Best of Istanbul 1, 2 or 3-Day Private Guided Istanbul Tour
Description
Visit highlights of Istanbul with your private tour guide in 1, 2 or 3 days with a flexible itinerary. Day 1 - Highlights of Topkapi Palace Museum, Sultanahmet Square, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Basilica Cistern, Grand Bazaar. Day 2 - Bosphorus Cruise by Public Ferry, Dolmabahce Palace, Taksim Square, Istiklal Street, Cicek Passage, Galata Tower (from outside), Spice Market. Day 3 - Suleymaniye Mosque, Fener and Balat Districts, St. Stephen Church (Iron Church), Pierre Lotti Panoramic Hill by Cable Car, Chora Church (or alternative sites). Important Notes: - Skip the line service is not available for active mosques - there is a queue for the entrance. - For the tours that start later than 11 am, kindly note that you may have to skip one/a couple of sites as the sites are closed by 7 pm. Your guide will adjust the program according to your priorities.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Sultanahmet Square
German Fountain / Alman Çeşmesi
Blue Mosque / Sultanahmet Camii Built in the early 1600s for Sultan Ahmet I of the Ottoman Empire, the Blue Mosque is truly a magnificent masterpiece of architecture with amazingly delicate proportions for a building of such massive scale.
Hagia Sophia Museum / Ayasofya / Santa Sofia Built in the 6th century by Emperor Justinian, played a very important role in the Christian and Islamic World. After the Ottoman conquest the bells, altar, iconoclastic, and sacrificial vessels were removed, and many of the mosaics were eventually plastered over to convert the church into a mosque then a museum and now it’s a mosque for the second time. The most important stop of an Istanbul tour is operated in Old City Istanbul / Constantinople. *Please note that as it's not a museum anymore, tour guides don't have skip-the-line priority there. You may need to wait in the security line, in order to avoid queues we suggest departing at 8:30am or 9:00am.
The Basilica Cistern is an atmospheric underground reservoir from Byzantine Constantinople, famous for its forest of marble columns, dim lighting, and haunting reflections in shallow water. Don’t miss the two mysterious Medusa-head column bases, which add a touch of ancient myth to one of Istanbul’s most memorable historic sights.
Topkapi Palace Museum / Topkapı Sarayı More than just an Imperial Residence of Ottoman Sultans, it was the seat of the Supreme Executive and Judiciary Council for almost 400 years long. Topkapi Palace is a great monument of Oriental architecture which resembles the power of the Ottoman Empire.
Grand Bazaar / Kapalı Çarşı One of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world with over 4,000 shops with colorful products of ceramic, leather, rugs, carpets, handicrafts, clothes, silver, and gold.
Bosphorus Cruise by Public Ferry or Private Cruise ( if option is chosen) Take the public ferry for Bosphorus Cruise to see both Istanbul’s European and Asian sides, Galata Tower, Dolmabahce Palace, Beylerbeyi Palace, the Rumeli Fortress, old Ottoman villas, Bosphorus bridges, mosques. Your best Istanbul tour memories will definitely include the Bosphorus.
Dolmabahce Palace / Dolmabahçe Sarayı Elegance and beauty with the most luxury decoration, chandeliers, rugs, crystals, ceramic fireplaces. Beautiful palace, right on the Bosphorus with gorgeous furnishings, paintings, porcelains made in particular to Dolmabahce.
Taksim Square / Taksim Meydanı A great place defining modern Turkey which witnessed important historical moments. Close to Istiklal Street (Istiklal Caddesi) and Galata Tower along with embassies of European countries in Taxim. Cicek Passage has very good food joints, cafes, shops, bars, night clubs around Taksim.
Istiklal Street is the modern and colorful face of Turkey with churches, modern art galeries, embassies, pubs, cafes and shops selling different kind of products.
We will see the tower FROM OUTSIDE, due to the regulations unfortunately tour guides don't have skip the line priority here so it takes long time to wait queue. Your tour guide will make you explanation about tower.
Spice Market / Mısır Çarşısı Egyptian Bazaar is a colorful indoor bazaar and has lots of shops offering a variety of spices, purses, flavored teas, Turkish delight, nuts, as well as ceramics, and small souvenirs. Spice Bazaar is located in Eminonu Square which is the connection point of Bosphorus and Golden Horn.
Cicek Passage / Flower Passage Originally named as Cite de Pera, a combined structure of traditional and modern construction methods and architectural style by Ottoman Empire is reflected and today we see the small shops and cafes here.
Suleymaniye Mosque / Süleymaniye Camii is the largest mosque in Istanbul and is as impressive on the inside as it is on the outside. In the garden behind the mosque, the Suleymaniye terrace offers lovely views of the Golden Horn and Bosphorus.
Fener-Balat Neighborhood backstreet walk Continue exploring Istanbul’s rich religious history with a stop at the Church of St. George. Since the 1600s, the church has been the location of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and is recognized as the spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Religion. Balat District; lines of drying laundry stretch across steep, winding streets. Century-old Ottoman houses lean against each other in a combination of reds, blues, and greens. And art galleries and design shops dot the area along the water.
Orthodox Patriarch
Historic Areas of Istanbul
Pierre Loti Hill and Cable Car are some of the most popular sights to visit since it offers great views for visitors. Take the cable car to reach the top and enjoy the beautiful scenery while sipping your Turkish coffee or tea.
Formerly Church of St. Saviour in Chora is renowned worldwide for its well-preserved mosaics and frescoes. It presents important and beautiful examples of East Roman painting in its last period. The idea of depth in mosaics and the moving style in figures are of outstanding artistic significance in the Middle Ages, foretelling the Renaissance period.
Golden Horn region which is one of the oldest settlements of the city of Constantinople.
St. Stephen Church; Located on the shore of the Golden Horn, the church is also known as the Iron Church due to the fact that it’s made entirely of prefabricated cast iron in 19th century.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
*If van service is not booked your guide will pick you up ONLY at centrally located hotels or Galataport ON FOOT. The meeting point will be the German Fountain if the hotel is not centrally located and not accessible by public transportation. **If private van service is booked, we pick up from all central hotels, please note that there will be a surcharge if your hotel is outside the city center or on the Asian Side. ***Tours that are booked without van service could easily be operated by tram, funicular and ferries. ****Tours starting from the airports should be booked with van service and additional payment is required as the airports are outside the pick-up zone.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- The suggested first-day tour is designed as a walking tour, with transportation needed only between the hotel and the Old Town if the hotel is outside old town.
- The suggested second-day tour can be easily managed by public transportation
- Topkapi Palace is closed on Tuesdays can be replaced with alternatives such as Turkish And Islamic Arts Museum or Archaeological Museum or Basilica Cistern.
- If one of the mosques or museums is not visited, Basilica Cistern will be visited as a replacement.
- Grand Bazaar is closed on Sundays and replaced with Spice Market.
- Dolmabahce Palace is closed on Mondays. Due to museum regulations, live guide service is not available at Dolmabahce Palace.
- For the tours that start later than 11 am, kindly note that you may have to skip one/a couple of sites as the sites are closed by 7 pm. Your guide will adjust the program according to your priorities.
- On Fridays, Blue Mosque will be visited in the afternoon.
- Grand Bazaar and Spice Market is closed during Eid. (March 20-22, May 27-30 in 2026)
Reviews(9,892)
I only had 40 hours in Istanbul and wanted to experience not just the highlights, but learn as much as could about the culture and history. I booked The Best of Istanbul and Mustafa exceeded all expectations. If I am ever lucky enough to visit again, I will book with Mustafa and the Best of Istanbul tours again!
Merve was our guide for two days in Istanbul. She was professional, knowledgeable and, most important, friendly and kind. We had a great time, saw as much as possible and more in our two short days in Istanbul. She was flexible about changing things and met us at our hotel. We had a fantastic time on tour with Merve.
Our Guide Ace was very good and professional guide, very pleasant experience.
Our guide Atilim is excellent. He provided detail historical and cultural facts on each site that make it so much more fun to visit. I highly recommend him and this tour.
Ozan (Ozzy) was fantastic! We saw a lot in one day - The Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Basilica Cistern, The Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market. We also stopped by a rug shop and learned how rugs are made using silk from silk worms. We went on a Tuesday so unfortunately Topkapi Palace was closed. He offered to take us to the museum but we decided we wanted to go to the Bazaar and Spice Market instead.
This private tour was beyond all expectations! Diana was a phenomenal guide. She is very knowledgeable about the history of the city and the architecture/art of the sites visited. By the end of this 7 hour walking tour of the major sites of the Old City, I felt as if I made a new friend. I highly recommend this tour with Diana!
Mustafa was an excellent guide. Super knowledgeable, could ask him anything. And it was fun to hang out with him for the day, really managed our time well. Thank you!
This private tour was beyond all expectations! Diana was a phenomenal guide. She is very knowledgeable about the history of the city and the architecture/art of the sites visited. By the end of this 7 hour walking tour of the major sites of the Old City, I felt as if I made a new friend. I highly recommend this tour with Diana!!!!!
Thank you very much, Ezgi! My family and I had a wonderful time exploring Istanbul with you and learned so much. We appreciated your smiles, knowledge and openness. Thank you for the great recommendations you gave us as well.
This one day guided tour was perfect. Numan was a great guide offering us a wealth of knowledge making it a really interesting day. We saw the main sights and enjoyed exploring at a good pace early in the day to avoid huge crowds (and the midday heat!). Numan was very friendly, polite and determined to make our trip special giving us some time as a couple to explore the sights once he’d shared his information. Would highly recommend this trip
