Private Guided Basilica Cistern Tour

Join a private guided Basilica Cistern tour with skip the line access. Explore the ancient water cistern, learn about its history, and discover its connection to famous movies. Enjoy a personalized and efficient tour experience.

Duration: 1 hour
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Basilica Cistern - Discover the captivating Basilica Cistern, a must-see attraction in Istanbul. Venture underground to marvel at the unique architecture and listen to your guide share fascinating historical insights. Learn about the mythology of the Medusa heads, movies filmed here, and the history of Istanbul’s water infrastructure, including…
What's Included
  • Skip-the-line entry to the Basilica Cistern
Additional Information

I want to pass on my knowledge and passion to my guests, ensuring +25 year of experience and offer a tour in safety and comfort; with friendly personal touches. We will visit the Basilica Cistern. Avoid the lengthy queues and explore the largest ancient water cistern housing two Medusa heads. Enhance your understanding of this cathedral-sized cistern by…

Location
Turşucuzade Konağı
Yerebatan Caddesi
Go across the exit of Basilica Cistern, an old wooden house, and look for a guide with a HASAN ALICI named guiding batch.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(33 Ratings)
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Cassy
Jul 19, 2025
Hasan is the best! - Hasan was brilliant. We went to the Hagia Sofia Mosque with him as our guide. He was knowledgeable, personable and made it fun, educational and interesting. Couldn’t recommend him highly enough. He was simply great.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Vincentv980
Jun 22, 2025
Just a lot of fun. - Fantastic tour led by Hassan Alicia. Aya Sofia was built in the year 400 AD. Hassan knows an incredible amount about the history, religion and culture around the Aya Sofia. And he's got a lot of humor, too. Look him up. Highly recommended!
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Voyager66070614237
Jun 18, 2025
A Magical Experience Beneath the City – Hassan Made It Unforgettable! - The Basilica Cistern was one of the most mesmerizing places we visited in Istanbul, and having Hassan as our private guide made it even more incredible. His storytelling, attention to detail, and deep knowledge of the site’s history truly brought the space to life. From skipping the long lines to pointing out hidden details — like the Medusa heads and the engineering marvels of the cistern — Hassan made the entire experience seamless, informative, and engaging. You can tell he genuinely loves what he does, and it shows in the way he shares the history with passion and clarity. We can’t recommend this tour — and Hassan — highly enough. If you’re visiting Istanbul, don’t miss this!
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Havvaebrub
May 27, 2025
Feel the history - He took very good care of us and explained every detail with incredible pleasure. We felt the whole history. Thank you so much Hasan 🙃🙃
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491maiyap
May 21, 2025
Hagia Sophia private tour - The tour guide service was excellent! Our guide was Hasan. He was extremely knowledgeable and catered our tour to fit our needs. He was friendly, kind and caring. We would recommend him to anyone, and of course to our own family! He is also very kind and caring. He facilitated every moment so we can efficiently get through everything to see; including finding last minute items to cover up my daughter according to proper Muslim attire prior to entering the mosque. Also we did not have enough money on hand and he said we can proceed to an atm after the tour for added convenience. He would set us up for the best positions for picture taking, and he would take the picture for our group. This tour was honestly MORE than what we expected. We are more than satisfied.
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William
May 8, 2025
Wonderful tour of Hagia Sophia - Hasan gave us a wonderful tour of Hagia Sophia. He is very knowledgeable and provides a lot of detailed information if you want it. His English is excellent. And his subtle sense of humor made the afternoon very enjoyable.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ebfromholland
Apr 15, 2025
Great guide for the old city is Istanbul! - Hasan is a great guide. Extensive knowledge, clear explanations and humorous. Fluent in English! The perfect guide for the old city.
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Bothaherman
Apr 11, 2025
Awesome private guide - What an excellent private tour. We had an awesome day in Haga Sophia and Basilica Cistern. The photos he took was great! The walking to Galata tower and the Tachism district was so informative. thanks for a great day!
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Katherine
Apr 8, 2025
Hasan is an AMAZING guide - Hasan is awesome! We had a guided tour of Haggia Sophia and he was informative, entertaining, and extremely knowledgeable about the history from a cultural and religious perspective. Hasan was funny, smart and we would highly recommend him as a guide.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
J9283baannat
Jan 10, 2025
Great experience! - Hasan was awesome!! He was super knowledgable and friendly, and went above and beyond to show us around the city. Would highly recommend!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $138
up to 15 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).