Privados: Palácio Topkapi, Santa Sofia, Mesquita Azul, Grande Bazar, Hipodromo

We had an excellent private tour of Istanbul with our guide Leyla. The hotel pickup was on time and Leyla really took the time to explain the history of each location we visited. We had visited some of the locations previously but having a well-informed and friendly guide made all the difference! I would highly recommend this tour to anyone wanting to better understand the history of this beautiful city!

Tour guide Elgi chatted with driver during our "custom, private tour" (did not point out sites or provide any history). She became increasingly disinterested when we informed her that we were more interested in sites/learning about her beautiful country's history than being brought to stores she clearly had arrangements with to shop. The owner of one of the shops made an antisemitic comment.

Day well spent. Though it rained the entire day. We did end up seeing all sites. Tour guide was quite knowledgable and knew the history well…

Our long anticipated private tour of several sites in Istanbul started off in grand style when we met our personal guide Emel, a very stylish and attractive young Turkish woman. She was just delightful! Her English was perfect and with one of us having hearing difficulty, she was so easy to understand. We met our driver and proceeded to our first stop. Hagia Sophia. The area was very crowded with tourists, but Emel knew just how to maneuver through the crowd and quickly get us in. In addition to sharing lots of historical details of the site, she was also crowd-savvy and watched to see that our little three-some didn’t get engulfed in larger tour groups that were swarming everywhere. This was very much appreciated. Our next destination was the Topkapi Palace. We toured the various parts of the palace including the harem area and the palace treasury. Emel explained what life was like for those that were part of the Ottoman collective family. Very interesting. Then she was able to adjust our day to find time to see the Blue Mosque instead of the grand bazaar. By early afternoon the lines to get into the Blue Mosque were daunting, but Emel worked her magic and we were able to enter the mosque and see the beauty inside. Our last stop was a walk through the old Roman hippodrome where chariot races and other sporting events were held back in the day. Emel arranged for our driver to meets us there and take us back to Galataport where we reboarded our ship. All in all, we could not have asked for a better experience. It was difficult to say goodbye since we felt we were now dear friends and not just tourists and guide. We counted ourselves so very fortunate to have shared the day with Emel. We highly recommend Emel at Curio Travel. She’s the best!

Private guide to see the Istanbul major attractions is the way to go. We skipped long lines and many crowds. All of the sights were amazing; so glad we saw them this way. Our guide, Onur, was very good!

Four of us and our guide. She was great. Showed us great little areas. Friendly, funny all round a great tour of the areas. Wou I d highly recommend again. Only 4 of us and our guide. Nice and personal.

First class service very attentive and caring guide who was di knowledgeable about the city Fantastic tour

Our guide was fantastic. She had great suggestions and was patient and kind with my mother who has difficulty walking. The history she related while on the tours positively added to the experience

Very experienced guide, well looked after. Very knowledgeable and helpful. Enjoyable day. Took into account what we all wanted to see, 6 in our group.

Eda was a fantastic guide and very knowledgeable. We had a great half day exploring and taking in the sights. Thank you so much.