Highlights & Hidden Gems With Locals: Best Of Istanbul Private Tour

Walking tour of Istanbul for us included mostly hidden gems on our request (we have been to Istanbul many times). Our guide took us to a secret garden and a less well know cistern which was super nice. He was knowledgeable, super nice, very accommodating ! Excellent communication. Could not have asked for a better or more flexible experience.

An outstanding introduction to Istanbul! Emre was a great host – very personable and accommodating, and armed with a deep knowledge of the area’s history and culture. Before the tour started, he bought us coffee and sat with us for 15 minutes to provide some background info and understand how he should tailor the tour to meet our preferences and make the most of our time together. His introductions to each site we visited (Hippodrome, Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern, gardens of Topkapi Palace) made everything much more meaningful and enjoyable. Highly recommended!

We loved our street art tour with Alp. He was very knowledgeable, sharing about Istanbul as well as the street art. The art was always interesting, sometimes beautiful, and sometimes provocative. Alp very considerately planned for breaks during the tour. If you are interested in art, politics, and protests and you like to walk. This is a great tour for you.

We went on STREET ART TOUR ISTANBUL! Alp was knowledgeable, friendly and accommodating. The murals were captivating and intentional. The community is filled with amazing cafes, galleries, bars, shop. It gave a modern peek into a vastly complicated and old city.

Gülce, of WithLocals, was very knowledgeable about Istanbul and the history of Turkey. She braved the cold (it’s snowing in Istanbul!), tailored the tour to our interests, impressed us with the depth of her knowledge, and gave us a lot of good practical advice for visiting Istanbul.

We were looking for a reason to explore the Asian side of Istanbul, and found this tour. We're so glad we did it! We had a wonderful afternoon with Alp - his tour is more than just street art, we went to a couple of local cafes, learned about culture and history, and even got some great shopping tips. Alp is a friendly, knowledgeable guy, and adjusted the pace where we wanted to stay a bit longer & take photos, or move on to the next things. I can't recommend this tour highly enough!!

I honestly don’t know where to start. Dilek was amazing and it was like I was learning about the city from a friend. Her communication, from the moment I set up the tour until the moment I met her was fabulous. We chatted and got to know each other. She arranged for me to have transportation and it was the best decision! Dilek’s in depth knowledge of Istanbul is second to none, and we had wonderful conversations wandering the cobblestone streets lined with cafes and restaurants. We were able to see the Hagia Sofia, Cisterns, Spice Market, old city, new city, galata port, and so much more! I fell in love with Istanbul in large part because of Dilek. I didn’t just have a tour. I explored an amazing city with a friend, and made memories that will last me forever.

We had a wonderful time in Istanbul with Ahmet. He showed us around the main city attractions and explained in detail the (many!) historical events that took place over the various places visited (Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Basilica Cisterns, Grand Bazaar, etc.). This was definitely the highlight of our trip and we'd encourage anyone visiting to benefit from Ahmet's lovely personnality, humor, good mood and wealth of knowledge by booking a tour.

Dilek is a great guide to Istanbul and comes with a very pleasant personality. She is knowledgeable, smart and easily flexible to provide a tailor-made experience. And if shopping in Istanbul is your thing: she can assist there as well!

Emere was great. He took us to the usual places and also to of the beaten path streets and restaurants for a local flavor. Highly recommend him.

This was our first time in Istanbul, and booking a tour with Oguz on our very first day was the best decision we made! He is very knowledgeable and passionate about the city, with amazing knowledge about local history, architecture, and much more. He also went out of his way to customise our experience- we got to take a nice break in a local tea shop which was perfect. A must do when you’re in the city.

I booked a private tour for two with Mine (pronounced long I, short e) to see Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and the Basilica Cistern. As these were the places we wanted to see. It was fantastic. I should note that she will customize the tour to match your request. Prior to and after booking, I had a number of questions and she responded quickly and clearly using the withlocals chat tool. Her background and expert knowledge provided us with a clear, historical description of each location and her English was excellent. She provided clear instructions how to get to our meeting location from the Cruise Port. Lastly, as a licensed guide, we were able to skip the line so we had very little wait time. When visiting Istanbul, I would highly recommend Mine as your tour guide.

My daughter and I really enjoyed this street art tour! First, you get to see a really wonderful neighborhood in Istanbul on the Asia side and a different slice of life that is less touristy. Second, there are some great street murals and history behind them. Third, Alp is super personable and an excellent guide. He even made a detour to take us to two comic book stores because of my daughter's interest. Highly recommend!

Kadir is so knowledgeable of the rich history in Istanbul! We loved that he shared small details that are easy to miss along with past and current customs of the Turkish people. Kadir’s delightful personality is infectious, he made the tour feel like a fun adventure. Our 23 year old autistic daughter is still talking about how much she enjoyed Kadir. We highly recommend Kadir, you will have just as much fun as we did; Guarenteed!

Ahmet is a perfect example of what a local guide should be - not young, but experienced; delicate, yet persistent. He knows Istanbul like a back of his hand and always at your service if you need extra story. And as an experienced and professional tour guide he knows a pack of stories which you will never get from an audio guide. Thank you, Ahmet! I highly recommend this guy to those who want to dive deeper than Cistern :-)

We are a group of three friends who spent the day on a walking tour of Old Town Istanbul with Abdullah. He is the best! In a city of millions, we never walked far without Abdullah knowing someone. He took us into the city’s hidden gems where we tasted meat roasting on a spit, watched silversmiths do their craft, had amazing rooftop views, drank chai with the locals in a 400 year old establishment, ate an incredible kabob lunch, toured the Cistern, Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar, and the Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent. Abdullah is like a walking history book and shares his knowledge, wisdom, and humor in such a personable way. Spending our first day in Istanbul with Abdullah was a great decision. We had so much fun!

Mine was very knowledgeable and personable. She made sure we saw what was important to us. Her recommendation of a restaurant was 5 star. We recommend her without reservatio.

Tolga, our guide, was very knowledgable, polite and an interesting person. We have learned a lot about the history of the Istanbul and Turkey. We visited beautiful sights, didn’t have to stay in a ticket line which was very convenient. Having a guide line Tolga Kinas while visiting famous sights is worth it 100%. It was a pleasant walk, and we enjoyed it very much!

Mine was excellent. She was extremely knowledgeable about history and art, and was even great for shopping tips in the Grand Bazaar. She was energetic, kind, and fun. We highly recommend her!

Mine was incredibly knowledgeable. She really organized the tour to suit our schedule. Would definitely choose her for another tour in Istanbul.

When you have a 9 hour layover in Istanbul what do you do? You go on a tour with a local! Since my layover didn’t fit into the airport’s scheduled tours I booked my own private tour with Emre and it was worth it! No tour truly begins without Turkish coffee. As I arrived after my very long taxi ride, I found a lovely coffee shop that Emre joined me at. We both enjoyed some of the finest Ottoman coffee, and with a cortado, I was jolted awake and ready to explore. Having someone who knew Istanbul very well, Emre was able to quickly adapt the tour to fit my interests and schedule. We got to see the iconic sites like Hagia Sophia, Basilica Cistern and the Blue Mosque but I also got to try Turkish food I hadn’t had before like durum and simit. Just by pointing out cuisine that was interesting to me, Emre immediately knew were to go. And boy did he know the right places! I can still taste how good the food was! Next time, I’ll be taking a food tour with Emre!

Oguz was really knowledgable and flexible with what I wanted to see - from sites to local shopping and food . Be prepared for a lot of walking and experiencing the local transport - boat across the Bosphorus and trams and vehicular train to the Galata Tower. It was an incredible day and Oguz is highly recommended.

We were a party of four (age ranging from early 60’s to mid 70’s). Our tour with Gulce was everything we had hoped for and more. She is extremely knowledgeable and very efficient. We were able to see everything on our “must see” list in Istanbul. We would highly recommend a tour with her. Thank you so very much Gulce (Rose), we hope to be back to your beautiful city.

The tour with Dilek was wonderful. She in contact the night before and the morning of our tour. She was informative, knowledgable, funny, patient and kind. We had a great time!

The absolute best way to be introduced to this fantastic city. Esra was great communicating with us about what we would like to do, see, where to meet, flexible timing - couldn’t be happier. 
It is so worth paying for a private registered qualified guide. 

Unfortunately on the morning, Esra was unwell, however the professional she is - arranged a colleague to cover for her with the same arrangements and had briefed her colleague well. Esra was very good at communicating to us about the last minute change - it was a shame not to meet her in person but I’d have no hesitation booking her again. 

The tour with did was so fun, interesting and the best way to skip the queues, manage our time, get local tips on where to eat, what else to do on our second day. We loved our time in Istanbul. 

Absolutely recommend !!

Lovely to meet Delik for our Historic tour of Istanbul , we went with Deliks recommendations as the day went on so much knowledge and so many steps . Missing the long lines and revisiting later in the day. We thoroughly enjoyed our day with Delik . Highly recommend.

Nihal Soyadi was an incredible guide! Istanbul can be overwhelming but she guided us through the Hippodrome, Blue Mosque and Cistern, providing vast historical information and tailoring the guide to our interests as we went, to provide a very positive experience.She gave us a tip about using the fellow who sells “Skip the ticket line” at Hagia Sophia which we later used. We most cherished her knowledge of Turkish history, her willingness to discuss her experiences as a local and her openness to all questions and topics. She made a profound difference for me on the cultural aspects of this city and culture. She knew the best spots for the greatest photos. Of course she helped us skip lines for Cistern and Blue Mosque, had detailed knowledge of each while we visited and introduced us to a restaurant (Khorosani)we visited twice during our stay. I strongly recommend doing this at the start of your stay to make Istanbul more approachable for the rest of your time there. Simply outstanding!! Thank you.

Our guide Emre personalised our tour to exactly what we wanted. We wanted to see a little off of the tourist routes as well as some of the more popular popular sights. Emre was friendly, knowledgeable and professional. We had booked a 3 hour tour, but this was not rushed and actually lasted over 3 and a half hours. Emre also made recommendations for other places to visit and eat. A great tour led by a great guide.

Ahmet provided us with a most enjoyable and informative start to our first visit to Istanbul. Clear directions to the meeting point were appreciated, as was Ahmet’s little stories which gave colour to Istanbul’s key sites and history. We would highly recommend a private tour with Ahmet.

Neslihan was amazing. From start to finish, she led an excellent tour, knew all the ins and outs and was able to guide locations in great detail. We hit all the main ‘big’ touristy spots, but she also took me to some super great local establishments that you would definitely not notice if you were on your own! I would absolutely recommend Neslihan, she is a gem!

Oguz was a great guide and highly recommended. He arrived promptly and it was evident he had a passion for his role and good knowledge of Istanbul history and culture. As a group we thought he went the extra mile. Thank you Oguz

Fantastic and informative time spent with Gulce, who gave us a great overview of Istanbul and provided recommendations for us

We had such a lovely time in Istanbul and Mine made the experience even better! She is very knowledgeable in history and shared so many interesting facts. We were a very curious group and we asked a lot of questions, which Mine answered with care and patience. She was also very accommodating to the needs of the group. Mine had to be flexible with our tour group since we had two babies doing the tour with us. She really went the extra mile and made our experience unique and pleasant. We are thankful for that.

Gülce was wonderful. She tailors to your needs and tried to cover as much as possible without compromising on the value spent at each highlight. Some of the lesser known information about the sites were fascinating.

My wife and I recently visited Istanbul for the first time and booked a Highlights and Hidden Gems Tour for our first day with Neslihan. This proved to be a great decision. She met us in the old part of town, Sultanahmet, close to many of the historical buildings. Not only did she take us around some of the highlights and point out many others she introduced us to the Public Transport system and the process for obtaining a transit card , which we used throughout our stay. She made suggestions on areas, sights and restaurants to visit for the balance of our stay and provided, during the tour, insight that ranged from the historical to the current day. Neslihen gave us the grounding to get the best out of our stay and I have absolutely no reservation about whole heartedly recommending her as a tour guide for any upcoming Istanbul visit.

We had a wonderful tour with Kadir. He moved us smoothly through crowded areas all the while highlighting the important points to take note of. Kadir's explanations helped make sense of the sights and connected different places in time. Kadir also offered some wonderful tips and advice for touring the rest of the city on our own. We followed his great advice and he was not wrong! Our only regret was that Kadir was booked up on following days and we could not tour with him a second time this trip. Not to worry, we will be back. See you then Kadir and many thanks!

Emre was a fantastic guide. Our tour was just what we wanted and he spent time at the beginning understanding what we were after in the Tour. His knowledge and the way he presented it was engaging and made the time fly by. We learnt so much on the day and our only regret was that we didn’t use him for some of the other tours we did. Thoroughly recommend Emre (we’ve told our son and his wife who are coming to Turkey to reach out to Emre) for anyone who is interested in the fascinating history of Istanbul and its sites presented in a way that is easy to understand. And the hidden gem he showed us was fantastic. Finally, post the tour he sent links to a bunch of things including some really good restaurants that we took advantage of. Superb food! Next time we’re back in Istanbul we will be definitely booking Emre (if he’s available).

The guide changed the plan, gave us options and stayed longer to ensure we covered everything we wanted to. Ahmed is a professional, knowledgeable and accommodating guide.

Very happy we got Emre to show us around. He is incredibly knowledgeable about Turkish history, but also the tricks and hacks of visiting the big sites (avoiding crowds, finding spots with a breeze, etc).

Delink went above and beyond to give me a wonderful experience and introduction to Istanbul. So knowledgeable and friendly, and tailored the tour to suit me. Thank you Dilek

Istanbul is very crowdy, I chose Alp for a Street art tour, in a nice neighbourhood at the Asian side. Lively but not too crowdy. He surprised me everytime with Street art you would not see walking alone. With that as the red line he expalined and told a lot about Istanbul history and present. And we have a love in common, comic books, so we ended at a comic store. I've learned a lot and it was pleasant. So yes, I can say, have a walk with Alp and enjoy Istanbul from a more relaxed way. Thank you Alp

Our tour with Emre was even better than we expected! He personalized it to us, offering even more ideas than we had thought of. It was the perfect balance between a deep historical overview of the history of Turkey & Istanbul and an exploration of the current existing sites and their hidden marvels. Emre was fun and interesting and patiently answered our many (many) questions with thoughtful answers and fun related stories, demonstrating a deep historical knowledge accompanied his amiable and engaging personality. We highly recommend you take a tour with Emre and hopefully will do so again when we return to Istanbul!

An unforgettable day in Istanbul. Even with the limitations of the cruise stopover, we enjoyed both the Bosphorus tour (magnificent explanations) and the city tour (the stop at the Grand Bazaar was very good). Thank you very much Esra (I hope there will be another time with fewer limitations)

We did our Istanbul tour with Gülce, it was our first time in the city and this was the perfect way to start our stay! Highly recommend to take this tour.. Gülce was fantastic she explained history of the city and showed us around the main highlights we would not have been able to appreciate just doing it on our own! She also had a lot of great tips for us for the rest of our days here! We truly enjoyed our time!

Esra was everything we could ask for and more. Great info, great time, great insight. Brought us to an amazing local restaurant with the best baklava ice cream sandwich ever. She knows everything and can do everything you ask/want. Book and you will not regret!

Ahmet Can was an excellent guide, he met us at our hotel which was far from Sultan Ahmet and took us there via public transport. That was a great help. The tour was well thought out and he was very knowledgeable.and obliging. Highly recommended!

The street art tour is the second tour we've done with Alp (also did the 10 tastings tour 2 years ago). Alp is a warm, engaging and interesting guy who kept our family (2 18yo lads) entertained. The street art was fascinating and great to visit residential areas a tourist might never see. Alp's recommendations were spot on for lunch as well.

I booked this tour for a Friday which is Jumu'ah (prayer day). Many mosques had lot of locals for praying and tourists for visiting. I modified the visit, we went to Topkapi palace, then to Sulemaniyeh mosque which had mostly locals. We walked around the Grand Bazar, Galata bridge, Kadakoy and all over the streets around Sultanahmet. Abdullah has traveled extensively around the world, he is able to narrate stories and tales in a way that makes sense to foreigners. I will book him for future trips.

We enjoyed our three-hour tour of Istanbul with Ahmet, who loves the city's history and speaks excellent English. We saw the Hagia Sofia, the Blue Mosque, the ancient circus and the Cistern. Great memories.