Best of Istanbul 1, 2 or 3-Day Private Guided Istanbul Tour

4.9
(1931 Reviews)

About this activity

Smartphone tickets accepted
Duration: from 7 to 21 hours
English
This activity has EXCEPTIONAL reviews
Immediate confirmation
FREE Cancellation
From
£158 £144
FREE Cancellation
No hidden fees
  • Your booking is confirmed immediately
  • This activity is available in your language
  • This option includes FREE cancellation—book now, risk-free!

Experience Highlights

Visit highlights of Istanbul with your private tour guide in 1, 2 or 3 days with a flexible itinerary. Day 1 - Highlights of Topkapi Palace Museum, Byzantine Hippodrome / Sultanahmet Square, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Grand Bazaar. Day 2 - Bosphorus Cruise by Public Ferry, Dolmabahce Palace, Taksim Square, Istiklal Street, Cicek Passage, Galata Tower (from outside), Spice Market. Day 3 - Suleymaniye Mosque, Fener and Balat Districts, St. Stephen Church (Iron Church), Pierre Lotti Panoramic Hill by Cable Car, Chora Church (or alternative sites). Important Notes: - Skip the line service is not available for active mosques - there is a queue for the entrance. - If one of the mosques is not visited, Basilica Cistern will be visited as a replacement. - For the tours that start later than 11 am, kindly note that you may have to skip one/a couple of sites as the sites are closed by 7 pm. Your guide will adjust the program according to your priorities.

What’s included

  • Professional Licensed Guide
  • Private tour
  • Guide meets you at central hotels
  • Transportation (from/back to hotel, between sites unless van is booked)

Select participants and date

Step by Step

Sultanahmet District
Hippodrome Square / Atmeydanı
Hippodrome; where the chariot races were held in the Roman Empire times, Egyptian Column from Byzantine Empire time and today German Fountain is the main cornerstone of the square of Ottoman Empire.
Germa Fountain / Alman Çeşmesi
Sultanahmet Square
Hagia Sophia Museum / Ayasofya / Santa Sofia
Built in the 6th century by Emperor Justinian, played a very important role in the Christian and Islamic World. After the Ottoman conquest the bells, altar, iconoclastic, and sacrificial vessels were removed, and many of the mosaics were eventually plastered over to convert the church into a mosque then a museum and now it’s a mosque for the second time. The most important stop of an Istanbul tour is operated in Old City Istanbul / Constantinople.

*Please note that as it's not a museum anymore, tour guides don't have skip-the-line priority there. You may need to wait in the security line, in order to avoid queues we suggest departing at 8:30am or 9:00am.
Blue Mosque / Sultanahmet Camii
Built in the early 1600s for Sultan Ahmet I of the Ottoman Empire, the Blue Mosque is truly a magnificent masterpiece of architecture with amazingly delicate proportions for a building of such massive scale.
Grand Bazaar / Kapalı Çarşı
One of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world with over 4,000 shops with colorful products of ceramic, leather, rugs, carpets, handicrafts, clothes, silver, and gold.
Bosphorus Cruise by Public Ferry or Private Cruise ( if option is chosen)
Take the public ferry for Bosphorus Cruise to see both Istanbul’s European and Asian sides, Galata Tower, Dolmabahce Palace, Beylerbeyi Palace, the Rumeli Fortress, old Ottoman villas, Bosphorus bridges, mosques. Your best Istanbul tour memories will definitely include the Bosphorus.
Dolmabahce Palace / Dolmabahçe Sarayı
Elegance and beauty with the most luxury decoration, chandeliers, rugs, crystals, ceramic fireplaces. Beautiful palace, right on the Bosphorus with gorgeous furnishings, paintings, porcelains made in particular to Dolmabahce.
Taksim Square / Taksim Meydanı
A great place defining modern Turkey which witnessed important historical moments. Close to Istiklal Street (Istiklal Caddesi) and Galata Tower along with embassies of European countries in Taxim. Cicek Passage has very good food joints, cafes, shops, bars, night clubs around Taksim.
Topkapi Palace Museum / Topkapı Sarayı
More than just an Imperial Residence of Ottoman Sultans, it was the seat of the Supreme Executive and Judiciary Council for almost 400 years long. Topkapi Palace is a great monument of Oriental architecture which resembles the power of the Ottoman Empire.
Istiklal Street is the modern and colorful face of Turkey with churches, modern art galeries, embassies, pubs, cafes and shops selling different kind of products.
We will see the tower FROM OUTSIDE, due to the regulations unfortunately tour guides don't have skip the line priority here so it takes long time to wait queue. Your tour guide will make you explanation about tower.
Spice Market / Mısır Çarşısı
Egyptian Bazaar is a colorful indoor bazaar and has lots of shops offering a variety of spices, purses, flavored teas, Turkish delight, nuts, as well as ceramics, and small souvenirs. Spice Bazaar is located in Eminonu Square which is the connection point of Bosphorus and Golden Horn.
Cicek Passage / Flower Passage
Originally named as Cite de Pera, a combined structure of traditional and modern construction methods and architectural style by Ottoman Empire is reflected and today we see the small shops and cafes here.
Suleymaniye Mosque / Süleymaniye Camii is the largest mosque in Istanbul and is as impressive on the inside as it is on the outside. In the garden behind the mosque, the Suleymaniye terrace offers lovely views of the Golden Horn and Bosphorus.
Fener-Balat Neighborhood backstreet walk
Continue exploring Istanbul’s rich religious history with a stop at the Church of St. George. Since the 1600s, the church has been the location of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and is recognized as the spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Religion.
Balat District; lines of drying laundry stretch across steep, winding streets. Century-old Ottoman houses lean against each other in a combination of reds, blues, and greens. And art galleries and design shops dot the area along the water.
Orthodox Patriarch
Historic Areas of Istanbul
Pierre Loti Hill and Cable Car are some of the most popular sights to visit since it offers great views for visitors. Take the cable car to reach the top and enjoy the beautiful scenery while sipping your Turkish coffee or tea.
Formerly Church of St. Saviour in Chora is renowned worldwide for its well-preserved mosaics and frescoes. It presents important and beautiful examples of East Roman painting in its last period. The idea of depth in mosaics and the moving style in figures are of outstanding artistic significance in the Middle Ages, foretelling the Renaissance period.
Golden Horn region which is one of the oldest settlements of the city of Constantinople.
St. Stephen Church; Located on the shore of the Golden Horn, the church is also known as the Iron Church due to the fact that it’s made entirely of prefabricated cast iron in 19th century.

Reviews

4.9
· 1931 Reviews
  • V
    V.
    5
    (0 Reviews)
    Our family toured 2 days with Merve in Istanbul. She met us at Conrad, gave us a quick rundown of our itinerary. We toured the hippodrome, the blue mosque, aghia sophia, grand bazaar, spice bazaar, basilica cistern and tokapi museum over rhe next 2 days. She spoke perfect english and was borh knowledgeable and passionate abt turkish history and culture. We understood so many new facets of turkish history from her going back to the ottoman empire to ww2 and after. Amazing.... She also shared with us recent turkish political devts and the economics and inflation afflicting turkey. Strongly recommend to book her way in advance.
  • E
    E. D.
    5
    (0 Reviews)
    What an amazing day! In just short amount of time we saw all the major attractions while also learning about everythig that makes Istanbul a great city. There were three of us including one elderly family member and Ozan our guide catered to every need beyond what we expected. This made our trip truly outstanding and we are so very grateful.
  • T
    T. M.
    5
    (0 Reviews)
    We had Fatma as our guide and she is great. She was on time in meeting us, very knowledgeable about the history of each of the key sights, meticulous about pointing out the interesting facts, and very patient and flexible with the agenda. She’s also very friendly and generous with her recommendations about the city. Highly recommend this private tour!
  • B
    B.
    5
    (0 Reviews)
    Merve was a great guied. Very flexible. Took here time. Made you feel very welcomed and comfortable. Hugely knowledgeable. Definitely recommend
  • See more

    Departure and Return

    Other Things You Should Know

    Cancellation Policy