Pick up from the hotel and join the group. We begin our tour with a visit to Hagia Sophia Museum, which is considered one of the Eight Wonders of the World, occupies a unique place in the history of architectures one of the rare works of this size and age that still survives.
Our next visit will be The Blue Mosque, which takes its name from the world famous exquisite blue Iznik tiles decorating its interior. Also it is the only imperial mosque in the world that was originally built with six minarets. Note: Blue Mosque is reserved for Prayer on Fridays. On Fridays, we visit the mosque from the exterior.
We continue to the Hippodrome Square, the sporting and social center of old Byzantium, held 100,000 spectators and featured objects from all corners of the empire such as the Egyptian Obelisk, and the Serpent Column.
Brief Handicrafts Presentation & Lecture (Optional Attendance) next to the Grand Bazaar. Guest may opt to skip the presentation and explore Grand Bazaar on their own. Meeting back and drive to the hotels. Note: Grand Bazaar is closed on Sundays.
Guide Ali had a good sense of humor. The unexpected carpet weaving demo was pleasant with zero sales pressure from shop keeper (unlike other places).
Had a wonderful experience with our guide Muzuffar who told us many interesting details about the Blue Mosque, Haggia Sophia and the Grand Bazaar. There was no waiting around with him; we got right in and right out on all the attractions and took so many wonderful pictures. Thank you Muzuffar!
Our guide Muzzafar, was knowledgeable and spoke clearly. He keep the group together at all times as we were mixing with other groups at the same sites at the same time, quite a feat. Starts with a pick up at our Hotel and onto the old city. We saw, hippodrome, blue Mosque( couldn’t go in as Friday is prayer day). Went into Hagia Sophia and enjoyed the Talks Muzzafar gave informing us of what we were seeing. Next we were on our own to walk around the Grand Bazaar, great stop for shopping and eating real Turkish foods and treats. We then met back up with him and the others. We enjoyed a cup of incredible Turkish tea. The bus dropped us off back at the Hotel. The skip the line at Hagia Sophia gave us time to see the entire inside of Hagia Sophia. Don’t miss this tour to see a few of the most important sites in old town Istanbul.
Muzaffar was an amazing guide, he's very knowledgeable about the history of Turkiye in general, and the history and context of the sites we visited more specifically. Highly recommend this tour for anyone exploring Istanbul.
This tour was execptional. We were picked up right across the street from the cruise port and driven to the center. Our guide was so knowledgable, we learned alot from him. Since we wanted to stay longer in the bazaar, he gave us directions on how to take the tram back to our cruise port. This was the perfect day for us.
Shakir was a great guide. Very informative tour, and when we let him know that we had to dip out early, he went above and beyond in arranging transportation back to our hotel. Would highly recommend this tour
Really good trip. Tour guide very knowledgeable. Good communication before trip. Much cheaper than ships tour.
Ali was informative, knowledgeable and has a great sense of humor which made the tour more exciting. I would take other tours if he was the guide.
The pick up was punctual and communication was clear before hand. The air conditioned transport was great. Ali, the tour guide, was personable and flexible in terms of what we wanted to do. He also gave suggestions on local shops which I thought was very useful.
Ali was a fantastic guide. I highly recommend the tour. In 3 hours we covered a lot of history and there were multiple opportunities for photos.
Great experience and the tour guide Ali was really great, highly recommended 👌
Very good tour with informative and knowledgeable guide. Only downside, my wife despite considerable effort to dress modestly (calf length, long-sleeved, loose fitting shirt dress with hair completely covered by headscarf) was forced to purchase a coverall to enter Hagia Sophia. She was not happy! Our guide explained it depended on the guard/security on duty at the time. Female guard was friendly and welcoming but young man was not and took exception to my wife's calves
Ali was an excellent guide. It was not as crowded as usual and we finished earlier than expected. Instead of just finishing the tour, Ali made sure to make use of the time and helped me organize what I was going to do for the rest of the day. He was knowledgeable, friendly, and gave plenty of recommendations as well. He certainly went above what he needed to do for the tour and he was sincere in trying to make sure I made the most out of my time in Istanbul. 100% recommend.
Ali was a very knowledgeable and considerate tour guide who took account of my slowness getting around due to back and knee issues. However he made sure nothing was skipped for any of our tour group. His clear explanations and answers to any questions provided insight into all the sites visited. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our half day and came away impressed with the rich history of what we saw. Thank you Ali for making this part of our trip to Istanbul so memorable.
Friday morning the Blue Mosque is closed. Viator had our tickets to enter Hagia Sophia so we didn’t have to stay in a long line up. Ali was a fabulous guide 👍
Simply terrific! Ali, our tour guide was amazing, going above and beyond taking care of 13 of us. He is very knowledgeable and caring.
Ali very knowledgeable and made the tour way better than managing on own. Rug education/sales pitch not necessary but, actually was informative. Nice break sit down. Learned more about rugs in half an hour the rest of my life! Recommend
The tour was very rushed with little time to stop and observe the surroundings. Also, we were brought to a carpet seller despite saying we are not interested in such an activity. It was extremely difficult to leave the carpet seller as he would not take "no" for an answer. The Istanbul bazaar was not interesting. Basically a tourist trap. The tour guide seemed distracted, consistently on his phone.
Hagia Sophia holy wisdom 532-537 largest 4th 3rd iteration Ali I joined the Small Group Istanbul Tour covering the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, and Grand Bazaar, and it was a fantastic experience. Our guide, Ali, was incredibly kind, had a great sense of humor, and he even helped me sort out my plans for the rest of my day. The tour was relaxed and well-paced, with plenty of time to take in the sights and snap photos without feeling rushed. Do be prepared for a fair bit of walking, and ladies don’t forget your headscarf at the hotel like I did! Thankfully, Ali helped me find one at a reasonable price, and everything worked out perfectly. Highly recommend!
Great guide. Very good historian. Time and distance perfect sites great and interesting and weather perfe5
We had the such a great day with Ali. He was so friendly and knowledgeable. The insights and information he was able to share with made made the visits much enjoyable, and he was able to do so in a very engaging way. He also flexible on schedule and adapted the itinerary according to our preference which made it even better! He gave very useful advice when it comes to shopping and showed us different options available to allow us to compare prices and quality and make our choices with zero pressure from vendors. Overall a fantastic experience and I would 100% recommend! Thank you Ali Tchien
Easy pleasant way to see the city in one day. Our guide Alli was informative and fun! He kept us on schedule and answered ever question.
Highly recommend this tour. Ali was amazing. He was kind, courteous and extremely knowledgeable.
Ali was an AMAZING guide. We never felt rushed and he tailored the tour based on what we were most interested in. He is a wealth of information and a joy to be around. We learned so much about the country of Turkey in general, in addition to the sites we visited. I highly recommend him and this tour.
Had a great time today, Ali was an excellent guide
Ali was a great guide. He was friendly and knowledgeable. Since I went in the off-season it was just me so he personalized it based on what I wanted to see. Thank you.
Ali was a great guide. Very professional and made sure I saw and went to the places I was interested in. Since I went in the off-season so it was just me on the tour. They picked me up from my hotel, personalized the tour to my interests, and dropped me back at my hotel. Thank you!
Ali was an outstanding guide and played a huge role in making our time in Istanbul so memorable. With over 20 years of experience in the sector, he brings not only deep knowledge but also incredible energy, charisma, and humor. We honestly would not have had the same experience without him. We did a half-day tour, and everything was extremely well organized from the start. We were picked up directly from our hotel in a comfortable bus with leather seats, which was much nicer and faster than we expected. Our first stop was the Hippodrome, followed by the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and finally the Grand Bazaar. Along the way, we also stopped for a Turkish carpet-making demonstration, which was fascinating and added a unique cultural touch to the tour. Ali’s explanations were engaging and detailed, and he shared so many interesting insights about Turkish history, culture, and the monuments we visited. He has a great way of bringing history to life, making everything easy to understand and genuinely interesting. This was an excellent tour from start to finish, and I would 100 percent recommend it to anyone visiting Istanbul. If you can, make sure you end up with Ali. He is truly stellar.
Book the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia separately and do the Bazaar on your own. The rest is a scam. We had barely any time in either Hagia Sophia or the Blue Mosque. When we tried to depart from the group, we were led to a shop and a sales pitch. No thanks.
Our hotel was nearby the start of the tour at the blue mosque but the pick-up service drove us/let us wait over 40 minutes around the city. The information and time at the sights was raletively short and then we were guided to a salesshop for shopping experience.
I have met the mayor of old town Istanbul. Our guide’s name? Mehmet Sakir Karadibek. He made this visit to Instanbul amazing. Great knowledge, great personality and just a great person. Absolutely worth the value and more. More importantly, we’re already thinking about how we come back for another visit, and Sakir is a big reason with both big and small stories to tell about a city he obviously loves.
Excellent guide who gave much information that we would have missed out on if we had gone alone. Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque are so overwhelmingly beautiful and inspiring. Warning: dress code is very strict..my dress was below knee when still but considered unsuitable when walking so had to purchase a full length coverall with hood for TL3.00 before I could enter Mosques. I appreciated there was an option as would have been devastating to miss out. Pick up was easy, straight across road from the terminal exit. Most of the tour is walking. The Grand Bizarre is another fabulous experience, but be prepared to say no to the many sales people who approach you...not aggressively though. We loved this tour, and thought Istanbul was amazing
A great way to explore some of the locations in Instabul. The guide was extremely knowledgeable and moved at a fast pace to ensure we saw lots. It was great not having to queue at any location.
The tour was just amazing - 3 top Istanbul attractions and thanks to our super knowledgeable guide and bus driver we learned a lot ❤️❤️❤️
Excellent and informative - done at the right pace to make sure all could stay ing group - very accommodating
This half day tour was so informative and more than we expected! Istanbul is a beautiful city with friendly people and we wish we had more time. This was a cruise port stop so had only a few hours to enjoy this vibrant city. I'm glad we did it early in the morning so it wasn't too hot yet. The heat and humidity of Mediterranean summer can bog you down, and we were relieved our bus was well-airconditioned! Our guide, Mr Sakir, was exceptional! Very presentable, spoke English very well and clearly. Talked about the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque in a concise, interesting way. It was a brief but interesting description; just right to keep the attention of our group w/c included young children. Mr Sakir was also very kind and accommodating. He gave us time for photo ops and buy ice cream. And the Grand Bazaar is indeed a feast for the eyes! The carpets were so lovely that I ended up buying one! And they conveniently ship it straight to the US at no addl cost. We all so wished we had another full day to enjoy both the bazaar and the spice market. The Turkish delight we tasted at the spice market was delicious we all bought some! Also, we were on a week-long cruise that started in Italy and I had in mind to purchase a leather jacket in Rome but didn't find any to my liking. Well, I found it in Istanbul; even better than what I had in mind! This half day tour is well worth it. Because our group was a large one, it was just us on the tour and were able to tailor our experience, w/ Mr Sakir's help. I haven't mentioned yet how gracious he is- I accidentally left my Turkish delight purchase and didn't realize it until I was in Greece already. Mr Sakir graciously arranged to send it to the US! He went above and beyond his duty. How's that for Turkish hospitality?!! Read more about - Half Day Morning Istanbul Old City Tour - https://www.viator.com/tours/Istanbul/Half-Day-Morning-Istanbul-Old-City-Tour/d585-61488P5?mcid=56757
This half day tour was so informative and more than we expected! Istanbul is a beautiful city with friendly people and we wish we had more time. This was a cruise port stop so had only a few hours to enjoy this vibrant city. I'm glad we did it early in the morning so it wasn't too hot yet. The heat and humidity of Mediterranean summer can bog you down, and we were relieved our bus was well-airconditioned! Our guide, Mr Sakir, was exceptional! Very presentable, spoke English very well and clearly. Talked about the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque in a concise, interesting way. It was a brief but interesting description; just right to keep the attention of our group w/c included young children. Mr Sakir was also very kind and accommodating. He gave us time for photo ops and buy ice cream. And the Grand Bazaar is indeed a feast for the eyes! The carpets were so lovely that I ended up buying one! And they conveniently ship it straight to the US at no addl cost. We all so wished we had another full day to enjoy both the bazaar and the spice market. The Turkish delight we tasted at the spice market was delicious we all bought some! Also, we were on a week-long cruise that started in Italy and I had in mind to purchase a leather jacket in Rome but didn't find any to my liking. Well, I found it in Istanbul; even better than what I had in mind! This half day tour is well worth it. Because our group was a large one, it was just us on the tour and were able to tailor our experience, w/ Mr Sakir's help. I haven't mentioned yet how gracious he is- I accidentally left my Turkish delight purchase and didn't realize it until I was in Greece already. Mr Sakir graciously arranged to send it to the US! He went above and beyond his duty. How's that for Turkish hospitality?!!
Great hotel transfers, good tour. I would recommend, four hours in total. Easy to do. Nice itinerary although bazaar wa closed on Sundays.
Ali our tour guide was great. This tour hit all the major attractions in the short time I had in Istanbul. We were in the off season so there weren't lines but the skip the line pass would've been critical during busier seasons.
We had a great time on this half day tour. We got to see the sites that we really wanted to. Our tour guide's name was Ali and if you can, I would recommend that you request him. He is very knowledgeable in every place we visited as well as Turkish history and culture. What a wonderful experience.
Loved the Blue Mosque.. beautiful. Tour started early to avoid crowds but left with more than enough time in the carpet showroom near the end .our guide was very good but was probably only 2 hours in duration as we were left free time at the end to explore the Grand Bazaar in our time ....thought trip a little overpriced as Blue Mosque was free entry anyway ..
Best walking tour ever! We were Rose’s(I hope I remembered her name correctly) only arrivals… so we had a private tour. Her personal love for the area and her extensive knowledge along with her wonderful personality made us feel that a past college friend from Istanbul was showing us around. We even stopped to share fish finger foods… again, like we were just hanging out together. Next visit we’ll be staying at one of the elegant old hotels she took us to. If you want the best… book this tour.
Very interesting but too much walking and standing for older people. Didn’t take us to the grand bazaar just to the area
The tour was great - super knowledgeable guide and as this was my first visit to the city, learned a lot in a short time. Time did not allow me to do the full day tour, but would recommend either version as your time permits. Only thing to be aware of - tour is from the Europe side and no hotel pick ups offered from the Asia side. It is far and Istanbul traffic is horrid - make sure to allow lots of time
This was a great way to see three (3) top attractions in Old Town Istanbul! It.was so easy to skip the long lines and go right in to the attractions. The tour guide was informative and helpful with great information on the city and history of the visited places. I definitely recommend this tour!
All of it. The transfers were great. Communication was great and the your guide was very good. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and was able to share lots of stories and facts.
I enjoyed visiting the Blue Mosque as well as the Hagia Sophia. Our guide was informative and shared insights and stories that made the sights come alive.
Enjoyed the tour, was good to gain a better understanding from someone who had a detailed understanding. Unfortunately the Grand Bazaar on the day of my tour, so please check before booking.
The guide was very clear pace was a little faster but you are covering a lot of areas. This is a great stop over tour where you can get to see the main sites while getting info on others in the area. The one thing I will say that prevented the higher review is the sales presentation at the leather store, you have the option of leather or rugs. Remove that nonsense from the tour and you have a full winner it’s a waste of time, maybe offer a shopping tour for those that want to sit and enjoy the part.
The tour was amazing. We were shown a large area of historical sights in a short amount of time. Because of that short amount of time, though, the tour was not thorough the information given was helpful. It is not only a tour that adults will enjoy. I enjoyed it and I am 14.
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