PRIVATE GUIDED Exploration Tour of İstanbul Old City Tour
Description
Get your professional tour guide and together decide the places you would like to see. This enables you to use your time in the most efficient way away from stress. This tour is designed as a full day walking tour and at some points you can use public tram and subway metro to avoid the heavy traffic of Istanbul.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Meaning Divine Wisdom, Hagia Sophia was the largest building on earth barring the Egyptian Pyramids or the Great Wall of China. Today's Hagia Sophia was built by Emperor Justinian in 537AD. It was the religious center of the city during the Byzantine period. It was used as a church for 916 years and as a mosque for 481 years, In 1934, by the order of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, it was converted into a museum and has since been open to visitors
As well as being the imperial residence of the Sultan, the palace was also the seat of government for the ottoman empire. It housed the Ottoman sultans for nearly 400 years until the Dolmabahçe palace was built. In 1924 it was converted into a museum. Today it is famous with a harem, royal treasury, and holy relics sections.
is the size of a cathedral; it is 143m long and 65m wide and can hold up to 80,000 cubic meters (or 17.5 million gallons) of water. There are 336 giant columns (mostly Ionic or Corinthian in style) supporting the structure in 12 rows of 28 columns.
Built by the Ottoman Sultan Ahmet I in the year 1616, it is located opposite the Hagia Sophia. Blue mosque today is one of the most famous landmarks of the old city with its famous six minarets and magnificent dome. Although it is officially named Sultanahmet Mosque, the (nıck) name Blue Mosque was given to it by the visitors because of the amazing blue tiles decorating the interior walls.
Built by the Roman Emperor Septimus Severus in 203AD, during the Roman period hippodrome was the civil center for the people of the city where once 100,000 spectators could be held. Located in the heart of Sultanahmet surrounded by Blue mosque, Hagia Sophia, and Topkapi Palace, today it is home to The Egyptian Obelisk (Dikilitaş), The Serpentine Column(Burma sütun), The Constantine Column, and German Fountain.
With 18 entrances and more than 4000 shops, it is one of the greatest bazaars in the world. It was built between 1455-1461 by Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror. Today, shops selling the same kind of merchandise tend to be congregated in their own streets or inns as it was the original Ottoman system.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
-Meet with your guide in front of the Hagia Sophia for a walking tour option -Meeting times will be updated according to your cruise arrival&departure times. -We ensure your timely return to the cruise (for cruise guests) -Please contact to the provider to confirm your meeting time. -Pick up&drop off by vehıcle is available for the ''by vehıcle optıon''. Please contact to local provider for your pick up time.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- Entry fees to historical sites are excluded.
- Topkapi Palace is closed on Tuesdays
- Grand Bazaar is closed on Sundays
- Blue Mosque is closed on Fridays due to Friday prayer we will visit from the garden.
- Free entry for chıldrens below 8yr. Please take passport for children if any.
- We guarantee that you will be dropped off at the port before your ship onboard time. (for cruise guests)
- Pick-up times will be updated according to your cruise arrival&departure times. (for cruise guests)
Reviews(7)
Our group of 4 Canadian ladies enjoyed our day with our extremely well knowledgeable guide. Ege not only a great history lesson while leading us through all the highlights, her personality & humour was a great delight which made all the difference. Highly recommend this tour ... It's ideal for a small group who doesn't want to feel like a tourist in much larger group.
The guided tour was fun and informative . We visited Topkapi palace and Hagia Sophia, unfortunately basilica cistern was closed due to private event so our tour was cut a bit short. However, there were teens and seniors in our group and it was just enough for them. Our guide was Hodi and everyone liked him and his storytelling style, the price is very reasonable too.
Dear benn Thank you for sharing your experience with us. It's a great pleasure for us to hear that you enjoyed your trip with us. The feedback always motivates us to serve you better. Thank you very much once again and we are looking forward to seeing you again. Kind Regards, TOUR ALTİNKUM TRAVEL
The meeting time was at 830AM; we were early and we didn't mind that. We went to the Dolmabahce Palace but since they open at 9am, we took a sneak at the mosque beside it. Twas not as grand as the Hagia Sofia but beautiful nonetheless. The Dolmabahce palace was surprisingly captivating as well. After that, Fuat led us to the port for the Bosphorus Cruise... this was al unforgettable and interesting. Fuat would occasionally speak about the places that we'd pass by. Then, after that a stop at the Spice Bazaar. Twas an activity that wasn't really hurried buy it took us to several places before we had to leave on our cruise ship. We are very grateful for Fuat's Guided tour..Twas really well worth the money.
Dear Thank you for sharing your experience with us. It's a great pleasure for us to hear that you enjoyed your trip with us. The feedback always motivates us to serve you better. Thank you very much once again and we are looking forward to seeing you again. Kind Regards, TOUR ALTİNKUM TRAVEL
Our tour guide was amazing! So happy we did this our first day and saw so much. We also asked questions for the remaining days and she took care to make sure we had the best time in Turkey plus offered to text and help after the tours. Saw amazing sites and got a robust explanation- would recommend to anyone visiting Istanbul.
Dear Vanya Thank you for sharing your experience with us. It's a great pleasure for us to hear that you enjoyed your trip with TOUR ALTİNKUM TRAVEL. Your feedbacks always motivate us to serve you better. We are looking forward to seeing you again. Kind regards, TOUR ALTİNKUM TRAVEL
We decided to choose Kusadasi Tour Company, because of recommendation by others Thai tourists who have used this company before. And we definitely found that we made a right decision to let Kusadasi Tour Company arrange private tour program for us to Ephesus / Pamukkale / and Cappadocia. 1st - Quick respond when we ask questions through website and e-mails. 2nd - Deposit cost prior the trip happen is more reasonable than other company offers. 3rd - We found that all tour guides ( we got 3 for each places ) are very friendly and professional. We really enjoy our vacations in Turkey. 4th - Vehicles & Drivers they arrange for us also very good size and Drivers also friendly. For anyone who looking for spending your vacation in Turkey, we highly recommended to consider Kusadasi Tour Company.
Dear Sura; Thank you for share your experience. It's a great pleasure for us to hear that you enjoyed your trip with us. Your feedback always motivates us to serve you better. We are looking forward to seeing you again. Kind regards, TOUR ALTİNKUM TRAVEL.
I have to say I'm so happy I done this tour... You start by booking the tour with Jimmy.. This man is the sweetest coolest man you can he gave us great price and told us we would have fun.... We both got picked up at our hotel and the guide was so helpful good English so we understood.... The ancient city blew me away from the cobble stone to the ruins the I was in awhhhh... So much history you can learn... We had lunch and the food was amazing... We were stuffed... We also got to see the virgin Mary's house and that gave me shivers couldn't believe I was in her gaff... From the views, staff, food and the main boy Jimmy thank you for the wonderful day... I'm back in July and will definitely book another tour... Thank youuu alll
Dear Killian; Thank you for share your experience. It's a great pleasure for us to hear that you enjoyed your trip with us. Your feedback always motivates us to serve you better. We are looking forward to seeing you again. Kind regards, TOUR ALTİNKUM TRAVEL.
We had an amazing week exploring Turkey with our guide Emre and driver Faruk! Emre was an excellent guide (and photographer!), with great knowledge of everything, patient and looked after us very well. They made our trip very memorable and fun. I would definitely ask for them next time I visit!
Dear Eling; Thank you for share your experience about our Agency. It's a great pleasure for us to hear that you enjoyed your trip with TOUR ALTİNKUM TRAVEL AGENT. Your feedbacks always motivate us to serve you better. We are looking forward to see you again. Kind regards, TOUR ALTİNKUM TRAVEL AGENT.