Istanbul Highlights: Half Day Morning Tour

We joined the Istanbul Highlights Half-Day Morning, and it was such a great experience. The places we visited were absolutely beautiful, especially Hagia sophia and the Blue Mosque. Our guide, Mehmet, was fantasti. He was super friendly, funny, and knew so much about the history of Istanbul. He answered all our questions with patience and made the whole tour really enjoyable. It felt like exploring the city with a very knowledgeable friend :)

We enjoyed the entire trip and all of Duygu’s historical knowledge she shared with us. Our favorite definitely was the tour of the Basilica Cistern. It was a beautiful and really cool place to see. I was surprised at how much the modern art pieces enhanced the experience. My grandchildren both loved the tour. We all enjoyed our tour guide as well. She was not only very knowledgeable but also very sweet and personable.

My wife and I loved this tour, it is a great way to see the main historical sights in Turkey. Diana was the best tour guide we could ask for, she was friendly and highly knowledgeable, teaching us the intricacies and history of all the monuments along our path, and was also kind enough to take us to some of the best shops in the Grand Bazaar too. She really helped make our experience in Istanbul amazing, so big thanks to Diana for being a wonderful tour guide!

Loved the tour. The guide Cengiz was very friendly and helpful. We covered all the main places in one day. Would definitely recommend.

It was an excellent tour, Guide is very knowledgeable person and enjoyed even my 11 yrs old daughter. We recommend this one day walking tour which covers most of the main attractions - Nair family

Our guide was prompt in pick up time and the tour schedule. Experience overall was good nothing to take away from the guide but we personally found both places to be bit overhyped. Or probably we were coming from Egypt this it’s relative.

I had just a day for sightseeing in Istanbul - and was looking for a half-day tour of the key attractions. This was perfect. The guide - Furkan - was very knowledgeable and took the time to talk about all key aspects of the Ayasofya and the "Blue Mosque". He also answered all the questions with a good sense of Turkey's religious and political history. The tour ended at the Grand Bazaar which was a perfect place to wind up after the tour.

I was only in Istanbul for a short time so I wanted to gather as much information about this wonderful city as I could in a short period. The walking tour was ideal. It gave me background and current information on two of the city's most famous landmarks. I highly recommend it.

Our guide was good, and gave us a lot of history and information. Appreciate it much. Wish there was more time given to stay inside Hagia Sofia.

Our guide (Genghis) was excellent, his information was delivered with great English. He was very informative, but I really took offence when we were taken to a glorified rug shop which is conveniently located over a Cistern / museum. After viewing this museum we were taken upstairs and explained how handmade rugs ( a Turkish speciality) were hand woven. (excellent - stop there) No, we were then invited (ushered) upstairs to view their range of rugs with a complimentary beverage in hand (OK I can handle that, just) Nothing is for free so I expected were then going to be offered the opportunity to buy. I went to the bathroom and came back to find that the number of staff had more than doubled to 9 people on the floor sidling up next to the other members of the group (there were only 14 of us) putting the hard sell. I left when I was told I wasn't a prisoner and I am free to go whenever. THIS WAS NOT ON THE TOUR DESCRIPTION. That is why we chose this tour. I was disgusted. So just be aware.

This tour began with hotel pick up which did not run the most smoothly as I had to ring and remind them we were being picked up. There were seven of us on the tour in total and although the guide was very friendly and good at letting us know the timings she was not the best in terms of anecdotes or bringing the stories to life. The Hagia Sofia was excellent and I liked the Blue Mosque although it was under renovation when we went. We then saw the Hippodrome and this is then where the biggest gripe of the tour started for me - we went to a handicraft centre. We were forced to sit through a carpet sale which was not advertised on the tour and this was supposedly beneficial as downstairs in the handicraft centre there was a small Hippodrome exhibit. We then finished at the Grand Bazaar. As I said the tour was ok, Istanbul is beautiful - I would maybe suggest doing a different tour.

At First we drove with a little bus around the Hagia Sophia to collect all the people. It would easily be possible to meet there. The guide was great and the best was that we even visited the tombs of the Sultans.

Throughly impressed with tour. Well worth 6+ hour walk tour. Guide was very well informed & friendly. Well paced. Break for decent lunch. Visited key historical sights.

This tour was exactly what I was looking for to see and learn about the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Hippodrome, and the Great Bizarre (which was on our itinerary for the morning tour). Ozzie was a great English speaker and made sure we understood the history, the politics, and some of the humorous aspects of the places and things we were seeing. There was one stop where we were shown lots of carpets and were slightly pressured to buy but that wasn't unpleasant since the basement was part of the Cistern system and they had a very good explanation of the Hippodrome on display. They also gave us wonderful Apple Tea and the rugs were beautiful (I did resist but it was tough). We ended the tour at the Great Bizarre with some tastes of Turkish Delight. This is a great way to see these sights. The previous day we spent over 4 hours at Topkapi Palace. I would not recommend a tour which included Topkapi. The information is clear and there is so much to see, you will want to spend some time here.

The young tour guide was very informative, giving background that one doesn't find in the general guide books. He made the history come alive for us and had a lively sense of humour. Unfortunately we have now forgotten his name.

A big thank you to Diana, she was a fantastic guide. She was personable and informative and I can’t fault her. The bus picked us up spot on time in the morning and we went through each destination with enough time to get the facts without lingering too long. Thanks again Diana 😁

My son and I took our first trip to Istanbul a week ago...what an amazing city...we booked a half tour and were treated with the most incredible guide, Oz. He is crazy intelligent, funny, and provided extraordinary insight to the city and it's history. After the first half tour ended we asked if we could stay on for the full day and was welcomed with open arms. What a great day. At the end of the tour we asked Oz about the Asian side of the city and we then arranged a full tour day with Oz on the spot for the next day. Oz gave us a truly memorable day on that side of the city. We saw all the highlights but the really special part of the day was being able to go to where the locals go for lunch, Turkish coffee, and Raki...I can't recommend this tour and Oz enough.

Great tour with a knowledgeable guide who gladly and patiently answered our questions. A lot of fun!

Our guide was a very nice person, young man with beard called Atta I think. Unfortunately, His English was really really poor. We had a very hard time understanding him and so did others in the tour. We only understood 1/2 of what he said. He also did not manage the group well. For example he did not say "now we are going to see xxxxx" it helps everyone to know what is coming next. Also he did not try to make sure people had a bathroom break 1/2 way through. Also he did not stop to talk near benches so people could sit down, even though there were benches nearby as in the hippodrome. Very dissapointed

We had trouble understanding the accent of the tour guide. And when I informed him that I my radio received was not working, his response was to tell me to stay close. (which was not easy given the number of other tourists adn the size of the locations we were visiting.) He did not have a spare or even try to see if he could fix it. There was only a limited attempt to craft a narrative around the history - rather the tour information he provided was staccato and bullet points. I could have got this from wikipedia. We didn't bother trying to stay for the whole tour.

This tour was the highlight of our trip to Istanbul. Ozzy’s energy, humour, generosity and encyclopaedic knowledge of the historic old city helped create magical memories that we will treasure for years to come.

Our tour guide was very knowledgeable. She gave us a lot of history and facts around the two iconic buildings. She gave us plenty of time to take pictures. At the end, she also took us around to a smaller art gallery, where a guy tried to sell us Turkish carpets. Afterwards, she took us to the Grand Bazaar - we skipped this portion because we had already seen it the day before. Overall, great tour!

I was given advice by a well-traveled friend to book a walking tour. This was the first tour I ever booked and it for sure won’t be the last. The company picks you up from your hotel in the morning and drops you back off at the end of the day (if you do the full day tour). I originally had only scheduled the morning tour, but as I was joined by only 2 other guests, it made sense to pay to extend my tour to the full day which included lunch as well as return shuttle to my hotel. The tour guides are extremely knowledgeable. There is a perfect balance of letting you be on your own as well as being led around. I saw so much of the city in an incredibly short period of time; and we hit all the major highlights. This is definitely a worthwhile experience, especially if you don’t have a very long time to explore the city. And even if you do, the guide is able to fill in the history behind the sights so you really come away with an appreciation for the city and the sights in it. 100% recommend.

<p>Tour guide was knowledgeable and very friendly. He showed me what I wanted to see and answered all my questions. Great company. I recommend them highly.</p>

<p>I purchased this tour, then the explosion at the airport happened and I was busy the morning of the tour making sure my flights were coordinated, so I missed the tour. I did end up seeing the sights solo later in the day, everything was pretty quiet and Istanbul is beautiful. I cannot rate the tour and guide as I didn't end up using them.</p>

<p>Excellent<br/> Good experience<br/> I recommand it</p>

<p>There were 18 people on this tour and the website promised no more than 15. We booked and had confirmation that we would be picked up from our hotel. This didn't happen until we phoned to see why we were still waiting. Half an hour after the booked time a guide arrived to take us to where the group had already started so we missed out on the first part of the information about the tour. The guide said he had not been given the information about us booking to be collected from our hotel.</p>

<p>I really don't like to leave bad reviews so I will start by saying our guide was fantastic. We were waiting promptly 10 min before the tour started like we were told. Waiting, waiting, waiting.... Nobody showed up. At 9:05 am luckily I had a local contact number and they said he will be there soon. Another 10 min went by and I called again. Finally another guy showed up and we had to walk pretty far to meet the group. It was very unorganized. There were other people waiting at a different location who were very upset and they didn't even end up doing the tour because they were late. Honestly I have had very good luck booking with Viator so this was a surprise it was so unorganized. This tour we took on a Sunday morning so you couldn't blame traffic.</p>

<p>Vey nice excursion with good organisation of pick up from hotel and easy entrance in the sites .<br/> The guide was the best , M Illkar kind, witty ,informative, knowlegeable, give the best of himself to enhance our visit , and he was very efficient , we will remind this visit for long time.<br/> The sites are amazing.<br/> Very good experience !!!!!</p>

<p>The guide was excellent with great knowledge of history of the sites.</p>

<p>I really enjoyed the tour and the sites were amazing. The only feedback I would have is to skip the carpet making stop at the end as the sales pitch by the gentlemen was too aggressive an uncomfortable. I did not need to feel the pressure to purchase a couple thousand dollar rug.</p>

<p>Tour was fabulous. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable about the history and architecture of the sites we went to. The tour covered the main places you would want to go, it was all at a nice pace and very pleasant and friendly.</p>

<p>Great guide...interesting stops just disappointed we did not get to see Blue Mosque due to religious event</p>

<p>This was the first Viator which I was disappointed with. It was not a small group with 20 people in a already crowded area. The tour guide was nice and knowledgeable but to big of group and he took us to a rug factory to get a sales pitch. would not recommend this tour, James</p>

<p>If you're at a conference and can only sneak out half a day - at least do this half day. The top places to see in Istanbul. Be ready for weather. It was cold and pouring rain but the show went on.</p>

<p>Tour Guide was fantastic! I was feeling a little lost in the big city of Istanbul. The tour guide was able to piece together history from Rome, Venice, etc and how it related to Istanbul. I highly recommend this!</p>

<p>Abdullah provided a great half day tour with keen historical knowledge and a positive, fun approach which kept our entire group of 10 engaged through out. I would highly recommend -</p>

<p>An excellent half day tour and although the Blue Mosque wasn't open the tour guide more than adequately made up for this by adding extra sightseeing items. Our guide spoke good English, was very informative and open to receiving many questions.</p>

<p>The tour guide we had was knowledgable and willing to share about so much of Turkish history and custom. It was a lovely experience touring through the heart of Istanbul's history.</p>

<p>Great guide. I was the only person on the trip and the guide was still very helpful.</p>

<p>Tour was excellent, very good knowledgeable guide. I have to say the visit to the carpet shop should be left out, the hard sell was verging on intimidating. I would have been happier to pay more for the tour and not go to the carpet shop and then I would have given the tour a 5 star rating.</p>

<p>This was a great little walk around some of the main tourist sites of the of Istanbul. We started with a tour of the Hippodrome and all the monuments thereabouts. Our guide was superb, in fact all of the tour guides who I encountered in Turkey were. She really knew her stuff. We then went to the Blue Mosque - stunning. There was no queue to get in and time to take pictures and have a look around. We then got onto a minibus and went to Chora Basilica. Once again our Guide was able to tell it's story and I learnt a great deal about aspects of Christianity which I hadn't hitherto heard about. Then we went to a rug showroom to learn a bit about how they're made. The people ran it made a bit of a sales pitch as well, which didn't sit well with me, personally. Then we got back in the minibus and headed for the Grand Bazar where we had some free time to look around and our ever helpful guide helped me to find a hat. A really good morning. The walking isn't strenuous at all. A point to note is that we didn't go inside Hagia Sofya, which is closed on a Monday, and so if this is something which you want to do then book a walk on another day.</p>

<p>The guide's knowledge was impeccable - there was a BBC documentary on Istanbul once I got home and the guide's information was spot on. His English was excellent as was time-keeping. Highly recommended.</p>

<p>Nice introduction to Instanbul. It was a small group which was nice but leader talked so fast and had so much information to share that it was sometimes hard to follow.</p>

<p>We thought this was just the right amount of tour. Our guide knew when to slow down and when to speed up and we got just the right amount of history. One thing that was a little confusing was that it included the Grand Bazaar, but the description didn't state it so we had gone the day before.</p>