway station, as well as the Marmaray suburban rail.

The sea can be rough in spring, autumn and winter, and the islands are sometimes cut off from the outside world when the ferry services are cancelled due to storms and high waves.