Full Day Historical Walking Tour of Istanbul Old City from Hagia Sophia
Description
We will be meeting with our guests at the gate of the Hagia Sophia and will start our walking tour with visiting Hagia Sophia, officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque and formerly the Church of Hagia Sophia is a Late Antique place of worship in Istanbul. Afterward, we will visit Blue Mosque, A functioning mosque, it also attracts large numbers of tourist visitors. It was constructed between 1609 and 1616 during the rule of Ahmed I. Its Külliye contains Ahmed's tomb, a madrasah and a hospice. Hand-painted blue tiles adorn the mosque’s interior walls, and at night the mosque is bathed in blue as lights frame the mosque’s five main domes, six minarets, and eight secondary domes. Then we walk to the Hippodrome square and see the city walls and the Leather atelier workshop. You will be seeing each part of the production. After the lunch break, we will visit Topkapi Palace, it served as the main residence and administrative headquarters of the Ottoman sultans.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque and formerly the Church of Hagia Sophia, is a Late Antique place of worship in Istanbul. Built in 537 as the patriarchal cathedral of the imperial capital of Constantinople, it was the largest Christian church of the eastern Roman Empire (the Byzantine Empire) and the Eastern Orthodox Church, except during the Latin Empire from 1204 to 1261, when it became the city's Roman Catholic cathedral. In 1453, after the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire, it was converted into a mosque. In 1935 the secular Turkish Republic established it as a museum. In 2020, it re-opened as a mosque
Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque, is an Ottoman-era mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey. A functioning mosque, it also attracts large numbers of tourist visitors. It was constructed between 1609 and 1616 during the rule of Ahmed I. Its Külliye contains Ahmed's tomb, a madrasah and a hospice. Hand-painted blue tiles adorn the mosque’s interior walls, and at night the mosque is bathed in blue as lights frame the mosque’s five main domes, six minarets, and eight secondary domes. It sits next to the Hagia Sophia, the principal mosque of Istanbul until the Blue Mosque's construction and another popular tourist site.
The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a circus that was the sporting and social center of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square named Sultanahmet Meydanı (Sultan Ahmet Square) in the Turkish city of Istanbul, with a few fragments of the original structure surviving. Horse racing and chariot racing were popular pastimes in the ancient world and hippodromes were common features of Greek cities in the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine eras.
The Topkapı Palace is a large museum in the east of the Fatih district of Istanbul in Turkey. In the 15th and 16th centuries, it served as the main residence and administrative headquarters of the Ottoman sultans.
On tuesdays only, as Topkapi Palace museum is closed on tuesdays and we will visit Underground cistern instead of Topkapi Palace on tuesdays. The Basilica Cistern, is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul, Turkey. The cistern, located 150 metres
One of the oldest structures inside the Topkapı Palace, dating back to Byzantine Empire era of the Istanbul/Constantinopolis.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Topkapi Palace is closed on Tuesdays and exchanged with Underground cistern visit on Tuesdays
Reviews(115)
Our guide was very friendly but as there were only two of us, we really felt like he wanted to cut his day short. He put pressure on us to go to the bazaar despite us clearly asking him not to go. Then he accompanied us to a restaurant at our request. However, the restaurant was very expensive. We clearly saw him shake hands with the owner and hear the owner say he was one of those guests. He seems to have received some compensation. We were supposed to visit the palace but he advised us against it. Our guide today said it was a must-see. We kind of feel like he didn't want to go. Which actually made sure we saw him from 10am to 1:30am when the day was scheduled for 6am to 8am. In his defense he knew the subject well and he was very friendly. We visited Hagia Sophia. Tickets cost $25 and it's a must. On the other hand which is the longest and the waiting because there is not much to see.
Ahsen was my guide and was lovely. I'm so glad I chose this tour. I learned so much more about the Mosques, history, culture, palace and the Sultans. A rich learning for me and well worth it.
It was a great pleasure to join Omer's group for a tour in Sultanahmet. Omer possesses abundant knowledge of Istanbul's presence and past, and was able to delivery it in a relaxed and pleasant way. On his tour, you would always feel there is something to look forward to and never want to stop.
We had such a great time discovering the wonders of Istanbul during our tour! Highly recommend. Our guide was very attentive and knowledgeable about the sights. Loved the Hagia Sophia
Ok, the tour guide was nice and a lovely man so it's difficult to give a terrible review. However, as I value honest reviews from others, I will try and be balanced. The tour did not last all day. Actual tour lasted about 4 hours. Started late as it was a group of 13 with some late as joining instructions was changed last minute and there was a general sense of chaos to start. Tour started at 10 and at 11 we were told that we would have lunch earlier to then be out when queues were shorter. So lunch at 11am! We hadn't booked lunch but sat with others. Food looked decidedly average, but it usually is on these tours. We had some very overpriced drinks. Then tour resumed slowly. Another couple of stops and the tour ended. So essentially the guide was a bit like Google maps on legs Took us to some spots, gave a bit of Information and that was it. My advice is buy a guide book, use Google maps and do it yourself. You will regret paying for this tour. We did. Will have definitely preferred doing this at our own pace. Also prices for visiting the Palace, museums etc are much more than on this and other websites so outdated. Budget for about 40% more cost Read more about - Private Half-Day Guided Walking Tour in Marrakech - https://www.viator.com/tours/Marrakech/Marrakech-4-hour-tour-Discover-the-city-on-foot-with-a-guide/d5408-367690P4?mcid=56757
Fatih was great guide, informative and friendly. We went to the Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, had lunch and then went to the Topkapi Palace. For me the highlight was the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace but we had very little time ie maybe 1 hour at the palace due to too long spent at lunch (slow to bring the meal) I would have preferred to have gotten a takeaway wrap so that I could really see the Palace as the entrance fee is very high ($88aud). On exiting we were given the option to go to the Grand Bazaar or Hagia sophia or Basilica Cistern however all of these were meant to be included and I would have stayed on at the palace if the choices were given prior to leaving the palace grounds. I continued on by myself to the other sites as it was my only opportunity to go. I enjoyed the Basilica cistern but feel the Hagia Sophia while wonderful nit as amazing as the Blue Mosque. Also beware the ticket salesman pressed me to also buy a ticket for the Hagia Sophia museum. It was good but really I was too tired to enjoy it and felt a bit conned.
We booked this trip via Trip Advisor a week before our trip to Istanbul. The full day walking tour was to include Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome, Topkapi Palace and the Basilica Cistern. The info said admission prices were not included but indicated that admission fee to Topkapi Palace was 750 TL and Basilica Cistern was 450 TL. We arrived at the Ayasofya and met our guide. We queued (long queues) to pay and then queued again to enter the mosque. The tour guide was very informative and we went to the Blue Mosque after which was free to enter, then onto the Hippodrome, (also free) and from there the guide took us to a designated restaurant for lunch. After an hour we walked with our guide to Topkapi Palace where we discovered that the entrance fee was not 750 TL but 2000 TL (approx £50 pp). We therefore chose to opt out of this visit due to the fact that the admission fee was not only unexpected but extortionate! The guide advised that the tour of the palace would be 2 hours at least and afterwards he would be taking the rest of the group ( who had already paid admission fees included in their tour) to the Grand Bazaar and could arrange to meet us there. No mention of the Basilica Cistern. We went to the Grand Bazaar under our own steam and did not reconnect with our tour guide again. We paid £31.50 per person for the tour and were very disappointed with its quality and itinerary info. The guide was very good but the rest of the tour was not!!!!
A very bad experience, I do not recommend, do not waste your money. The meeting spot was not clear and I had to make multiple calls in order to find the guide. During the tour of the palace, the guide provided almost no information and spoke extremely quietly. He was simply stating this is the kitchen area, this is the third courtyard, and we looked ourselves. There was very little point paying as the guide offered no local insights and did not explain anything. The guide’s English was quite limited, which is not what I would expect for a tour in English. With the others on the tour we resorted to asking ChatGPT to explain to us. I left halfway through the day and showed myself around.
Interesting and educational tour. Very long day. I recommend this to those with a genuine interest in walking tours, specifically. The interesting sites and historical information do make up for the long day on your feet.
Our trip with our tour guide Illaya was great. She cheered up the mood as soon as she stepped into the pickup bus. She had good commandv of English and explained everything really well. She had grrat knowledge. We really enjoyed our tour.
