Tour of Major Sights of Istanbul (entrance fee not included)

Metin was very responsive and an excellent communicator during the tour booking and planning process. He has a profound knowledge about Istanbul and its history and culture and his passion is infectious. We found him to be authentic, funny and engaging. We cannot more highly recommend him.

Metin is fantastic. Responsive during planning. Courteous and professional. We had a 6 year old and 3 year old he was just great with them. Even carried our son when he was tired. Very friendly. His knowledge of the sites and Istanbul history are great. Highly recommended.

Our group of 5 family members recently had a terrific walking tour with Metin: he is super knowledgeable and very passionate about history, and also enjoys sharing information about Islam, which is often misunderstood. He could answer any question—and we had a lot!—and adjusted the tour to accommodate our group’s needs and interests. In addition to showing us the major sights (Hagia Sofia, the Cisterns, the Blue Mosque, etc) he took us to a wonderful local restaurant for breakfast, and also to the book market. We appreciated that he did not try to take us shopping, and in fact warned against buying overpriced goods at the Grand Bazaar. As others have noted, come prepared for a long day, but it is a great way to cover a lot of literal and intellectual ground in a short time, without feeling rushed, and to deepen your understanding of Istanbul and Turkey. Highly recommend!!!

We had an amazing day with Metin, visiting major sites. He is knowledgeable and passionate about the history and significance of each place, making you feel the excitement of visiting such special places in history and architecture. He is considerate of pacing the tour to your needs. We’ve been on many tours. Metin provided one of the best.

Metin was a wonderful guide. Highly recommend! His knowledge of the sites was incredible and passionate. He loves his country and its history and is very good at explaining it. He also tailors his visit for his clients. We are history geeks so he went into great detail about the history of where we saw. We also wanted some off the beaten path experiences and enjoy walking so we bypassed some of the major sites to see some of the lesser visited spots in Istanbul and visited the other sites on our own. He will tailor according to your interests. For the record, the M on his hat is for his name, not Michigan :) Metin is the best.

Miten met us at our hotel at 7:45am. I highly recommend an early morning tour to beat the crowds. Miten has a great personality and he did a great job preparing us (group of seven) for the day. Prepare for a long day of walking. Miten has a great outlook on life and is extremely knowledgeable. It was the best tour I’ve experienced. This tour is a must do. The lunch we had was fantastic as well.

Metin is a knowledgeable tour guide passionate about his beautiful city of Istanbul and its treasure of architectural and historic wonders. He is also a glib raconteur about Turkish politics, culture, religion, and life in the city. We were enthralled--and saddened--to hear about his participation in the rescue mission to the earthquake stricken border between Turkey and Syria. That was a brave and selfless endeavor on his part. My wife and I felt that our two-day tour with Metin gave us a vibrant glimpse into this exotic fascinating world that encourages further exploration.

My 8 friends and I had the most wonderful time with Metin. He took us all around Hagai Sophia and shared tons of history. Then we went to the Palace and he took us to all the hot spots. We also did a quick stop at the Blue Mosque. After lunch we toured the Cistern. Having him allowed us to skip the line which was such a time saver. I’ve been on many tours and he is one of the best guides!

My adult son and I spent several hours with Metin touring the Hagia Sofia, Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque, and Basilica Cistern. It was time and money very well spent. I had learned of Metin through the Rick Steves Online Forum, where he was highly recommended by many people. Metin's passion for his city and its history is contagious, and his depth of knowledge is more than impressive. A bonus is that Metin has front-of-the-line access to most of the sites, so no time wasted standing in long lines. Metin also gave great advice as to what we could do when we were on our own. We can HIGHLY recommend Metin for your tour of Istanbul.

We had a very limited time in Istanbul and Metin did a fabulous job making sure we saw the top sites. He knew how to organize our excursion to maximize our time. Metin was extremely knowledgeable and interesting. Highly recommend!