Learn about Basilica Cistern and discover the mystery of Medusa heads from Greek mythology and recognize a scene in the James Bond movie From Russia with Love..
Admire the impressive dome one of the world's architectural masterpieces once was the world’s largest cathedral..
The historical city of Istanbul, the only city in the world located on two continents, was the capital of three great empires; Roman, Byzantine and the Ottoman Empire.
The Caferağa Medresseh is a former medrese and now recognized as an important center of Turkish classical arts where traditional Turkish handicrafts such as calligraphy, ceramics, jewelry and so forth are taught, made and sold.
This is a small street with beautiful historic Ottoman era houses
Learn about the residence and administrative headquarters of the Ottoman sultans and hear the glory of the past.
This beautiful square and a great place to make a stop, relax and take photos of Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.
Sultan Ahmed Mosque, known as the Blue Mosque by many tourists has five main domes, six minarets, and eight secondary domes with traditional Ottoman architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period.
Go to the former Hippodrome of Byzantine chariot races, see the ruins and hear the stories behind the scene
Constructed as a present from German Emperor Wilhelm II in 1898, it represents one of the most beautiful monuments in Istanbul.
Also known as the Serpentine Column, Plataean Tripod or Delphi Tripod, is an ancient bronze column at the Hippodrome of Constantinople.
A Roman monument in the form of an obelisk. It is situated at the southern end of the ancient chariot-racing track of Constantinople
"Shop till you drop" in Tahtakale, a sub-district of Istanbul's Eminönü, where you can find anything and everything you are looking for, all for resonable prices.
Experience the bustle of the Spice Market and lose yourself among the spice, herbs, nuts and Turkish Delight stalls.
An area renowned for its restaurants, cafe culture and shops.
This bridge spans the Golden Horn, connecting the old city with Beyoglu, the modern district of Istanbul.
We had a guide called Erol, the knowledge of Istanbul was unbelievable, very informative. The tour lasted around 4 hrs but only felt like 2. I would definitely recommend you ask for this guide, you will not be disappointed and value for money.
Great walking tour to do when trying to navigate around Istanbul Old Town for the first time. Erol was great in giving a good balance of showing you around the main landmarks with a little history on the way, and also tips for the rest of your stay. He was happy to answer questions and offer some of the local tips which makes the rest of your stay more enjoyable. Definitely worth doing on your first day!
Since I was the only one, I had a private tour. Erroll was my guide and we stopped at all the sites where he gave a wonderful history of Haggia Sophia, Basilica Cisterns, Blue Mosque, German Fountain, Hippodrome, Arasta Bazaar, Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar. It is a lot of walking so be prepared. It took about 4 hours and was worth it.
I did a walking tour with Erol and it was enjoyable. He is very knowledgeable and I felt comfortable throughout the whole experience. He is well prepared and has plastic bags ready for you to put your shoes in when you are stepping into the mosques, a tiny touch of service which I truly appreciate! The tour was conducted at a good pace — never rushed, but always engaging — and I learned so many interesting things about the history and culture of this city. Truly appreciate how everything was clearly explained and it made my trip fun. I highly recommend this tour if you want to learn more about the history. Thank you for the good experience!
We had a fantastic first morning in Istanbul with Erol Ütgün. He was extremely knowledgeable and very helpful for our first time in the city. He oriented us by showing us the Roman obelisk and explaining the history of the Basilica Cistern. We didn’t wait long to enter the Blue Mosque, where we were able to admire the beautiful stained glass and tiles while Erol explained the history and meaning behind them. He also described the Hippodrome and the Egyptian obelisk so clearly that we could really picture the ancient city. To reach the Spice Market, he led us through the uncrowded palace gardens, where workers were planting tulip bulbs for spring. Erol told us about the long history of tulips in Istanbul and that they are even part of the city’s logo — such a fun fact! All in all, Erol was an excellent guide and made our introduction to Istanbul memorable and meaningful. Highly recommended.
Gamze our guide was absolutely marvellous. Very knowledgeable and shared her insights with grace and good humour.
Very informative and a great way to get a quick overview and a good orientation to the city. Be aware it may not be 4 hours. Ours was over in 2 hours but maybe that was because there were only 2 of us.
Two stars because I had to reschedule and they were accommodating. My tour guide was Kim and it was the least informative tour I’ve taken, and I travel several times a year. From the moment I met her, she kept repeating the same sentences. I didn't leave the tour feeling like I’d learned much about Istanbul’s culture. She had an errand to run at a Hammam and I basically waited until she was finished, very strange. She tried to get me to sign up for Hammam and to pay for another tour (Basilica) which I’ve never experienced before. Usually my tours stick to the script and they don’t try to “sell” other products. I wouldn’t recommend this tour at all. Sorry.
The tour was well organized and Erol was a wonderful guide. He is very knowledgeable about the history of the area/sites we visited and also had recommendations for local restaurants and bakeries. A very enjoyable experience.
We thoroughly enjoyed this walking tour. Erol was a fantastic guide, very knowledgeable and friendly. He was happy to adapt the tour to our needs and also provided lots of practical information. We did this tour first thing on our arrival to Istanbul, so this was very useful. Definitely recommend.
A great overview of the points of interest that one should not miss in the old town. After that, we knew what we wanted to come back and spend more time on.
Our guide Errol was wonderful. We saw and learnt about many things that we otherwise wouldn’t have seen e.g traditional Turkish architecture. He gave us many hints and advice on what to see and when and where to eat. Great tour to orient yourself in the Old City
My guide was phenomenal. So knowledgeable and so open to discussion and questions and insights and so much more. It was a fabulous experience.
We were lucky enough to have the guide to ourselves. She was so fun and very informative. We learned a lot, had a blast and felt like we had a friend by the end of it. Highly recommend.
My guides knowledge was truly excellent. Combined with his great friendly manner the tour was really a very pleasurable experience. I saw and learnt about way more things than I was anticipating.
Erol, our guide, provided a comprehensive tour of this exciting and interesting area. Erol provided so much detail that we felt well informed and confident to explore the area more in our own after the tour. We covered a lot of territory and discovered many new things. This is an excellent tour to get to know your way around the old town and learn about the fascinating history as well as sampling some of the local produce.
The guide Gámze was very knowledgeable and charming and made this tour wonderful. At the end, it was like we had made a new friend. Great tour!
Great introductory tour. Yikmet is the best guide I've ever seen-very knowledgeable, patient, thorough, extends herself to tell you about Istanbul. Exceptional . I would recommend - I found it so much easier to do rest of my trip on my own after this tour
Kismet was a great guide! She was so friendly and easy to connect with. Her knowledge of the city really helped us learn a lot in a short amount of time. She tailored the tour to what we were interested in and got us in to the Basilica Cistern past the lines. We really enjoyed the orientation to the city and visiting the Blue Mosque before it got too busy. Overall, a great introduction to Istanbul and the layout of the Old City.
We so enjoyed experiencing Istanbul with our wonderful guide Gamze! Her engagement and enthusiasm energized the group from hello to goodbye! Appreciated her depth of knowledge, experience and perspectives as a native. Gamze welcomed questions and helped us learn more about past and current cultural trends. We highly recommend Gamze!
Knowledge of guide. Walking at reasonable pace listened to what group wanted to see / do. Good way to understand area
Huseyin is just amazing! We learned a lot about the history of turkey which was really informative. Huseyin had a very unique and interesting take on many things and it didn’t feel like a tour, it felt like we were hanging out with friends. The carpet making process we learned about really made us appreciate the amount of time and energy that goes into this dying art. We got to appreciate structures like the basilica cistern and the blue mosque. We would have liked to cover the Hagia Sophia as well but that was not part of the tour. We ended at the grand bazaar which was personally not exciting or intriguing for us (I guess coming from india it’s not an uncommon sight). Add to that the pushy and manipulative shop keepers don’t make it for a very pleasant experience. That has nothing to do with the tour of course except maybe the choice of location. I would have liked to see the Hagia Sofia instead of the grand bazaar. All in all a great few hours spent with the lovely and kind and honest Huseyin. Highly recommended!
Tolga was a wonderful tour guide highly recommend. He is extremely knowledgeable and very well educated in history I was pleasantly surprised with this tour. Definitely a must if you want to just relax and see the sights
Nice tour to get an introduction of the historical part of the city. We had a small group, were able to ask a lot of questions and found out quite a few new things about Istanbul
Our guide, Erol, was excellent! He tied all the history together in a memorable way. We really enjoyed the excursion!
The guide was awesome. This is a good overview tours about the key sites and history of Istanbul. Except for the spice market and grand bazar you don’t actually go into the venues. A great tour if you want information.
Mr. Ozkan is such a warm personality and highly motivated guide (recommendable!). Very informativeI truly enjoyed walking 3hours of us through some of Istanbul historical places. Many thanks again and I recommend Mr. Ozkan to everyone!
A must for all who come here for the first time. Our well informed tour guide explained every sight around Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and the Bazaar. He also gave recommendations what we could visit after our tour.
A fantastic tour with our guide who was incredibly knowledgable and hospitable. He catered the tour for us on short notice as we had initially booked the tour in the morning but given the snowy conditions changed to the afternoon. A great experience and a must-see when in Istanbul!
We had a really pleasant experience. We were very late and Erol was very nice to wait for us and was very helpful. He was very knowledgeable and seemed passionate about the history of the city. We had a great time and highly recommend. Thank you, Erol!
This walking tour is a great way to be introduced to the beautiful and interesting city of Istanbul. The tour guide Erol was very knowledgeable and helpful. I would highly recommend this tour if you have a short amount of time in Istanbul or as a starting point in your trip.
Erol was very knowledgeable on the history and local knowledge of Istanbul. I would highly recommend.
This was a wonderful experience to start our Trip in Turkey. It was very informative and insightful. Our guide was very knowledgeable.
It was an amazing experience. Mr erol was so nice and helpful. I would definitely recommend him. You will not regret it.
I would recommend this tour to anyone who is coming to Istanbul for the first time. You’ll get a general knowledge and a basic orientation of the city. Erol will provide you with a lot of information about Istanbul’s rich history, from early Byzantine time to present day. Also, thanks to him we got to Kadikoy which is a beautiful part of Istanbul, and indeed something we (me and my girlfriend) liked. Even though it was a bit cold and windy, it was a time well spent on our first morning in Istanbul! Thanks, Erol!
A single tour with lots of information through a friendly and pleasant guide. Because I was the only one we could change the program a little. I invited the guide to a traditional restaurant which he suggested. Was super delicious everything. Thank you!
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