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Istanbul Private Tour: Customizable Itinerary Highlighting Historical Monuments and Famous Places
5.0
41 Ratings
Fatih
Experience the best of Istanbul with a private tour guide and a customizable itinerary. Explore historical monuments, famous landmarks, and indulge in local cuisine and shopping. Avoid ticket lines and get insider tips for an unforgettable vacation.
Experience the best of Istanbul with a private tour guide and a customizable itinerary. Explore historical monuments, famous landmarks, and indulge in local cuisine and shopping. Avoid ticket lines and get insider tips for an unforgettable vacation.
Duration:
7 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Blue Mosque - An Islamic place of worship, originally named Sultanahmet I Mosque.
- Hippodrome - The oldest Roman hippodrome, dating back to the 2nd century.
- Basilica Cistern - Historically used to store fresh water, it has been recently restored and now features a 360-degree lighting historical show.
- Topkapi Palace - A grand…
- Blue Mosque - An Islamic place of worship, originally named Sultanahmet I Mosque.
- Hippodrome - The oldest Roman hippodrome, dating back to the 2nd century.
- Basilica Cistern - Historically used to store fresh water, it has been recently restored and now features a 360-degree lighting historical show.
- Topkapi Palace - A grand Ottoman palace.
- Hagia Sophia Mosque - This ancient 6th-century monument was built in 532 as a cathedral, converted into a mosque in 1453, and served as a museum for many years. Since 2019, it has been functioning as a mosque once more.
- Kapali Carsi - Dating back to 1661, it is the oldest covered bazaar in the world, featuring nearly 3,600 shops and 22 doors. A magical and historical place.
What's Included
- Private tour
- Professional local guide
- Guide meets you at central hotels
- Bottled water
- Private tour
- Professional local guide
- Guide meets you at central hotels
- Bottled water
What's Not Included
- Museum tickets and entrance fees
- Gratuities
- Museum tickets and entrance fees
- Gratuities
Additional Information
A private tour guide offers a customizable itinerary tailored to your interests, providing the best way to explore all the historical and must-see monuments and sites in Constantinople/Istanbul without waiting in ticket lines. With 13 years of experience as a professional and local guide, you can enjoy and visit numerous places in just one day! Receive…
A private tour guide offers a customizable itinerary tailored to your interests, providing the best way to explore all the historical and must-see monuments and sites in Constantinople/Istanbul without waiting in ticket lines. With 13 years of experience as a professional and local guide, you can enjoy and visit numerous places in just one day! Receive top recommendations for dining at restaurants, cafes, and local street food, as well as shopping spots to find the best quality items like a local. This unique tour ensures you enjoy your vacation, highlighting the top attractions and providing the best information about Istanbul.
Location
German Fountain
At Meydanı Caddesi
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
5.0
(41 Ratings)
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Janmichelle_o
Nov 5, 2024
Absolutely great private tour - Booked this private tour because I wanted to be flexible on what time I start my tour. Sema didn't disappoint. Knows all the history about Istanbul. Very friendly, very informative and very nice.
Thank you so much!!
Review provided by Viator
Woodhousetim
Aug 14, 2024
Sema is simply amazing - I've travelled a lot and met many tour guides, but none of them impressed me as much as Sema. Her knowledge and energy are endless. What a fabulous 8 hours we spent
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Fabiob157
Jul 12, 2024
Availability, courtesy and knowledge - For the second time I have asked Mrs Sema to house us around the city and we enjoy a lot all the insights she has been able to provide. Great knowledge of the city and of the complex historical background but also of the huge gastronomical that the city can offer. A dynamic approach to all matters and an infaticabile energy to move around and chat of culture and ottoman tradition. Definitely she one of the best overall guide I have encountered. Congratulations
Review provided by Tripadvisor
873jayminp
Jun 25, 2024
Amazing Experience!!! - Sema and her parter were amazing tour guides. We had booked the tour for 2 days and we had a lot of fun. Kids loved the private boat tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Erin_j
Jun 19, 2024
Great day in Istanbul - This tour was fantastic. We visited on a cruise ship and Sema met us at the port to take us to Sultanahmet Square where the hippodrome, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia and Basilica Cistern are located. Communication before the tour was great; we knew exactly where to meet. It was busy the day we came because there were two cruise ships in port and it was a national holiday, but we waited in line half the time as others because Sema knew where to go and could anticipate which sites would be most crowded when. She knows so much about Turkish history and clearly enjoys what she does. Sema also gave us recommendations on the best place to get Turkish baklava which was a treat! I highly recommend this tour.
Review provided by Viator
Global34102626981
Mar 11, 2024
Memorable visit to Istanbul - During our 5 day trip to Istanbul, we had Sema as our guide for 3 days (she was referred to us by a close friend who had her as a guide in 2022).
Sema is an excellent guide, very knowledgeable about the history of Istanbul and the Roman/Ottoman empire and she is also very fluent in English. It is very easy to become friendly with her, she is so easy-going and willing to put herself out for any request made by us, whether it was shopping or food tasting or just general questions.
Over the 3 days, she showed us all the highlights of Istanbul (both the European as well as the Asian side) and explained to us the history and current status for all of them. Her historical knowledge of every place is phenomenal!!!
She also took us around for food tasting as well as shopping, especially with the specific requirements that we had in mind. And the places that she took us for baklava and turkish delight and turkish coffee and turkish tea as well as chicken rolls and fish rolls served us delicious lip-smacking food.
Thank you Sema for an unforegattable experiance of the beautiful city of Istanbul.
I would highly recommend Sema for anyone visiting Istanbul.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Shaheerghulamn
Feb 29, 2024
Best guide in Istanbul. Useful tips! - We are grateful to our guide Sema for showing us all the main highlights of Istanbul, while giving us information about the history and modern use of all places. She also give us really good tips on where to shop, what else to see, and what to do in Istanbul
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sragdharak
Feb 18, 2024
Amazing job - Sema did an excellent job. She took us everywhere we wanted to go (haha Sophia, blue mosque, sisterns, hippodrome, spice market, and grand bazar) and showed us all of the cool things (apple pie place, ice cream trick place). If we didn't want to do
something she'd skip it. She had a lot of knowledge about the history of Istanbul. Highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Marthar839
Feb 5, 2024
Fabulous Experience in Istanbul! - We had Sema as our guide for two days and it was the best experience ever! She took us to all the important landmarks, reserved a private boat tour and Turkish bath. She shared wonderful restaurants and detailed history of Istanbul. I highly recommend her to anyone traveling to this beautiful city.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Loaij997
Jan 7, 2024
Professional and personalized tour - A knowledgeable guide, who can understand the group she is dealing with.
We were a family with kids and she managed to keep her pace so as to suit everyone without letting anyone feel left out. We now have beautiful pictures with landmarks of Istanbul.
Sema showed us places of the bazaar that we would have never reached and brought us to taste amazing food.
We enjoyed our day, and would like to thank our guide who is still so helpful after the tour with her advices.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
