The ticket is included if you choose the “with entry ticket” option. Meaning Divine Wisdom, Hagia Sophia was the largest building on earth barring the Egyptian Pyramids or the Great Wall of China. Today's Hagia Sophia was built by the Emperor Justinian in 537AD. It was the religious center of the city during the Byzantine period. It was used as a church for 916 years and as a mosque for 481 years, In 1934, by the order of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, it was converted into a museum and has since been open to the visitors.
Built by the Ottoman Sultan Ahmet I in the year 1616, it is located opposite the Hagia Sophia. Blue mosque today is one of the most famous landmarks of the old city with its famous six minarets and magnificent dome. Although it is officially named Sultanahmet Mosque,, the (nıck) name Blue Mosque was given to it by the visitors because of the amazing blue tiles decorating the interior walls.
Built by the Roman Emperor Septimus Severus in 203AD, during the Roman period hippodrome was the civil center for the people of the city whıch once could hold 100,000 spectators. Located in the heart of Sultanahmet surrounded by Blue mosque, Hagia Sophia and Topkapi palace, today it is home to The Egyptian Obelisk (Dikilitaş), The Serpentine Column (Burma sütun), The Constantine Column and German Fountain.
One of the largest covered markets in the world with more than 60 streets and 5000 shops, where you will find in an authentic oriental atmosphere, all kind of gifts, leather clothing, rugs, antiques, jewelry, hand-woven fabrics etc…
Kemal, our guide, was excellent: cordial, professional, friendly, and very knowledgeable. He answered all our questions, demonstrating considerable expertise about the many sites we visited. But Viator should have informed us (in advance) that the Hagia Sophia is undergoing MAJOR renovations and repair of earthquake-related damage. This means a lot of the site is shrouded in scaffolding.
We lucked out with our guide Baris who was so incredibly knowledgeable in the history of every place we visited. He is a true professional and a really nice guy as well. We learned a lot today but also had a lot of fun with our group. I would highly recommend requesting Baris for your tour in Istanbul.
My tour guide was exceptional. He was kind, knowledgeable and answered all the questions with patience. He shared the rich history of all of our sights with his great knowledge. I was left with an appreciation for the city, country and culture. Thank you
Kemal did such a good job with finding what the people on our tour were interested in by spending the time seeing and providing it. He is very knowledgeable and considerate. He even got us back to our hotel because we were unsure of how to get back.
We loved our guide Ali, but I hesitate to recommend this excursion because: 1) exhausting walks, 2) Hagia Sophia entry fee sort of a ripoff at $30, and 3) Grand Bazaar is anything but grand with high prices, aggressive sales tactics, and overwhelming focus on mass-produced tourist items rather than an authentic market experience.
The tour is an excellent introduction to the important historical history of Istanbul. Leaving on an early tour gave us an opportunity to enter without the huge amount of crowds that are there later in the morning. Our tour guide Baris was outstanding. He was Very knowledgeable and personality plus. He gave us a very comprehensive and interesting tour.
Istanbul is an interesting city partly in Asia, and partly in Europe. The tour was very informative. Highly recommend.
It's a fantastic trip into Turkeys history, so interesting and guide Barsham ( ? Salaam if thats wrong )was very knowledgeable and passionate . It is a full 3-4 hours of walking with little to no possibility of sitting even for short time but so interesting and beautiful beautiful beautiful sites that compare to none I have seen before. Despite my difficulties with walking the distances..thankyou to our guide and other members for their patience..I really enjoyed seeing these true marvels of the world.
Skip it. Minimal info of interest. Heavy sales of leather goods. You can read more online or watch a YouTube or TikTok. The guide did not add to the atmosphere, no stories connecting anything in time, no legends, no excitement for the place or the period. The mosque is one room. You can do this yourself. Hagia Sophia has QR codes you can scan and read. Again, no enriching info given and the answers to questions were minimal. Worst part - the guide did not mention a stop at a leather shop. We were led into a room, closed the doors and gave us a fashion show of leather jackets. Such a sales pitch. Then aggressive salesmen swarmed all over. My friend and I were so taken aback! We were in a tight schedule to move hotels and would not want to kill an hour in crazy sales. We walked out and skipped the grand bazar part of the tour for fear of more pressure sales and to save time. Not worth the money and time.
We were fortunate to get a very knowledgeable guide - Kemal. He was very informative and patient. He was very accomodating and added a couple of extra things to see. Skip the line was very beneficial also as the lineups were very long. Bypassing the lines saved a lot of time for us to be able to see other venues and spend more quality time at each site.
guide was good too much walking wear comfortable shoes still have to be in long lines skip line means ticket in advance purchased and don't need to be in ticket line
A fair amount of walking with not many steps. Our guide was knowledgable and accommodating as we had to make it back to the cruise ship by a certain time
Our tour guide Ece pronounced AJ made a rainy day wonderful. She had a great knowledge of the history of Istanbul and the mosques. We had a small private group and she was very flexible about where we went and what we wanted to do. Also her driver was able to find us and get us back to our ship in plenty of time. Well done AJ and thank you for getting us out of the rain as much as possible.
The tours with guide Baris were excellent. However the change of time from 10 to 7.30 am was sent late.
Very informative tour guide (EJ) and the spots are beautiful! Lots of walking through cable stones street so wear good shoes. People are super friendly. Really enjoyed the tour!
It was a beautiful experience. There were 17 of us and our guide picked us up at our hotel. Our guide was so informative about the history of the Blue Mowque and Hagia Sophia and was also very knowledgeable about Turkish history. It was a a pleasurable day!!
Gadek was a consummate professional. His tour was very informative and gave interesting tidbits along the way, including how to shop at the bazaar.
Baris was a very knowledgeable guide who ensured we had a really positive experience. Both mosques were stunning and the commentary helped us understand the history.
The sites were amazing. The guide was obviously distracted. He was knowledgeable but was on his phone most of the time.
Perfect experience with added bonus of Basilica tour added on, even though we had to queue Very interesting information given by tour guide on every place visited and about Istanbul/Turkey in general Would definitely recommend this tour
learning the amazing history of the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque and seeing the beautiful architecture. Our guide was very well informed and helpful.
Alí is the greatest tour guide! He explained us everything with such an enthusiasm! Talking to other people we are sure that we were really lucky to have him! Great great experience! Highly recommended!
What a fantastic tour facilitated by an excellent guide, AJ. We had a small group and she made our first visit to Istanbul so memorable. She knew her history very well. We visited Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque. We then went to a carpet store where we could see a Turkish double-knot carpet being made. Very nice experience. We were offered free refreshments and educated in the carpet art. We did purchase 2 carpets and they are being shipped back to NY free of charge. Also went downstairs to an ancient sistern and learned some facts about the hippodrome which we walked through afterwards. Ate lunch at a local Turkish restaurant which AJ helped us to select. After eating we headed to the Grand Bazzar and then got the small shuttle back to our cruise ship. A note fir women wearing dresses…. Make sure your knees are covered and dress does not have any revealing slits. Also remember to bring a light scarf to cover your head and shoulders if exposed. Only has to be worn inside Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque. Guards take the dress code seriously. Head coverings not required anywhere else.
The temples were very beautiful and I was thoroughly impressed with how many shopping options were in the bazaar.
“Baris” was our tour guide for the morning tour of Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. We were very happy with the tour, very knowledgeable and organised. He also took us around the area, and explained about the history of Istanbul, sent us some pics of the Hagia Sophia that was not in total view. Our final stop was Grand Bazzar. Thank you for a wonderful and memorable tour. Would definitely recommend.
Korhan was the Best!! Loved the beautiful buildings, the grand bazaar and especially the Relax tea! It worked! The rug shop was amazing and your schooling payed off, you can really spin a mean Rug!! Good Job! Steve, Patricia & the boys
Our guide communicated with us precisely and was at the pickup point as arranged. He spoke very well and had an excellent knowledge of the subject. He was very organized and managed all our requirements.
This was an excellent your! We saw all the highlights and more! The tour guide was friendly, knowledgeable, and interesting.
Wonderful excursion with a great guide. Ali was knowledgeable and thoughtful. Very beautiful experience. Thank you.
The guide was probably knowledgeable enough. Unfortunately he did not make any effort to be interesting and involve the small kids that were part of the tour. My daughter who is super used to visits to Mosques, Museums, Synagogues, churches and palaces got bored after two hours of un-engaging explanations. Honestly I would suggest the tour go adults without kids
Our tour guide, Aly did an incredible job explaining the history and culture during our tour. Would highly recommend requesting Aly if you are going to take this tour.
Batis is a history major. He not only led us safely walking through the city? But we were able to learn about each site we visited.
First family trip to istanbul. We are a family of 4 with a 16yr and 11yr old. The half day tour was the right length of time and short walking distances apart from areas on the agenda to visit. The guild Ezgi was super friendly. Ezgi shared very interesting and educational points on the tour which the whole family appreciated. Good communications in English. This short tour is recommended.
My guide Mohmed was excellent in knowledge about history, good in English, well behav and having good communication skill.
The guide was wonderful, patient and very educated. He knew the history of the Hagia Sofia and Blue Mosque very well and he told us stories about them in a very entertaining manner. Kudos to Mehmet for being a great tour guide!
My tour was amazing. My tour guide Ezgi, was wonderful and very understanding. Had some complications and she was very understanding and willing to help us continue with our tour.
Great, pleasant and knowledgeable guide who made the tour informative, fun and well worth the time and cost!!
Visit to the mosque with skip the line ticket. Really impressive visit inside this spectacular monument.
The Blue Mosque is basically disappointing (free admission, you won't see much, better the scenic exterior) so fascinating (and expensive) is the visit to Hagia Sophia. It takes place on the upper floor, with numerous views of the ground floor all very well explained also in English. The visit requires attention and time, there is crowds but all in all acceptably. Follow all the explanations and admire the sedimentation of stories, events, artistic expressions from the Eastern Roman Empire to the present day. A ride in time and art really not to be missed.
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