Best Of Istanbul In 1 Day

Kemal provided an excellent mix of deep history, current cultural experience and humor! He calibrated the schedule of events over the course of the day to my daughter’s and my interests and energy levels. He provided a deep well of knowledge about the city including additional neighborhoods and sites we could visit on our own so that we could focus our day together on those places where we could best leverage his knowldege. We not only had a highly enlightening day together, we left with a roadmap of our next days of exploring the city. We highly recommend him to others!!

This was an excellent tour from start to finish. The communication before the tour was outstanding. The evening before, we received a WhatsApp message with all of the meeting details, including a short video showing exactly how to walk through the cruise terminal to the meeting point. On the morning of the tour, our guide, Dolu, introduced himself through WhatsApp and sent a friendly reminder to wear comfortable shoes and bring a scarf, which was much appreciated. Our group consisted of only four people, making the experience feel much more personal than a large bus tour. Dolu was knowledgeable, engaging, and had a wonderful sense of humor that kept the day enjoyable. He shared fascinating historical information throughout the tour while encouraging conversation and questions. Although no audio equipment was used, it wasn't necessary with such a small group, and we were able to hear him well throughout the day. The tour does involve a significant amount of walking, as described in the listing, so comfortable shoes are definitely recommended. Lunch was included and was both authentic and delicious. It was a wonderful opportunity to enjoy local cuisine as part of the experience. The tour concluded at the Grand Bazaar, where Dolu took us to a shop he personally recommended. We appreciated being introduced to a local favorite and enjoyed sampling a variety of nuts and teas. My only suggestion for future visitors is to take your time before making any purchases and confirm prices beforehand. Like many busy markets around the world, the sales approach can be enthusiastic, so it's helpful to know exactly what you're buying before committing. One small suggestion for the tour itself would be to build in a scheduled restroom break about midway through the day. While I felt comfortable enough that I could have asked, I think proactively including a brief stop would make the experience even better, especially considering the amount of walking involved. Before our cruise, we had some hesitation about visiting Istanbul. After spending the day with Dolu, those concerns quickly disappeared. We felt comfortable and safe throughout the tour, and having a knowledgeable local guide allowed us to simply enjoy the incredible history, architecture, and culture of the city. Overall, this was a fantastic tour that combined excellent organization, a knowledgeable guide, delicious food, and a truly enjoyable small-group experience. We would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Istanbul.

It was a first time in istanbul. Our guide Kemal Aslan was awesome! He is so knowledge of history and culture. He has a good sense of humor as well. I had such a great time with new friends. Highly recommend!!

We had an amazing day with Kemal Aslan. He took us to all of the places on the list while making a few extra stops that we requested. He shared the history while throwing in humor to keep things from getting overwhelming. We HIGHLY recommend him for anyone looking for a guide who knows the subject but who is flexible enough to keep the tourist happy and engaged.

Great experience with excellent history

Super interesting and varied day with a guide who is very knowledgeable about regional history. Kemal Aslan is probably the best guide we ever worked with anywhere. Friendly and knowledgeable, he adapted the tour to our interests, showed us the unexpected and went above and beyond. Thanks!

We had a really amazing guide and it was a great way to learn the history / architecture of Istanbul. Highly recommended.

I don't write reviews, but I felt compelled to write this one because we had such a great experience. Kemal Aslan with City of Sultans met us at the Galaport terminal entrance and we took a small bus to the Hippodrome area. We then visited the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia and the Grand Bazaar in the morning. After a traditional Turkish lunch which was awesome, we visited a cistern and explored Topkapi Palace in the afternoon. Kemal is so knowledgeable about these site's and explained things in great detail. He speaks superb English and is also fluent in Chinese and knows Russian. He has his Master's degree in East Rome history. Kemal encouraged questions and I learned so much. He is the best guide we've ever had. We plan to look him up when we're back in 2027.

Baris was fantastic! I had an amazing time on the tour and learned a ton and saw a lot of cool sight around Istanbul. Baris was informative, funny, and a great tour guide! Definitely would recommend.

Highly recommend a tour with Kemal who went above and beyond to make the tour special. His knowledge of Istanbul is amazing! Thank you for sharing!! Really appreciate how hard you worked to give each visitor a unique experience.

Tour was great!! Kemal Aslan was our tour guide and he was fantastic! Got to see all of the big sights in the city and he was super knowledgeable. Kemal gave us lots of other recommendations in the city as well. Would definitely recommend!

Mr Kemal Aslan was very knowledgeable and helpful from the beginning till the end of tour. He even went all the way to get me a taxi ride home when there’s alot of drivers that rejected he never gave up and finally got me a ride. He gave me a pleasant memories for Istanbul ❤️

Not what we expected but good in parts. When booking we were informed that the we could be picked up and returned to our hotel neither of which turned out to be true. We received a text message on the day before the trip that the pick up point was another hotel approx. half a mile from ours ( Golden City) and the tour finished in the market from which we took a taxi back to our hotel nearly falling for a rip off fare. On the plus side the tour included a complimentary lunch which we were not expecting. Overall the trip was too long and exhausting for me and even my wife was tired out by the experience.

Had a fantastic time on this tour, highly recommend. Our guide Kemal was fantastic, friendly and his knowledge of the history of Istanbul and the sites we visited was mind blowing. Enjoyed every minute of our Day with Kemal. Thank you Wendy and Amanda

Wonderful full day tour of Istanbul with Kemal! Excellent overview of history with interesting stories of the people involved. Kemal was flexible and attentive to the group’s needs. Would recommend him

Great to Experience some of the history of Istanbul and taste some of the local food. The tour guide was very knowledgeable.

This is a good tour. Our guide, Baris, was friendly and knowledgeable, and he took good care of us. After you're done with the tour, you will have seen the main tourist attractions. But you will have walked 12,000 steps. Wear comfortable shoes, bring water, and be prepared to be tired at the end of the day. You will need 3,600 Turkish Lira or 90 US Dollars in cash per person for entrance fees. The guide has bought the tickets in advance, so there's no wait to buy tickets, but you're going to have to reimburse him/her for the cost. They'll take Dollars, Euros, or Lira.

Our tour guide, Baris was knowledgeable and timely. I highly recommend him. The tour captured everything listed on the itinerary.

I doubt that everyone booking this tour will get Alec as their guide; but, if he is representative of the guides - you will not be disappointed. He had a great sense of humor, was knowledgeable about Istanbul, and made the tour so memorable. You could tell he was proud of his city, country, and heritage.

Great tour guide - we visited Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topakapi Palace, and Grand Bazaar. My only complaint were crowds (maybe i will come in Jan/Feb) and high cost of visiting Topakapi (50 euros).

Well organised and well informed tour guide. Some extra charges apply for entry to some of the sights.

Mr. Baris was so interesting and knowledgeable about Turkey. Totally loved the experience. Only problem was not prepared for cash Turkish Lire for one and Euros for other tickets for admission that weren't mentioned when signed up. Had to scurry to get to ATMs to have ready.

We thought this was a tour around in an air conditioned vehicle. Instead we had to walk to the meeting point and it was a walking tour which we had no interest in doing

Doing a tour (vs touring on your own) is well worth it! This is a walking tour so the historic sites are next to each other but the group tour lets you skip the lines (VERY important for Hague Sophia) and the tour guide brings so much more meaning to what you are seeing....it seems a waste of money for the high entrance fees (you must pay out of pocket for entry fees) without having someone share the history. Grand Bazaar is closed on Sundays so don't do this tour on Sunday!

The tour guide was terrific-very knowledgeable, answered questions, adapted the schedule to the wishes of the group.

I loved that we were picked up at our hotel. The ease of the beginning helped start the day. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable. The tour was very thorough.

Ali our guide was absolutely amazing! Ali noted my disability and took good care of me. His knowledge.of the culture and history is outstanding. Ali has a wonderful sense of humour which we thoroughly enjoyed. We wilo be recommending him to our travel agent! I would 100% do another tour with Ali

Our tour guide was exceptional and knowledgeable about History and told us many stories about Ottoman Empire, Constantine and Byzantine etc. We left Grand Bazar part and preferred Cistern Basilica on our own

Our tour guide Mr. Barish was excellent and very well knowladble guide explaining all the details of every place we visited. Thank you so much, Mr. Barish and hope to meet you again.

The guide was knowledgeable but talked a lot that we got bored. The description of the tour didn’t mention all walking it indicated air conditioned cars, I have bad knees, I couldn’t wLk and stand for a long time.

The guide picked us up on time by the cruise port. The small group made it easier to see the sites. Our tour guide was informative, helpful and professional. We had a filled and enjoyable day. It required lots of walking, but it's the only way to see all the sites.

Day was fabulous. Tons of great information. Knowledgeable your guide. Would highly recommend. Our guide Baris made the experience!

Great tour guide Ali who’s very knowledgeable to provide details of each place visited. This is our 2nd time we booked with Viator and always trusted their choice of tour operators. Will definitely book tour on this website again.

Amazing tour with a very knowledgeable and friendly guide. Lunch was included and it was tasty. The only change was not going to the grand bazaar because it was closed on Sunday. However, our guide pointed us to the Arasti and Spice Bazaar to visit on our own. Pick up and drop off was a huge plus. Just remember if you requested both pick up and drop off to remind them. The driver waited until I was done shopping to take me back to my hotel. Highly recommend this tour.

This tour is highly priced... All the places shown to us were very much nearby each other... (just in vacinity on 200-300mt.) hence once the pickup vehical drop you at 1st location you have to visit each places in walking tour only.... Insted i will recommond to book a walking tour with guide is more cheaper (approx.40-50$) and arrange your pickup-drop to location by local taxy.

Great walking tour! Our guide, Baris, was excellent! He speaks English very well and was easy to understand. He is knowledgeable about all the places visited on this tour and having the background information made each visit more meaningful. I had a short amount of time in Istanbul, so this tour worked out perfectly. I was able to see popular places without wasting time. We had a small group of 8 people. Hotel pick up was helpful, too.

Our guide, Ali, was the best. Very friendly and knowledgeable. That ok us to the places we wanted to see and made great suggestions for other sites and also lunch.

Stopped at TOO many places trying to get you to buy stuff.. wasting valuable time where we can visit more places

No lo recomiendo ya que avisaron a menos de 24 horas antes del tour que no tenían guía turístico en español, cuando fue comprado con meses de anticipación. No hablo ingles y no disfrute nada el recorrido ya que no entendía lo que hablaban I do not recommend it since they notified less than 24 hours before the tour that they did not have a tourist guide in Spanish, when it was purchased months in advance. I do not speak English and I did not enjoy the tour at all since I did not understand what they were speaking

Shame they were doing up the Blue Mosque but it was worth a visit for what the guide told us. Loved the other places we visited especially Topkapi Palace. Be aware there is a lot of walking and steps involved so it might be better to book a private tour if you have mobility problem. Our guide was very friendly and spoke good English!

We had a fantastic day in Istanbul. Our guide accompanied us competently at all the sights and was happy to answer all of our questions. We got a good overview of the history of Istanbul.

Hagia Sophia was awesome ! It’s a must visit place. Blue mosque and grand bazaar were quite nice too.

Getting to know the history, culture interacting with different shop owners who were really passionate about what they had to offer. Mehmet was our guide who was extremely helpful and showed us his favorite places that became our own.

The tour was fantastic. Plenty of time to see the sights. Stopped for lunch at a small restaurant and it was very affordable. Our guide was very knowledgeable!

I left Mehmet to guid me and told him to do it on his Way. It was super interesting. My soon that is 12 Years Old was very interesting in everthing what he said. We were very privilige to have him to as guid.

Mehmet was very informative. Explained everything well in English. Overall amazing experience for me! Very glad I booked this tour and got to see the beauty of Istanbul.

Amazing tour by met, driver amazing and customer service unreal, we will be sure to book this trip again in the summer. Love Instanbul and its people. Would also like to mention this companies people are so honest, my wife left her phone on the transport bus at the end, the driver couldn't do enough and returned it to our hotel in good time. Amazing and we are so lucky, thanks again.

It was a great and interesting experience with our guide Mehmet. We would recommend this tour, you can see all the important sights within a short time frame.

Mehmet was an excellent tour guide. We really enjoyed the architecture and the historical background around all the beautiful mosques and palace. Topkapi was our favourite to see. Thank you for an excellent tour Mehmet.