Istanbul Combo Tour: Private Old City & Bosphorus Cruise

Ceren was an excellent guide; she gave us all kinds of interesting anecdotes about the history of the places we visited as well as what life is like for locals in Turkey and Istanbul. The tour was well paced, had a lot of interesting stops, and we even found time to visit people making rugs which was an unexpected but really neat highlight of the trip. I highly recommend this tour and Ceren as a guide!

My wife and did a walking tour with Songul. She was very knowledgeable and upbeat. We enjoyed the entire day with her in Istanbul. We saw Hagia Sophia, the Istanbul Spice Market, the Blue Mosque, and other sites. The tour was informative, the lunch was great, and the ride to the airport was flawless.

We had an amazing time with Ekrem , he used his excellent local know-how, brilliant historical knowledge and charismatic personality to guide us around the city. If you book this, you will not be disappointed. He was flexible to change to our needs if necessary but we relied on his wealth of experience to see an authentic Istanbul. Thank you so much for making our stay special!

Şebne was a great tour guide who was extremely knowledgeable about the major sites and the best ways to get around Istanbul. She was also very flexible in her approach to the tour and the order in which we visited the sites to ensure we maximised our time with her.

We would highly recommend this tour and, in particular, our tour guide Songul. She was extremely knowledgeable and personable. Due to her experience she was able to maximize our time at each site while helping us avoid long lines and wait times. She answered all our questions and provided great insight into the life and culture of Istanbul beyond the sites of interest we visited.

We had a wonderful tour of Istanbul last week. Our guide, Numan was very informed and professional and helpful. We took a Bosporous cruise and Numan pointed all of the sites out to us. We enjoyed the Reservoir. What a unique structure! Lunch was at a local place in the old city that was so amazing. We had a “5 star” day and Numan was a big part of that

This was a great way to see Istanbul and cruise the Bosphorus. Numan Tasdogan was a very knowledgeable guide and kept us so well informed every step of the way. Highly recommend this tour and guide!

Ümran Aslan showed us an amazing time on this tour. She was extremely knowledgeable, friendly and so interesting to talk to. She took us on the local transit system and public ferry which was an experience that we never would have tried on our own. We also went to a great diner for lunch which was delicious and to her favourite place to buy Turkish delight at the spice market. We highly recommend this tour and especially the experience we had with Ümran. Thanks so much!

Ozan Ercan made our tour magnificent! He was very informative, pleasant, professional and extremely accommodating. Highly recommend!

The combo guided tour with Fatma was more than I could have ever expected. She was very knowledgeable and great at explaining the history of everything we saw, clearly tying it all together. Fatma was early at my hotel and was very considerate at every point of the tour. I never felt rushed, which gave the tour the relaxed pace I was looking for. Fatma pointed out the best spots for pictures, helped with purchases in the bazaar, and gave me local recommendations for my activities post-tour. I highly recommend Guided Istanbul Tours and Fatma as a guide!! She was amazing.

We had another great experience with Sercan as our Istanbul tour guide. I brought my family to Turkey after visiting it myself in November of 2021 and specifically requested Sercan since we really enjoyed his tour the last time. He is was amazing at providing a lot of information about the history of the city, the Ottoman Empire and the specific sites that we visited. Our guide was very knowledgeable, engaging and ensured that we got the best experience possible. He made sure that the information was also tailored to our kids and that they were interested in the tour. He took us to the cisterns that had a fun laser show, which the kids absolutely loved. Sercan’s attention to detail in describing the historical and social significance of the historical sites was truly impressive. His English was perfect and easy to follow. He took us to a very good restaurant that serves traditional Turkish dishes for lunch and made sure we had time to do some gift shopping as well. We will definitely request Sercan for our future tours in Istanbul and other areas of Turkey.

We are so glad we picked this tour! It was hard to decide if we need transportation or not and so happy we decided not go with transportation as it is very easy to get around Istanbul. Our tour guide Goktug was amazing. He took to all the sites and was very knowledgable and easy to understand. Goktug was so kind hearted and was very patient with us as we love to take pictures. He gave us great advice on how to get around Istanbul as we were going to be in the city for few more days. This tour gets you acclimated to the city. Istanbul is such a vibrant and beautiful city.

Ugur was a great guide. Very personable and knowledgeable. The itinerary had to change a bit due to an event happening in Istanbul that day, but we still saw all that we set out to see, thanks to his flexibility.

We did the tour and had a very nice tour guide. He took good care of us and told us a lot about Istanbul. His name is Emre Akdeniz. His English is good and I understood him very well. He gave us a lot of extra information and if you asked him something he immediately knew the answer.

Last year I went to Istanbul and had a tour around the city. Wasn't really expecting much of it since I went with my family and I thought it would be a basic daytime activity. After a couple of hours I started to realise how beautiful the city of Istanbul actually is, and with our local Turkish tour guide, Emre, who made the day much more enjoyable. After the tour was over we went on the Bosphorus cruise which was delightful, we also had the perfect weather that day. All in all we had a great experience.

I flew over from Holland to Istanbul. When we arrived at the tour we immediately got a good impression of our tour guide Emre Akdeniz. He knew very much about Istanbul and could answer every question I had. I had a great time learning so much about Istanbul. I cannot wait to come back and get to know more about the city!

We were visiting Istathisnbul on date 23.09.2019 for 3 days trip a we had a wonderful time. Our Guider was company Guided Istanbul Tour for 2 days. The company is very serious company and specially the guider was very precious, his name was Semih. I would recommend this company to anyone who visits Istanbul. They have a lot to offer for tourists.

My husband and I recently traveled from Kuwait to Istanbul for a long weekend. Istanbul has long been on my bucket list and I was not disappointed! We were thrilled with our private tour guide, Alper. His English was excellent and his knowledge of Istanbul was incredible. We spent 2 very full days seeing every major site and learning everything we could. Alper stayed at our pace, making sure we spent as much time as we wanted to at each sight. He took us to some great restaurants and helped us buy some wonderful handmade wares. We had tickets to the Whirling Dervish show the first night and Alper even made sure we had a private ride to and from our hotel because we walked almost 6 miles that day and had a long day planned for the second. We could not have enjoyed our time in Istanbul more and I don't think we could possibly have seen more. I feel like we have a new friend in Turkey and I look forward to seeing Alper again on our next visit. I am a Travel Agent and I would recommend him to anyone visiting wonderful Istanbul!

I highly recommend this tour, it was fabulous. Our tour guide Asli was fantastic. She was so knowledgeable and nice. She was very personable and it was very obvious that she loved history. We had the two day tour so it was really a whirlwind of the highlights of Istanbul. It was a walking history lesson. She was very flexible so if we spent longer at some places, she easily re-routed the tours to accommodate our wishes. We found Istanbul and it's people to be such a delight and cannot wait to return for more.

A minor glitch of a booking error time difference was quickly resolved with a phone call to Travel Consultant Guided Istanbul Tours. One hour later we were firmly in the thrall of our very knowledgeable, pleasant, and professional tour guide, Arzu. She showed us the cultural side of the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia, Basilica Cisterns and the Topkapi Palace. She was attentive and fun, and made the day a great experience, ending with a productive trip to the Grand Bazaar. We recommend the tour very highly. Thanks, Arzu!

Had a very enjoyable stay at Istanbul last week. we enrolled ourselves for a two day Istanbul city private tour . We were very lucky to have Sercan assigned to us as our tour guide for the two days that we went round the city. He was extremely friendly, very patient and had superb communication skills, don't think without him we would have enjoyed Istanbul so much. He has extremely good knowledge of the monuments and sites that we visited, was very patient with our questions and had the right connects to fast track us through the endless ticketing queues. Wonderful experience , thanks to Sercan we have phenomenal memories of Istanbul

<p>This was a private tour of Istanbul combined with a cruise of the Bosphorus. They greeted me at my hotel, and let me set the tone and the pace. I had completed some basic research and knew what I wanted to see. My guide Ahmet took this one step further and enabled me to assist him in determining what I sites I should experience to make the best use of my time. He did this by initiating a pleasant dialog that allowed me to communicate just what I wanted to gain from this personal and private tour.<br/> The tour company: Good communication, my tour was confirmed immediately by e-mail. Once I was in Turkey, I also spoke to a company representative just to re-confirm my tour arrangements. The were very friendly and helpful and let me know when and where my guide would meet me, they even let me know the name of my guide.<br/> My tour guide: He was early, in fact I was late - this tells you a lot about the tour guide and the tour company, Professional very easy going personality, immediately made me feel comfortable and welcome.Do you want someone who has rehearsed the facts and figures, or do you want a guide that sincerely knows what he or she is talking about. I felt that Ahmet was a student of his own craft, he learned the history behind places and historical figures he was showing me.I was made to feel welcome, as a tourist in an unfamiliar city and country, this is very important as well as comforting.<br/> The best thing about a private tour with this local company: They were professional, they were understanding of my needs and what I wanted to get out of this tour, they let me set the tone and the pace of my tour. Plain and simple, they gave me the Istanbul experience I was looking for. <br/> I highly recommend taking a private and personal tour with this company. You will not get the same kind of personal attention when you're shuffling around from site to site in a large group. I would book with them again, absolutely!</p>

We had a great city tour of Istanbul with Ayla and saw all the main sights of the city. We also had a nice boat trip on the Bosphorus. Ayla responded to our wishes, was punctual, informative and generally a great, German speaking city guide! Thank you so much!

6 adults and two little bits, 2-day tour with Onder... A well-coordinated formula, time saving ensured at the queues and the main attractions covered. Onder is friendly, patient, well educated and speaks French as well as English. A good time, nice memories. Do not hesitate to book! Thank you viator and Onder for the tour! We had a great Time! Gmira Family.

We were a group of 4 people who had 3 days to know the city. Deciding to take a private guide for 2 consecutive days was the best choice without a doubt. Hassan waited for us on time and patiently at reception on the first day.. because due to the time change, two of us took more than 30 minutes to get down... And we finished the tour later than thought..at no time did he complain..it adapted to all our needs and Hassan is a super historian... With a private tour it is like going with friends but 100 times better.. you save yourself queues.. buy tickets...etc... teaches you what you know you want to see... 100% recommended100

Very good and entertaining tour of the city. Thank you very much to our guide in Spanish, Ugur! All very entertaining!

we spent 2 full days with our Italian guide Çiğdem (Sunflower in Italian!) who took us around Istanbul on both the European and Asian sides, making us discover all the history and wonders of this city '. thank you very much you were really professional and good! see you soon!

We were fortunate to be with guide Hasan for two (2) days in Istanbul and it was a wonderful experience. He speaks quite good Spanish so it was very important for us to have his company during our visit to the city. Hasan is a person with a lot of experience and knowledge in tourism, who made our stay in Istanbul unforgettable!! He took us to the main places of Istanbul and allowed us to enjoy the city and know its history and culture, so we highly recommend it.

We are 2 families and have booked a tour with Murat as a guide. Everything was super organized and we loved the city.

We have taken advantage of August for a 4-day visit to Istanbul, the old capital of Byzantium, which for those of us who love history is a must-see. We stayed at the Pera Palace Hotel so close to the history of the Orient Express and Agatha Christie that she used it as a residence and workplace. We rely on Viator’s guide services and Omer Aksalih toured Istanbul for 3 days. Omer is the guide that we would all like, for bringing together the basic qualities for a guide: professionalism, attention and concern for the client, ease of integration into the family group and commitment to quality tourism services in the great Nation that is Turkey.

Helpful and relevant guide. Nice and interesting visit. Superb ride on the Bosphorus by ferry. To do.