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Offered languages
- German
- English
- French
- Spanish
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
Meeting and pickup
*If van service is not booked your guide will pick you up ONLY at centrally located hotels or Galataport ON FOOT. The meeting point will be the German Fountain if the hotel is not centrally located and not accessible by public transportation. **If private van service is booked, we pick up from all central hotels, please note that there will be a surcharge if your hotel is outside the city center or on the Asian Side. ***Tours that are booked without van service could easily be operated by tram, funicular and ferries. ****Tours starting from the airports should be booked with van service and additional payment is required as the airports are outside the pick-up zone.
Contact details of your tour guide will be provided ahead of your trip. This will allow you to get in touch directly to clarify any questions, confirm meeting points, or coordinate arrival times.
Itinerary
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1Sultanahmet District
Sultanahmet District
15 minutes • Admission ticket free -
2Hippodrome
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.
15 minutes • Admission ticket free -
3German Fountain
Germa Fountain / Alman Çeşmesi
15 minutes • Admission ticket free -
4Sultanahmet Square
Sultanahmet Square
15 minutes • Admission ticket free -
5Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque
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.
1 hour • Admission ticket not included -
6Blue Mosque
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.
1 hour • Admission ticket free -
7Grand Bazaar
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.
1 hour • Admission ticket free -
8Bosphorus Strait
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.
2 hours • Admission ticket not included -
9Dolmabahce Palace
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.
1 hour • Admission ticket not included -
10Taksim Square
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.
1 hour • Admission ticket free -
11TopkapI Palace
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.
2 hours • Admission ticket not included -
12Istiklal Caddesi
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.
45 minutes • Admission ticket free -
13Galata Tower
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.
10 minutes • Admission ticket not included -
14Misir Carsisi (Spice Market)
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.
45 minutes • Admission ticket free -
15Cicek Pasaji
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.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free -
16Suleymaniye Mosque
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.
1 hour • Admission ticket free -
17Balat
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.
2 hours • Admission ticket free -
18Fener Rum Patrikhanesi
Orthodox Patriarch
45 minutes • Admission ticket free -
19Historic Areas of Istanbul
Historic Areas of Istanbul
10 minutes • Admission ticket free -
20Pierre Loti Tepesi
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.
30 minutes • Admission ticket not included -
21Chora Museum
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.
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission ticket not included -
22Halic
Golden Horn region which is one of the oldest settlements of the city of Constantinople.
30 minutes • Admission ticket not included -
23Bulgarian Orthodox Church
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.
45 minutes • Admission ticket free
Additional info
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- The suggested first-day tour is designed as a walking tour, with transportation needed only between the hotel and the Old Town if the hotel is outside old town.
Show 8 more
Additional info
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- The suggested first-day tour is designed as a walking tour, with transportation needed only between the hotel and the Old Town if the hotel is outside old town.
- The suggested second-day tour can be easily managed by public transportation
- Topkapi Palace is closed on Tuesdays can be replaced with alternatives such as Turkish And Islamic Arts Museum or Archaeological Museum or Basilica Cistern.
- If one of the mosques or museums is not visited, Basilica Cistern will be visited as a replacement.
- Grand Bazaar is closed on Sundays and replaced with Spice Market.
- Dolmabahce Palace is closed on Mondays. Due to museum regulations, live guide service is not available at Dolmabahce Palace.
- 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.
- On Fridays, Blue Mosque will be visited in the afternoon.
- Grand Bazaar and Spice Market is closed during Eid. (March 20-22, May 27-30 in 2026)
Tags
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Show more
Cancellation Policy
- For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
- If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
- Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Rating
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
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