Istanbul Ottoman Tour: Topkapi Palace And Blue Mosque

We took this tour on our first day in Istanbul (a few days ago). Our guide was kind, informative, and so funny! Very easy to talk to. She answered all of our questions, even my irrelevant ones (how to say “thank you” in Turkish, safety tips, etc). I really enjoyed her company and she made the tour so much fun! The order we did things in was perfect in my opinion, and the hand-knotted rug demonstration was such a cool unique experience that I wouldn’t have been able to do on my own. Loved it!!

The highlight of my trip to Istanbul. Our tour guide, Seckin D. Was beyond our expectations. He knew every answer to our questions and went way beyond any guide we’ve ever had. He spoke perfect English and understood very well. I told him “I think you’re American”! Yes, that perfect! He knew more about Americans than most American do! You won’t be disappointed.

The location of the palace so close to the mosque and the exhibits were great! Our guide was very knowledgeable and shared very interesting information.

Amazing tour of the main attractions in Istanbul. The tour guide Ali was exceptional and very informative

Very well planned and executed tour. The guide was very well spoken and friendly. Would do this tour again - a must for anyone with only a few hours on their hands!

We had a great guide that showed us the ins and outs of the city. He hit on a lot of historical points but did not bore us one bit!

<p>Excellent. It was pouring the rain that day, but was still a very nice and excellent tour.</p>

<p>Tour guide could have been more engaging. Tour was an average standard, have been on better tours.</p>

<p>Excellent guide providing very good information all along the tour</p>

<p>Great experience. This was a small group of 10, picked up on time and spent a half day in Istanbul. Great service from our guide gudyi and very interesting to visit the mosque and palace. Have a guide and tickets got us through the long lines easily. We would recommend this for anyone visiting Turkey.</p>

<p>We had a very nice tour – both places are definitely worth a visit. We had a great guide whose English was very good. The places were very crowded, especially the Topkapi Palace, but he managed to gather us aside and explain what we were about to see in the next room for example and then we could go have a look and meet up again for more information about the next stop. It was very well organized and our guide was very informative and knowledgeable.</p>

<p>This was a half day trip , the guide was brilliant and we were a small group of nine, everything run to time , he was interesting and informative . Enjoyable morning .</p>

<p>We had a great guide who arrived promptly to pick us up and was very professional in giving commentary. We have been happy with Neon Tours in Turkey.</p>

<p>Tour was worthwhile to miss the queues and the tour guide was really informative</p>

<p>This tour was great! The tour guide Sevilay was fantastic and informative..the pick up and drop off were perfect and it made life much easier in this busy crazy city..also skip the queues that you may spend hours in otherwise!!</p>

<p>We arrived in Istanbul late on Sunday. Unbeknown to us our hotel had been changed without us being notified so the tour group running your tour, had the wrong hotel for pickup on Monday morning. We tried both numbers you had given us to contact them but neither were answering on Sunday.. Early on Monday morning a hotel staff member phoned them for us and was told that our hotel was too far out for them to pick us up and we would have to make our own way to the pickup point in the old town half an hour away and pickup time was in half an hour's time.A very quick taxi ride at peak hour, 8am, got us there with minutes to spare. However, the bus did drop us off in the afternoon. The tour itself was wonderful and the guide excellent. Shirley</p>

<p>Our guide was brilliant, funny and a good advisor on the things we need to look out for. This is a must-see tour in Istanbul, not to be missed!</p>

<p>It was an amazing experience with professional and responsible team</p>

<p>The tour guide was very knowledgable about the blue mosque's history and architecture. It is unbelievable how those people built this magnificent building during their time. In the Topkapi, the tour was packed because there was too many interesting small museums, but it was fantastic to see ancient armoury and clocks and watches, so engaging that we feel not enough time in this half day tour.</p>

<p>Excellent guide. However, the morning ended around 11:30 or so, we were back by noon or just after, a bit short, I thought, not 4 hours, barely three.</p>

<p>The guide was very nice and highly informative, also these places are amazing. However, the time we spent in the Palace however was not enough for me. I needed to go a second time to check the Harem (not inclueded in this tour) and the back garden and private rooms, last par of Topikapi. I would say that this is a perfect tour for people that have a counted time and want to check the place but has to rush. If you appreciate the crafts and its details, you 'll probably need the whole afternoon only for Topikapi.</p>

<p>Our tour was supposed to be 1pm to 5pm. Instead oh having our own tour we were placed in a tour that already have started at 8am and we only went to two places instead of what was mentioned in the itinerary. That was terrible.</p>

<p>Brilliant guide, very knowledgable. Same complaint--the carpet ttour tacked on without advance notice. If I wanted to buy a carpet or find out about carpets i would book a specific tour. Again we felt railroaded into watching the demonstration to be polite and did not stay for the hard sell and tea! <br/> It spoiled a very good experience.</p>

<p>Knowledgeable guide. Topkapi Palace could be better with the Harem section. The tour concludes with a pitch in a carpet shop.</p>

<p>This is surely not a popular tour and I could guess why so.</p> <p>--This tour is done thru a third party so there are many inconsistencies in viator itinerary and what the third party provides you.</p> <p>a.Guide was told to do either Rustam Pasha Mosque OR Sulemaniye Mosque.On showing the itinerary though she took us to Sulemaniye.</p> <p>b.As per viator itinerary there is Grand Bazaar involved but guide told us it was not so..We didn't mind as we had Hagia Sophia tour the other day and anyway it was being covered in there.</p> <p>c.There was some itinerary change of which we had no prior information.She came on Monday morning instead of afternoon. Thankfully it was early and we had not made any other plans having arrived just the day before. So we went ahead..</p> <p>--Guide was poorly informed giving us facts like spoon diamond is called so as its shaped like spoon. When asked about architecture of Sulemaniye Mosque,its typical ottoman.Well I already know that don't I..</p> <p>--Guide didnt even take us inside the state rooms/treasury rooms.I could see other guides in there explaining stuff to visitors.</p> <p>I was not happy with this tour and the quality of guide made me believe I could have been the guide myself.</p>

<p>Very interesting. Unfortunately very crowded. Difficult to see anything and no time for the harem because of the waits. Not the tours fault. It is what it is.</p>

<p>Easiest way to beat the serpentine queues - the sights are magnificent.</p>

Enjoyed this trip and the guide was very good as he had a lot of knowledge about the Topkapi Palace, however, we did not stay for very long at the other site, Mosque of Soleman. I thought the tour was too short, it should have gone on for another hour. However, overall it was good and I recommend the guide.

Myself and my husband were the only 2 on the tour and our guide was wonderful! Very informative and a lovely friendly fellow. The palace was wonderful, and we visited the Blue Mosque instead of The Mosque of Soleman, as it was closed on the day. After the tour ended our guide offered to walk us through Taksim Square. It was really enjoyable! I would definitely recommend the tour for value for money, excellent tour guide and transportation provided.

Really good. Had a guide, a Merc minibus and driver just for the two of us. Our "half day tour" was from 1pm to about 7pm and even then the guide was in no hurry home. In the end we felt guilty had to tell him to go on home! He was really excellent. Much better than the Ship organized tours which are twice the price, shorter and much less personal.

It was a good tour with a fantastic guide. However, the half day tour actually did not include Grand Bazaar and we ended up walking to the Blue Mosque ourselves. The problem was that those attractions were only included in the whole day trip.

We had to meet another group to combine coaches which wasted a lot of time. We didn't even visit the bazaar.

We were picked up at the hotel and taken to the ship after the tour with our luggage. Our tour guide was well informed and communicated very well.