Panoramic City Tour With Bosphorus Strait Sightseeing Cruise

Great experience with our guide Mehmet Akif. Efficient, kind ans very helpful. Thanks

Took this tour as part of our short break in the city. Great opportunity to take in the sights around the banks of the bosphourous and the spice market (always check prices before committing!) Was recommended Balik Durum (fish wrap) from local stall just outside spice market, which was a real treat. Tour of Bosphorous was absorbing and well informed from guide who was very knowledgable and gave us lots of info about history of the city. Having dolphins swimming alongside the tour boat was an added bonus. Great day.

Our excellent hotel recommended this afternoon tour at 35 Euros per person, starting from our hotel at 1 :30 pm, we could not have enjoyed it more. Lunch was provided -- food OK and ample, though could be more interesting. Drinks were an extra cost. However, the tour was utterly fascinating with excellent descriptions and a short stop on the Asian side on the return leg. Seeing boats and palaces and castles and bridges against the background of the city was quite magical. Sitting upstairs watching fishing boats emerging while sipping turkish coffee or drink of choice, and the sun sinking as the city lights came on in the evening as the sun sank below the horizon was a delight. Lavatories basic, down steep stairs, so a factor to consider. Return to hotel at 6;30pm looked chaotic at first but actually well organized and efficient.

Up until now we have had very good tours in our trip, this is by far the worst. We got picked up an hour earlier than agreed as we were one of the first to pick up, this meant that we stayed in the bus for an hour more to pick up the rest of the group, I guess this cannot be avoided in big group tours. When we arrived to the meeting point we were again 30 minutes waiting while the organizers distributed all of us into different buses. When we finally got to the Spice Market we were just left there with not much of explanation other than where the bathrooms were located. After this we were taken to the port and got into the boat, where we waited another 40 minutes for the rest of the groups to join, while in the boat we could listen on the speakers the explanation in english, and at the same time our tour guide in Spanish (forgot to mention we booked the tour in Spanish), the information given on both was not the same but similar, the problem was that it was given at the same time and made it very hard to concentrate on either. When we finished the trip we were dropped off at Taksim square as agreed. All and all we felt that we spent more time waiting than in the actual tour, plus we did not gain much information from it. This kind of tours need to be better organized to minimize the idle time. I will certainly do not recommend this tour to any one that expects more than a boat ride.

<p>Nice boat trip. Guide was very good but not really the overview of the city I was expecting.</p>

<p>It was very a wonderful tour, we were able to visit all places that were offered for this tour, our tour guide was very knowledgeable and took good care of us.</p>

<p>It was good and well managed tour. : will recommend.</p>

<p>Good value, but a little strange that we were collected from our hotel, then driven a few kms to another meeting point, then back to near our hotel...45 mins later for the tour. Not sure it was necessary.<br/> Bosphorus cruise was pleasant.</p>

<p>good experience, but sad we could not visit the egyptian bazar because of Aid celebration. Only issue : we can hardly hear we the guide peak on the boat and miss interesting info. However,his level of French was very good.</p>

<p>It was good, it just seemed really rushed and chaotic and I couldn't hear anything while on the tour of the Bosphorus.</p>

<p>It was good. The tour guide spoke more Spanish than English</p>

<p>Good value. Guide was reasonably well-informed though he recommended spending some time at Taksim Square (the actual ending point of the tour) which proved to offer very little. Boat ride was fun. Bus tour of Golden Horn informational. The highlight, however, was the stop at the spice market!</p>

<p>We were put by mistake on different tour, not even one word of excuse. The guide issue was only time time is our ennemy repeated a hundred times rather then taking care of what we were sightseeing<br/> Shame no value for money for this tour as long as with same guide!</p>

<p>excellent especially for first time visitors to Istanbul as a general orientation and facts finding experience.<br/> only critic is the sound on the tour bus that was bad. On the Bosphorus Strait the sound was good</p>

<p>It was an okay tour overall. Very nice people, ran a little late, so we were rushing. But great views and nice little stop at spice market.</p>

<p>Good sightseeing experience. Not too spectacular nor amazing... Too much traffic and tight schedule made us hurry all the time.</p>

<p>This tour is mostly a bus ride to spice market and a boat cruise. Very little commentary on the city or sights. </p>

<p>The tour was very nice and well organized. The Egyptian market was really interesting and colorful. The cruise on the Bosphorus was beautiful. Unfortunately, the weather was not very good on the day that we have done it and so the view from the boat was not optimal, but we were lucky enough to see dolphins and so we were very happy anyway.</p>

<p>Nice. Well worth it for the cruise. Not much time at other places though..</p>

<p>time was sufficient. Tours in the spice bazar was limited but worth the time spent on the Bosphorus</p>

<p>Brilliant weather for a great trip to the Spice Market and the Bosphorus Cruise. The courier was extremely knowledgeable and very interesting about the history of Istanbul. The Spice Market is absolutely brilliant, for us, better than the Grand Bazaar! This was followed by a trip over the river to the Asian side of Istanbul to join a boat cruise up the Bosphorus. The boat was not overcrowded so we were able to move around easily plus enjoy a drink from the cafeteria. The commentary was very interesting, explaining about the Golden Horn and pointing out the famous Palaces and Castles.<br/> On our return to the European side of Istanbul we left the coach at the Spice Market and spent the rest of the afternoon browsing and purchasing teas, nougat, turkish delight and many spices. Excellent!!!</p>

<p>Picked up at time arranged at city hotel and taken on the tour. The tour was well organised and guides excellent.</p>

<p>The city tour is very poor. They put you on a small bus and, going to the port to take the boat, the tour guide speak without stopping trying to explain everything about Istanbul but in fact you don't see much. The Bosphorus cruise is nice and you can see a lot of highlights.</p>

<p>Istanbul was a fabulous experience. Though this was only a half day tour, the guides showed us so much. They were excellent, very organized and with congenial attitudes. The boat was great as were the coaches.</p>

<p>The tour started with hotel pick up in a comfortable bus. We were taken to the Spice Bazaar to spend some time and then boarded out boat for a 1.5 hour cruise. The cruise was fantastic and a great way to see both the European and Asians sides of Istanbul. The boat was comfortable and shade was welcomed as it was very warm. I highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Istanbul.</p>

<p>I loved this tour. The tour bus picked me up from my hotel on-time and the tour guide was wonderful. He allowed us plenty of time to take pictures and the overall tour was an A+.</p>

<p>We recently did a fly drive in America and booked all our tours via Viator as we had no problems with any of the tours we booked.<br/> However this one the coach turned up half an hour late- there was literally no room on the coach - they then drove for about 20 mins without any information on what was happening - we were the last pick up and people who were already on board were given no information either.<br/> We then stopped somewhere where they proceeded in moving people on and of the coach again no information given. After another 20 mins we drove for another 30-40mins "city tour" which was NOT a city tour!!! just driving round to waste time before it was our time to pick the boat up. <br/> The tour guide was had the most boring voice ever - in fact our party of 6 fell asleep- there was no enthusiasm at all. He was translating everything in french and English and all seemed too much of an effort for him.<br/> When we got to the boat with noticed our hotel with was not that far - so basically we spent over an hour just driving a round - which would have been fine but there was definitely no "city tour"<br/> We were supposed to visit the spice market but as it was Eid it was closed- but we were not informed that we would not be visiting it.<br/> The boat ride itself was ok - commentary could have been clearer. <br/> Don't waste your money on this trip definitely not worth it. <br/> Very disappointing</p>

<p>The main part of the tour was the Bosphorus Cruise which was worth it for the price alone. There was also a visit to the Spice Bazaar, but we seemed to miss out on the Church visit, which was not mentioned. Although you are collected at your hotel, there are only 2 drop off points Taksim Square and Sirkeci Station, so plan for this.</p>

<p>Pick up was late but understandable due to the heavy traffic. The cruise sightseeing was breath taking and the weather was gorgeous.</p>

<p>The programme of this tour was nice however tour guide was not fully ingormative. He gave more attention to people who are on full day tour and he spent most of the time with 2 people only explaining only to them and even on the boat he was only sitting with them.</p>

<p>Good City Tour but a lot of wasted time changing busses. The Cruise was excellent but at the end the tour operator insisted on dropping us at Taksim Square which is very volatile. The inclusions state Hotel pickup and delivery. Lucky for me I kept a copy of this and the operator agreed to deliver us.</p>

<p>The tour dropped us off in the area quite far away from our hotel without any directions to get back to our hotel as a result .. The tour guide was not friendly and refused return us to our hotel where they had picked us up... very distressful and unprofessional as the tour reads pickup and drop off at hotel. The whole tour was very confusing and disorganized while they divided us up into language preference groups. I would definitely not use this tour agency again.</p>

<p>Excellent tour, only drawback was the guide's english was a bit difficult to follow. Maybe you should ask him to speak a bit slower.<br/> Regards,<br/> William and Anne-Marié</p>

<p>30 mintues in the Egyptian bazaar and 1 hour on the ferry. Hotel pick up and drop off were included in the price but later we were told that they can't give drop off. It was very chaotically organized at the beginning in the morning.</p>

<p>We departed late, therefore the city tour was pretty much made up of what we could see on the way to the spice bazaar, which was interesting to have a look through. The cruise, however, was fantastic. As with most cities, a cruise is often one of the best ways to see the main sites. However, unlike most cities, Istanbul has so much to see - it's incredible and you don't have a chance to put your camera down. Highly recommended - just for the cruise. One thing to note - for the half day cruise (I took the morning one) there is no hotel drop off. Depending on where your hotel is, we were dropped off in Taksim square for hotels in the new city - I believe the others were dropped back at the pick up point in the old city. Worth planning ahead about how to get back to your hotel !</p>

The tour was very complete; we took a long trip along the Bosphorus while the guide explained everything relevant that could be seen on the shore from the boat. Then we visited the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque without lines and with very interesting explanations from the guide. It also included a meal for us (the classic lentil soup, kebab meat on a plate with salad, and baklava for dessert; drinks not included in the price). The guide was Akif, very pleasant and he explains everything very well.

Our guide Akif demonstrated great knowledge on our tour of the mosques and cruise on the Bosphorus. The explanations were very enjoyable. Highly recommended. Top Top 👌🏻

Mehmet Akif Öztürk, with license 012889, was our guide and helped my family and my baby have a great time and learn a lot about the culture. He also assisted us with everything we needed, a great guide without a doubt.

We went in the late afternoon and is a walk that is very well worth it! Istanbul is beautiful and the view from the boat has a different panorama. If possible, try a boat with fewer people and a guide. Because it makes all the difference someone explaining what each place is, etc. Tip: I just didn't like the lunch that was served before at a bridge restaurant. If possible, buy the tour without lunch included.

Molto male ... Pagato tour in italiano ed era in inglese, partito un ora in ritardo, la crociera era un traghetto di linea, il pullman ha solo fatto una tappa al mercato delle erbe ma nessun altra attrazione turistica

La vista desde el Bosforo de los Palacios, el puente del Bosforo el mar de Mármara muy bello la torre de la princesa y los dos costas tanto Asiática como Europea la vista de las Mezquitas

Excellent walk along both the Asian and European coast. A duration of more than 1 hour, worth performing. Specifically, it divides in two parts the city of Istanbul, the old city where most mosques and all historical monuments are located, and the new city. In addition, the Bosphorus connects the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea. This strait has a length of 30 kilometers and its banks are fully populated.

Unfortunately, the city tour on 02.09.19 was cancelled without notice. The Bosphorus boat trip took place on a normal liner. The e-mail to Plan Tours regarding the shortcomings I received no reply.The fugue was far too expensive . I can't recommend Plan Tours!!!!

Pleasant afternoon, we took waffles before boarding, you will find something to snack on inside with hot and cold drinks To be done again 🛥

Do not fail to take the boat tour through the Bosphorus Strait, you will go through beautiful and historic buildings!! In addition you will see the 2 continents at the same time: Asia and Europe, both connected by Bosphorus Bridge. Imperdible!!

Do not miss this tour, wonderful landscapes, castles, architecture. See the queliga bridge on both continents. Imperdible

What makes the tour perfect is the Bulut, Cloud guide. It explains the history, anecdotes and peculiarities of the city excellently. We did tour 6, pretty complete in one day. Start with the Egyptian market/spices, then pass through different neighborhoods until you reach the port where you take the Golden Horn cruise. Eat in a restaurant with typical food and finish in the Asian part of Istanbul with wonderful views while drinking a typical tea or coffee. It is very worthwhile if you do not go with plenty of time to visit the city.

They take you to the Egyptian bazaar and the modern area of the city which is fine, but the guide did not speak very good English and passed us, on the Bosphorus cruise he went with his friends and left us on our air.

<p>wunderschön und gut organisiert nur der reiseführer hätte mehr auf die touristen eingehen können.viele sprachen sprechen ist ein vorteil ,wenn man nicht alle sprachen gleichzeitig spricht!</p>