PRIVATE ISTANBUL FOOD TOUR & Hidden Pearls of the old city

We had a fabulous day with Ayse. The food stops were all delicious and it was great to shop for food and spices with a local. Ayse was very knowledgeable about the food and the history of Istanbul. It could not have been a better experience.

Zeynel was exceptional. He took me off the beaten path, introduced me to locals and we and we had a wonderful time tasting pastries, doner kebabs, wine, and more. His English, knowledge, and conversation are excellent. I would highly recommend Zeynel for any tour.

This tour is worth every penny. Our tour guide was Tonc, who is extremely knowledgeable and a pleasure to hang out with. We did this tour right off the plane and was a good way to get acclimated to Istanbul and it's many wonders. It really kicked off our vacation in the right way. Not only did Tonc take us to great locations, but he shared all his favorite restaurants around the city on Google Maps. This information was invaluable. He was also available on WhatsApp the remainder of our trip with any questions we had (and there were many). 5 stars all the way!

PIckup was arranged at the hotel, which was very convenient. This also gave us the opportunity to learn the public transit system in IST, which came in handy for the duration of our trip. Ahmet was very friendly, and took us past all of the highlights, let us in on some excellent food spots, amd gave good recommendations for the rest of the trip, too. 10/10, would recommend.

Come with an empty stomach. You will want to eat every bite of amazing Turkish food. Enjoy stimulating conversations about any topic Turkiye.

Our culinary tour with Siman was top-notch. It was such an amazing way to see the city on a relaxed way, eating amazing foods along the way and learning from a local. Siman brought us to unique places that were not touristy at all and we never would have experienced on our own. I highly recommend.

We booked this tour based on reviews and it certainly delivered the experience we were after. Our guide, Sinan was not just extremely knowledgeable about everything we discussed but his passion for all things Turkish shone through and made the day one we will always remember. Everything worked like clock work. We booked the private tour direct and it lasted over 5 hours, which was excellent value for money. The day before we received a confirming email, which was reassuring, then on the day Sinan WhatsApp’d me 20 minutes before meeting us in our lobby. It didn’t take long for the conversation and questions and answers to flow. We walked everywhere and were given the history of so many places and the food stops were so much fun and varied. So glad that Sinan was with us in the Grand Bazaar, as it is a labyrinth of shops. Every part of the day was exceptional including our beautiful glass of wine with the most exceptional views and we were even dropped off at the Hammam for our next experience. Thank you Sinan for the best day!

Our guide was incredible! He really made sure we were taken care of and had a good time. He heard we weren’t going to have time for the blue mosque so he took us there before the tour. Very knowledgeable and kind.

This was ABSOLUTELY amazing! We had a private walking tour with food sampling followed by a private yacht tour down the Bosporus! Sinan was perfect for our family day! He was early and waiting for us right outside the port. He took us to delicious food options throughout the day, even adjusting to random things the kids were interested in. He took us by tram which was a great experience to the old city and taught us a lot of history, we enjoyed the Blue Mosque! It was so beautiful! We then had a wonderful shopping and exploring experience in the Bazaar. Sinan was great helping us work out deals. We enjoyed the spice market as well. We ate lots of treats along the way. Enjoyed Turkish coffee and tea. We boasted our private yacht that was pretty spectacular!! A nice yacht, captain and crew. We had more drinks and treats on there as we cruised the Bosporus and Sinan continued to explain and tell us everything about what we were viewing. We stopped off on the Asia side for a quick sunset picture and had wonderful city views on the way back all lit up. He was kind enough to walk us right back to our ship! The kids couldn’t speak highly enough about our day! They loved the balance of fun, food, history and Experience! The next day Goda met us at our ship and walked us to our Turkish bath experience herself. We enjoyed 50 minutes of traditional hamam!! Everything about this experience was 10/10. Istanbul was beautiful and we are so thankful for Sinan and Goda! Thank you!

Had an amazing tour with Ahmet. He picked four of us up from the cruise port and took us into the city by tram. Ahmed was friendly and engaging,extremely knowledgeable and entirely motivated by what we wanted to see. He took us to several out of the way Food venues which we would never have found without him. The food and drink was a taste of Istanbul and very tasty. There was so much we had to stop before we had eaten everywhere. If you have a large appetite you could have kept going. The four hour tour lasted five and a half hours. Having done numerous walking food tours around the world, this was easily the best. If you are lucky enough to have Ahmet as your guide, you will be doing very well