Half-Day Morning Bosphorus Cruise & Spice Bazaar Tasting Tour

Is Istanbul the next tourist trap? The description is a total misfit and the experience was way overpriced (as so much in Istanbul) and mediocre at best. This "service" is nothing sells than a ticket reseller with a high markup. I had to call myself in the morning early when the pick up would take place. After picking up and dropping off other tourists (shared bus), we were taken to the spice bazaar where we were done with being sold to after 10-15 minutes. Our "guide" said we needed to wait for another 45 minutes. We then went to the boat, where we were offered tea. That was nice until we realised that we would be charged for it. The trip was already expensive. After haggling we paid the normal price, not double as what the waiter had asked (in the last few days, we have been overcharged elsewhere from 300-500%). I mentioned to the "guide" this should have been included for their high price, but she made it very clear she didn't care. During the boat tour she was mostly on her phone, sometimes pointing out some buildings, which the boat narrator also mentioned. At the end of the tour, she promised she would drop us off at our hotel as we were done early (the core of the "half day", the boat tour is maybe 1,5 hours (didn't measure), the rest is inefficiency). After a few minutes she said that there is a change and she dropped us off at a metro station on the Asian side (we stay at the European side). What a disappointment this "tour"... My advice for a Bosphorus boat tour, get the tickets yourself (on the spot), take a tram or bus (or taxi) there and you will have a better experience much cheaper...

Lovely cruise but so hard to hear the guide on the speaker and the onboard toilets were horrific. Paper covered in excrement sitting in the cubicle. Just horrible and a risk to health and safety. Please try and clean this up before passengers board.

The Egyptian Bazaar part of the tour is a scam where they take tourists to an extremely overpriced spice/candy shop named Ayfer Kaur. They will charge you more than $400 for a bit of Turkish Delight and some tea that you could buy elsewhere for maybe $30. If you go, I recommend you DO NOT BUY ANYTHING!

Pick up was a bit late ,but Beautiful boat tour. Guide was great. Totally recommend if you need a short tour

Friendly and informative tour guide. Prompt pickup and drop off where we asked. Driver spoke English and shared with us his knowledge of Scotland ( where we all originated from).

I booked a tour of the Spice Bazaar and the Bosphorous, happily ticking the box and excited as in the short time I was in Istanbul, I wanted to do a tour of the Bosphorus and the Spice Bazaar. They replied saying did I want to do the tour the on Sunday afternoon instead of Monday morning. Looking at the weather forecast I said, sure. Unfortunately, the tour that happens in the afternoons is the tour of the Bosphorous, then Pierre Loti. This was not what I had paid for, or expected to be doing. When I asked the tour guide he said it was quite clear on the website, afternoon tours went to Pierre Loti. Why I was offered this tour is beyond my comprehension. As I only had a short time in Istanbul, this meant the spice Bazaar was no longer a site to visit. I cant' tell you about my disappointment. The tour of the Bopshorous was great, for the Asian side. The tour guide was informative and knowledgable. Apparently there wasn't much of note on the European side. I had to interrupt his conversation with other travellers to ask about landmarks. Pierre Lot, once i had overcome my simmering crankiness, was fine. However, the 4 minute ride on a cable car was overshadowed by the 1/2 wait for the extremely underwhelmingly short trip we waited for. I did give the organisers a private message explaining what had happened. I haven't heard from them so unfortunately I am posting this publicly now. I will be asking for a partial refund, which they should have offered me when I complained the evening of the date of my excursion.

Take this tour! It's the perfect way to learn about Istanbul and Turkey, super informative, and you can't beat the price. We got picked up and dropped off right at our hotel. Our guide spoke perfect English (he had lived in the US for a few years), so it was easy to understand and relate to him. He really knows Istanbul/Turkey, and, having lived in the US, knew tons of comparisons/contrasts between the two countries. Our group was kinda small - about 10 people, which gave us plenty of opportunity to ask questions - most of the time it felt like our own personal tour guide. The boat tour was the highlight. The water and shoreline were so beautiful. The boat itself is a decent size ferry carrying other passengers, but our guide was always close by, explaining the important sites and points of interest. We took tons of photos and learned so much. It was a perfect way to spend the morning.

This tour was great and very educational. The boat was clean and pick up was very organized. Our guide explained what we were seeing on the strait in nice detail and taking us thru the spice bazaar was awesome and made us feel welcome there.