Istanbul Private Guiding Service

The booking started off very shakie as the operator wanted us to pay for pick when the booking specifically said that pickup for this private tour was included, that was unsettling to say the least especially since I'd already paid for the 3 of us. The operator reached out to me, they were very nice but I'd already reached out to Viator who told me not to pay a dime. The operator then messaged me to say that they would work something out. I was still not happy. Then I got a message from the operator to say that it was settled and that my transport would be there to pick me up at the agreed time. I've dealt with Viator before and found their tours to be true and honest to a fault. This is the first time that I had this experience. The next thing on this tour was the guide, while he was very knowledgeable he seem to be guiding us to places and shops that he had an interest in/very familiar with the people. He insist on showing us a rug and jewelry shops that had very little to do with history. He had his own places that he wanted us to visit and seemed a little put out when we didn't show much interest. We arrived at the start of the tour at about 11:00am at about 3:30pm our 6hr tour ended with him saying that the driver had to leave and didn't want to be caught in traffic we were very shocked as it had only been about 4 hrs. He kept taking calls while on the tour. We could've gotten a taxi to the start of the tour for less then walk around and listened to the other tour guides, walked to the market and gotten a taxi back to the hotel for less. I'm sure that if it had started out different and the guide had been dedicated to his job, the experience would have been different. I've been on similar tours like this that were really enjoyable. So I'd say give it a try.

Renan, the tour guide was punctual and well presented with excellent command of English language. The tour covered cultural sights with good explanations and commentary at each stop off. I would recommend the guide.

Watch out ! They bring you to places like rug stores to sell to you , also a spice place looking to sell you something , and they have their own scarf place in case you forgot to bring yours ( this one did actually help me except I picked the $100 cashmere blend one . They must all be in cahoots! That should NOT be part of this tour. This is wrong .

Our guide was friendly and had a flexible schedule. She offered some ideas on things to see and brought us to the places where we wanted to go.

A private tour with a great guide makes all the difference! Seda, our guide was so knowledgeable! Very intelligent, interesting and personable. She took us through the attractions we wanted to see, and knew them so well!

I visited Istanbul in May and it was a wonderful experience. The city is beautiful, but what made the trip truly unforgettable was our guide: knowledgeable, passionate, and able to make us dream with her stories. I highly recommend her to anyone who wants to discover Istanbul at its best.

Volkan, our Viator tour guide, was informative, friendly, funny, and helpful. We saw the beautiful & inspiring mosques. We went to the Istanbul promenade & the Grand Bazaar. We topped off the day with a fabulous meal at a traditional Turkish family restaurant. My husband is mostly in a wheelchair & Volkan ensured all of our visit was accessible & wonderful. Thank you Volkan!

Our experience in Istanbul was perfect. Our guide was amazing. Understood what we wanted and spoke our language perfect. So we understood him. He knows his history very well.

Mert is a great guide with detailed knowledge of the history of turkey and the origins of the major sites. Very amiable and easy to follow

Our guide Tim was very friendly and knowledgeable about the history and sights of Istanbul. He customized the tour for us. Highly recommend.

The guide wasn't too interested to show around. He was more tired and frustrated to walk around. The sun and walk was troubling him. The time line of mo of hours for the chosen trip wasn't completed. At the end of the trip , he didn't even want to talk about last destination shown. He was more interested to reach back, as he was tired, wasn't comfortable with heat and wanted to reach home before 6 pm. As a passenger of same age I was willing to walk, see more. It was not a good experience for the cost taken. Also the company charged me for two adults inspite of me solo. There was no option of selecting single passenger. I urge the company to refund the money for one passenger which was charged extra. And even though I did the trip, it was not a good experience to have a negative, tired , boring guide.

Ali was an excellent guide, very knowledgeable and kind! The private tour allowed us to go at our own pace and adjust times/locations to our preferences. Highly recommended! Beautiful city, rich cultural experience and amazing food! Looking forward to another visit and exploring more of what Istanbul has to offer.

Ada Vegas Travel was great to work with! We loved our private tour guide Ali who was so helpful. We didn’t have to wait in any lines thankfully as we visited each site and Ali was really knowledgeable about the history of Istanbul and the sites we visited. He spoke perfect English and was a lot of fun to tour with!

Seref Aral was on time. He gave us the history of Turkiye and by so doing made us appreciate and understand the architecture of the buildings, the culture and food of Turkiye. Highly recommend. Spoke fluent English.

I have to say this was fantastic, Zedat is a professional and know Istambul like the palm of his hand. Thanks again Zedat.

Yuksel is THE BEST TOUR GUIDE anyone could ask for! Great experience, fluent in English and knows the city very well as well as it's history. We had an amazing day in Istanbul 🙏🏻

This was a 10/10 experience! We told our guide that we were influencers , and he understood the assignment. Bringing us to all the must sees! He even got in calls made us reservations and booked everything we wanted to do so we had zero wait times . We literally was in turkey 24 hrs and left no stone unturned!

It was a pleasure going around Istanbul with our personal guide. He was punctual and very knowledgeable and friendly. He took us to various places and gave us tips on where to buy great local food and souvenirs. This was the perfect tour 🥰

We enjoyed two days of guiding through Istanbul with our own itenerary (of course we finalized it with our guide) and at our own pace. It is great to be able to talk one to one about history, monuments, every day things, ....

Sherif was a fantastic and knowledgeable guide. His deep understanding of the history of the Roman and ottoman empires was extremely informative as we spent most of our time going through the palace. Taking us back to the time of sultans, we really appreciated how he painted the picture for our imaginations.

The reason we enjoyed is because is because of the guide Burak. Pleasant, informative always checked if we wanted to skip, spend more time or change, or needed a break.

Our guide Erin was wonderful. Very knowledgeable about Istanbul, Turkey and the long history of the region. We were able to see all the major sites in one long day. It never seemed boring or slow. Erin answered all of our questions about the city, history, culture and daily life. Without a doubt I would recommend Erin to family and friends traveling to Istanbul

Great personal guided tour Zoe was so helpful and a pleasure to be with. Excellent knowledge of all aspects of the sights in Istanbul RB

Ali Arslan was the best guide I’ve had in Istanbul. He was patient, fun, willing to go above and beyond the normal tour experience. I learned so much about Istanbul and the Ottoman Empire. At the end of the tour he even took us on an extra special excursion to a wonderful little bazaar that isn’t normally on the itinerary. Thank you Ali!

Seeing the history related to Alexander the Great at the Archeolgical Museum, and some fabulous shopping!

Guide was very patient and helpful. He answered our questions and accommodated our request. He adjusted to our slower pace.

We had a great time with Cihan. At the outset, we mentioned that we had been to Istanbul and were familiar with the big 'must see' sites and wanted to cover a few different ones. He was happy to do so, unlike another agency on Viator that canceled our booking. So, this last minute booking worked out very well for us. We had great conversations on history and culture of this wonderful city and culture. We used the tram and walked a fair bit. He got us back in time for boarding the cruise ship. Overall, a terrific day and 5 star service from Cinan.

Emel was an excellent guide who listened to our needs. Very helpful with the shopping. Nice stop for coffee.

Dear Ergun We’re really appreciate all your knowledge that you share with us, we appreciated. If any day you or any member of your family travel to North or SouthAmerica please let us know. Thanks you Guillermo Wehdeking Eliana Borrero

Our guide was excellent and listed to what we wanted to do. Plus she suggested things we would never had 5hought of

Mr. Erhan our guide wats increíble!!!! A great person, with great spanish and he did more than wey expected. He did it a gorgeous day!!!

We weren't prepared for a complete walking experience with the metro on either end ... picking us up and returning us. It was Hot and we thought a private tour would be more than this. The guide did well at navigating the attraction sites but kept a noticeable pace rather than slowing down some so we could enjoy the walk from place to place. The guide seemed knowledgeable so that was good.

Exceptional. Our guide, Hakan, was truly exceptional. He was on-time waiting for us upon our cruise ship arrival. My wife was overcome with the Istanbul heat, so Hakan took my wife back to the tram and instructed her how to get back to our ship. Hakan then was my personal guide going to Hagia Sofia, the Grand Bazar, and the Blue Mosque. But that was not all. We stopped at a restaurant for refreshment drinks and a coffee shop for a taste of Turkish coffee. I collect Starbucks coffee mugs with the names of the local cities on them. Hakan took me to a local Starbucks and I was able to get four mugs with the names of local Turkey cities on them. Thanks for a wonderful time.

Eren, our guide was so patient, informative, knowledgeable and gracious. We had a most delicious, authentic meal in a wonderful restaurant. We took advantage of shopping of authentic and fairly priced goods and we were taken to lmpressive landmarks. Eren was fantastic. We would do this again in a heartbeat.

Being told the grand bazaar was open when the guide must have known it was closed. Being told by the guide the taxi back to our hotel would be 100 lira and the driver expected 350 lira.

Perfect day in Istanbul! Our guide Eren was fantastic. Excellent information, flexible with agenda, and simply stated, a genuine individual. Could not have asked for anything more. Thank you Eren once again for the best day ever!

This was out first time in Istanbul and really did not know what to expect. Then Cemil our guide shows up. All we can say is WOW!! Cemil is an incredible guide. His knowledge of the history and his gift of explaining was truly amazing. We have a true appreciation for the country after our tour with Cemil. We will be back...

The guide came on time to our hotel and called for a taxi and took us to the sites in Sultanampet. He also put us on a taxi All the sites were beautiful. The guide seemed like a laid back guy, not very informative . He took us to some stores and was hoping that we would buy a carpet. He was gently pushy! I was happy about the personal shopping in Grand Bazaar.

This was a fantastic tour. Our very experienced and knowledgeable guide Eren Bölek was quite personable and helpful in every way! We highly recommend Eren and his tour company.

We had a great experience with the Guide being right on time in the morning. She was very educated and knowledgeable about history and the entire area. We made a plan for the day around what we had already seen. And then she helped us plan the next two days out. We had a wonderful lunch… I highly recommend this activity.

Our wonderful guide , Erkan, made our day in Istanbul such a wonderful experience!! He was so kind, friendly and knowledgeable about all of the places that we went!! I highly recommend this option.

Taken to shops I was not interested in seeing and feeling pressure into buying things I could do with out…

Ilker our tour guide was excellent. He took us to the usual tourist spots and then to places where we would never have seen! He took us to places that he visits! His recommendations for restaurants were also amazing. Would definitely recommend him to others and would hope to come back and use his services

Gaye our tour guide made this a most memorable tour. Right from the beginning she was friendly and made us feel very comfortable with her. It was lovely to be able to walk at our pace with her, as she didn’t hurry us at any time. Nor did she hurry us through the Mosques or the Egyptian Market. We were able to purchase items, at no time feeling rushed. She even did my shoes up for me after leaving the Mosque. Thank you Gaye for a wonderful day we will never forget.

Great day..thanks for the memories...Ozzie is a wonderful hostess for the city of Istanbul ...definitely recommend

Informative and interesting, our guide was helpful and accommodating. We saw the main sights and enjoyed a trip to the bazaar

Geren was an experienced guide who provided exceptional experience to our family. She was knowledgeable, caring and empathetic. Loved the tour and would definitely recommend to our family and friends.

Unal, our guide, was very nice and had a lot of information about everything we asked! A fine balance between information and small talk.

Wonderful tour, perfect tour guide! Professional , very knowledgeable. Never felt rushed and was able to visit all we wanted to.