Istanbul Private Guiding Service
Description
This is a private guiding service taking place in Istanbul’s Old City area. Your professional guide will meet you in the Old City and accompany you to the places you would like to visit, following your preferred itinerary and order. With the flexibility of a private guide, you can explore the historical sites at your own pace and make the most of your day in Istanbul. Your guide will help you plan the most efficient route, share historical insights, and ensure you experience the highlights of the Old City according to your interests.
Tour Options
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Your guide will meet you at Galataport and accompany you to the Old City area to start your tour. Depending on your preference, you can either take the tram or walk to the sites together with your guide.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- This is a walking tour that takes place in pedestrian-only areas of Istanbul’s Old City.
- Grand Bazaar is closed on Sundays and religious holidays. You will visit the Spice Bazaar instead as an alternative.
- Topkapi Palace is closed on Tuesdays.
- Mosque visits may be subject to temporary closures during prayer times.
Reviews(73)
The booking started off very shakie as the operator wanted us to pay for pick when the booking specifically said that pickup for this private tour was included, that was unsettling to say the least especially since I'd already paid for the 3 of us. The operator reached out to me, they were very nice but I'd already reached out to Viator who told me not to pay a dime. The operator then messaged me to say that they would work something out. I was still not happy. Then I got a message from the operator to say that it was settled and that my transport would be there to pick me up at the agreed time. I've dealt with Viator before and found their tours to be true and honest to a fault. This is the first time that I had this experience. The next thing on this tour was the guide, while he was very knowledgeable he seem to be guiding us to places and shops that he had an interest in/very familiar with the people. He insist on showing us a rug and jewelry shops that had very little to do with history. He had his own places that he wanted us to visit and seemed a little put out when we didn't show much interest. We arrived at the start of the tour at about 11:00am at about 3:30pm our 6hr tour ended with him saying that the driver had to leave and didn't want to be caught in traffic we were very shocked as it had only been about 4 hrs. He kept taking calls while on the tour. We could've gotten a taxi to the start of the tour for less then walk around and listened to the other tour guides, walked to the market and gotten a taxi back to the hotel for less. I'm sure that if it had started out different and the guide had been dedicated to his job, the experience would have been different. I've been on similar tours like this that were really enjoyable. So I'd say give it a try.
We would like to clarify that transportation was not included in this tour. However, when you requested it, we arranged a vehicle for you to avoid any inconvenience. One participant also arrived approximately 20 minutes late, and as your pickup and drop-off were on the Asian side of Istanbul, around two hours of the total time was spent on transportation. The museums on the itinerary require entrance tickets and several hours to visit. As you decided not to enter them, our guide took you to a carpet shop instead, as you had expressed interest in seeing local shops. Our guide Sait has been working with us for many years and has received numerous positive reviews from our guests on our website. We are sorry that your experience was different. We appreciate your constructive feedback and will certainly take your comments into consideration. Kind Regards
Renan, the tour guide was punctual and well presented with excellent command of English language. The tour covered cultural sights with good explanations and commentary at each stop off. I would recommend the guide.
We are delighted to hear that you were satisfied with Renan’s professionalism, punctuality, and excellent English, as well as the cultural insights shared throughout the tour. We truly appreciate your recommendation and will be happy to share your comments with her. We hope to welcome you again in the future.
Watch out ! They bring you to places like rug stores to sell to you , also a spice place looking to sell you something , and they have their own scarf place in case you forgot to bring yours ( this one did actually help me except I picked the $100 cashmere blend one . They must all be in cahoots! That should NOT be part of this tour. This is wrong .
Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We are sorry to hear that the shopping stops negatively affected your experience. These visits are intended to introduce guests to local craftsmanship and products, but there is absolutely no obligation to make any purchases. We sincerely apologize if it felt otherwise during your tour. Your comments are very important to us and will be shared with our team to help improve the experience we provide to our guests. Thank you again for your honest review.
Lale has been a great guide, very professional and effective. We have taken advantage of the day very well, we have made several visits, an extensive program very studied.
Muchas gracias por su reseña. Nos alegra saber que el profesionalismo y la organización de Lale hicieron que su visita fuera tan productiva. Será un placer transmitirle sus felicitaciones. ¡Hasta la próxima!
Our guide was friendly and had a flexible schedule. She offered some ideas on things to see and brought us to the places where we wanted to go.
A private tour with a great guide makes all the difference! Seda, our guide was so knowledgeable! Very intelligent, interesting and personable. She took us through the attractions we wanted to see, and knew them so well!
The visit to the city was wonderful. Istanbul is magnificent and Sedat the guide one of the best. Took us through the most iconic places of the city and made this a memorable visit
I visited Istanbul in May and it was a wonderful experience. The city is beautiful, but what made the trip truly unforgettable was our guide: knowledgeable, passionate, and able to make us dream with her stories. I highly recommend her to anyone who wants to discover Istanbul at its best.
Volkan, our Viator tour guide, was informative, friendly, funny, and helpful. We saw the beautiful & inspiring mosques. We went to the Istanbul promenade & the Grand Bazaar. We topped off the day with a fabulous meal at a traditional Turkish family restaurant. My husband is mostly in a wheelchair & Volkan ensured all of our visit was accessible & wonderful. Thank you Volkan!
Our experience in Istanbul was perfect. Our guide was amazing. Understood what we wanted and spoke our language perfect. So we understood him. He knows his history very well.
Dear Gabriel, Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback! We’re delighted to hear that you had a perfect experience in Istanbul and that our guide made your visit so enjoyable and insightful. It means a lot to us that you felt understood and well taken care of. We hope to welcome you again on another adventure soon! Warm regards, Ada Vegas Travel Team 🌟
