Bozcaada Island Turkey
Turkey

32 Cruises availables At departure or passage at this port

Oceania Cruises (16 Cruises)

Regent Seven Seas Cruises (11 Cruises)

Star Clippers (5 Cruises)


Frequently Asked Questions

It doesn't dock: ships anchor offshore and tenders land passengers in the small harbour, right beneath the citadel towers. The crossing is short and makes the finest of preludes: the mass of stone growing closer, the red roofs of the town, the hills striped with vineyards.
The town, yes, entirely. For the coves and the wine estates you need a vehicle: minibuses, taxis, scooters and rental bikes wait in town. The whole island seems designed to slow you down, and that is the right frame of mind for the call.
A remarkably preserved castle whose present appearance owes most to Ottoman rebuilding. Genoese, Venetians, Byzantines and Ottomans held this strategic rock in turn. You cross the moat, climb the curtain walls and look down on the chequerboard of roofs on one side, and on the other the strait with its passing cargo ships.
Bozcaada is the ancient Tenedos of the Homeric poems. It was behind this island that the Greek fleet is said to have hidden while Troy, on the coast opposite, took the wooden horse inside its walls. The island has guarded the entrance to the Dardanelles for as long as there has been history here.
Yes, it is the island's signature. The hills are striped with vineyards and the estates can be visited by vehicle from town. You'll also find pekmez, the grape syrup poured over island desserts, which travels easily in a suitcase.
The fortress first, an hour is enough though it's easy to linger, then the town's two quarters and a fish lunch on the quay. With more time, rent a scooter or take a taxi out to a cove and a wine estate.
It is historically divided between the old Greek quarter, with stone houses and flower-hung corbelled windows, and the Turkish quarter, with tighter lanes around the mosque. The church of the Panagia still bears witness to the Greek community that lived here for centuries.
Handmade jams, scented soaps and pekmez, sold in the restored houses of the town. The island's wine travels less easily but is best tasted on the spot. None of it is mass-produced: this is an island of small makers, not souvenir shops.
It is part of the setting: it runs across the vines, lifts the dust from the tracks and pushes waves against the ramparts. It is also what can compromise the anchorage and the tenders. A tender call at the mouth of the Dardanelles always depends on the day's weather.
The Turkish lira, with cash for small producers, taxis and scooter rentals. Turkish is spoken; English works in the town's cafés and guesthouses, less so elsewhere. The island lives mainly on Turkish domestic tourism, which explains the difference from Bodrum or Kuşadaşı.