Istanbul Private Walking Highlights Tour

Expert Tour Guide Safiye is very knowledgeable, informative & pleasant. She enhances the experience of the wonderful city of Istanbul.

Our single day layover in Istanbul was transformed into an unforgettable experience thanks to Safiye! We were determined to make the most of our short time, and Safiye exceeded all expectations. She expertly guided us through Istanbul's top sites, sharing fascinating insights into the history and culture with engaging and comprehensive explanations. Safiye introduced us to a delightful local lunch spot and provided excellent recommendations for dinner after our tour. Her thoughtful preparation, including pre-purchasing tickets to our chosen sites, saved us valuable time and allowed us to avoid long lines. We are already planning a return to Istanbul for a more in-depth visit, and without a doubt, we will be contacting Safiye again. She truly made our brief Istanbul adventure perfect!

I had never met or spoke with Safiye prior to this tour, but meeting with her was running into an old friend. We were in Istanbul for 6 days and we spent 4 of them with her. It was like your family friend taking you around town. She was warm, incredibly knowledgeable, and absolutely wonderful with our small children. We took breaks for street food while we hit up all the main sights in the city. She took us to wonderful local restaurants and we got a feel of Turkish life. We took public transit which we LOVE to do. Public transit in Türkiye is so much cleaner than the US. She took us to local parks so our kids could run around. She introduced the children to goat milk ice cream. My daughter said her favorite things were the galata tower and the blue mosque. My daughter also expressed that she loved the Asian side the best. She said the next time she comes to Istanbul she’ll meet with Safiye at their favorite restaurant. My son said his favorite part was the hot chocolate. It was a lovely trip. Until we meet next time.❤️

Safiye is the most wonderful guide to show you around Istanbul! Such a warm personality, and very knowledgeable about the history of her country. Every corner we turned, she had something new and interesting to tell us. We felt very lucky to have found her! She gave us many recommendation's for places to visit and restaurants to eat in, and went out of her way to help organise a river cruise so I could celebrate my birthday in style ;) She is an absolute star, and we couldn't praise her enough. Thank you Safiye!

My husband and I spent two days with Safiye, exploring the sights, neighborhoods, markets, and food in this amazing city on two continents. She was helpful prior to our stay, answering questions about lodging and currency. She purchased our tickets to sights in advance to avoid the long lines and planned our days to address our interests and make efficient use of our time. She is a wealth of knowledge about the history and culure of Istanbul and the places you visit. But the tour is not a dry recitation of facts. Safiye is engaging and quick to perceive what will interest her audience. She helped us to enjoy local foods and shared information about her own family to help us understand the cultural practices of the people. Istanbul is a very crowded city with excellent public transportation and much to see. It would have been a struggle to navigate the city on our own. Instead, with Safiye's help and gracious hospitality, our visit to Itanbul is a highlight among our travels.

Istanbul would not have been half as magical without Safiye as my guide! A solo traveler on my first trip to Turkey, I booked two days of private tours with her: Day 1 to see the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and Topkapi Palace (which could have been a full day by itself); and on Day 2, the Grand Bazaar and Spice Market. Safiye was absolutely wonderful! She made everything so easy for me--meeting me at my hotel, and stopping to let me rest when my health issues slowed me down a bit. Safiye is very fluent in English and I was enthralled listening to her tell me the history of all the places we visited. But more than that, she is so personable and fun to spend time with. She introduced me to simit with cream cheese (yum!), taught me how to use the tram and wear a hijab, took me to a delicious local cafe for shish kabob, and translated for me. I felt like I truly experienced Turkish culture. Choosing Safiye as my guide was the best decision I made! Don't hesitate to book her for your adventure!

Safiye was a fantastic tour guide and I would highly recommend her to anyone interested in a private tour of the sights in Istanbul. She’s was not only extremely knowledgeable but was also patient & flexible with our 5 month old infant on the tour. Safiye took us to the main attractions (Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia & the cistern). We were able to skip the lines & buy tickets directly, which was a great convenience with a baby. She provided all the background to make the buildings feel alive - and put them into the context of Türkiye’s history. It really provided a much better experience than a group tour or audio guide. We ended at a wonderful bakery for baklava & Turkish coffee. She also provided the perfect lunch recommendation for Galeyan - which ended up being the best meal we had in Istanbul. More importantly, Safiye was so kind and sweet to our little boy. She rearranged the plan to accommodate him, helped us calm him down in the cistern, and generally fawned over him! Her patience and warmth towards him made the tour so much less stressful and more enjoyable. Thank you, Safiye! All the best.

Safiye is such a good tour guide. We did a food tour with her in Kadiköy. It was super fun and the food introduced to us was of a wide range and very tasty. Safiye found for us the right mix of tastings which we were able to enjoy and not feel bloated. What I really appreciated were her interpersonal skills where we felt it was an easy exchange of knowledge and experience, rather than being lectured to. Safiye really engages with you to make the tour educational and fun. We were really glad to have her explain the life and cuisine of Istanbul.

The only way to experience Istanbul is with Safiye! We spent two days together on a unique cultural/food/walking tour that included the major sites and a fabulous quaint hidden market tour. Her knowledge of Istanbul and each site we visited was stellar. Thanks to her, I can't wait to return for a more in-depth tour. She respected my wishes for subjects of interest (or not) and introduced me to the best hidden, local spot for lunch, the kind of place the local merchants know about. Safiye (or Sophie) is easy to converse with and has a terrific command of English. We laughed often and, when we parted, we parted as friends eager for a return visit. Do yourself a favor and schedule your tour with Safiye well in advance as she is one of the very best!

We rarely go on organised tours, but with 6 full days planned for our first visit to Istanbul we thought an ‘introduction to Istanbul’ tour would be a good idea. And it was!! Far better than we expected, in 3 hours Safiye taught us so much about the city - not only its layout and how to get around, and places ‘off the regular tourist map’ to visit, but also of its history and culture. And her recommendations for the best food in the bazaar and elsewhere were perfect - in our 6 days we ate at all and they were fabulous! A truly knowledgeable, warm and genuine person, during our time in Istanbul we regularly said to each other ‘thank you to Safiye, or we wouldn’t have known!’ We couldn’t recommend this tour, and Safiye herself, highly enough. A true 10/10!