Private Sultanahmet Walking Tour with Licensed Guide
Description
This is not a standard group tour. Your licensed guide is dedicated exclusively to you, allowing complete flexibility and a fully personalized experience. Instead of following a fixed schedule, you set the pace and focus on the landmarks and stories that interest you most. With in-depth historical insight and tailored commentary, this private walking tour offers a refined and immersive way to discover Sultanahmet.
Tour Options
Itinerary
German Fountain / Alman Çeşmesi
Sultanahmet District
Sultanahmet Square
Hippodrome Square / Atmeydanı Hippodrome; where the chariot races were held in the Roman Empire times, Egyptian Column from Byzantine Empire time and today German Fountain is the main cornerstone of the square of Ottoman Empire.
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
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.
Have to skip one of the mosques to save time to visit the interior of The Basilica Cistern. A former water storage chamber and one of Istanbul's greatest surviving Byzantine sites.
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.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- On Fridays, Hagia Sophia or Blue Mosque will be visited from outside because of the worship.
- Tour guides don't have skip-the-line priority in Hagia Sophia. You may need to wait in the security line, in order to avoid queues we suggest departing at 9:00am.
- Grand Bazaar is closed on Sundays can be replaced with Spice Market.
- Topkapi Palace is closed on Tuesdays can be replaced with alternatives.
- Skip the line service is not available for active mosques - there is a queue for the entrance.
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
Reviews(96)
Overall, I highly recommend this tour. Our guide, Naci, reached out the night before to customize the itinerary around our interests and even made adjustments on the spot to include specific food and shopping stops. He was knowledgeable, friendly, and engaging throughout the day. While entrance fees to many sites are not included and can add up, Naci made the process seamless by handling the bookings during the tour, which also allowed us to skip the lines. If you only have one day to explore Istanbul, this tour is an excellent choice.
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Great day with Emreyy who showed us around the Blue Mosque, Hippodrone, Gran Bazaar, and finished off with the utterly amazing Cistern Basillica. His knowledge is incredible, and had us mesmerised with the scale of history in this amazing City. Also had the most amazing kebab, coffee to keep our energy levels up. 5 Stars for Emre
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Eren was our guide. He was very pleasant and knowledgeable. He was professional and courteous. We had a very entertaining day seeing all the sights on our bucket list and the time flew. I would definitely recommend this walking tour even in the heat.
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The guide Eren was very knowledgeable about everything we visited and was able to answer any questions we had. The trip itself was great. The Blue Mosque and Haggia Sophia are just beautiful
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In English... We had the most amazing experience exploring Istanbul with our private guide Yakob (apologies if I’m misspelling his name). He went above and beyond in every way! His explanations of historical facts were detailed, engaging (even for our children), and truly brought each location to life. He not only guided us through Istanbul’s most iconic sites, but also helped us understand Turkish customs and culture. Yakob translated for us when needed, supported us every step of the way, and made us feel welcomed and cared for throughout the tour. He took us to breathtaking viewpoints and hidden gems that only a true local expert would know. On top of all that—he speaks perfect Spanish, which made the experience even more enjoyable and accessible for us. Yakob is hands down the best guide we’ve had—knowledgeable, passionate, kind, and completely dedicated to making the tour unforgettable. We highly recommend this experience to anyone visiting Istanbul! In Spanish... Tuvimos una experiencia maravillosa explorando Estambul con nuestro guía privado Yakob (perdón si escribo mal su nombre). ¡Superó todas nuestras expectativas! Sus explicaciones históricas fueron detalladas, entretenidas y lograron que cada lugar cobrara vida, inclusive para los niños. No solo nos guió por los sitios más emblemáticos de la ciudad, sino que también nos ayudó a comprender las costumbres turcas, la cultura local, y nos apoyó con traducciones cuando fue necesario. Estuvo pendiente de nosotros en todo momento, haciendo que nos sintiéramos cómodos y bien atendidos. Nos llevó a miradores y rincones espectaculares que sólo un experto local podría conocer. Y para mejorar aún más la experiencia, ¡habla español perfectamente! Yakob es, sin duda, el mejor guía que hemos tenido: conocedor, apasionado, amable y comprometido con ofrecer una experiencia inolvidable. ¡Recomendadísimo para quienes visiten Estambul!
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Our guide, Jacobo, was amazing and exceeded all our expectations. He was incredibly knowledgeable about the many places we visited in Istanbul, and shared information in a way that was both engaging and insightful. He was also kind, funny, and made the experience truly enjoyable. Plus, his Spanish is excellent!
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If you are interested in the history of Istanbul, this tour is for you. Our tour guide was polite and knowledgeable regarding this aspect, however, we would have liked to have delved deeper into other aspects as well… the people, the culture, the food and more. Note: This was marketed as a personal tour. The owner of this company mentioned that they could provide pick up/drop off service from the port to the meeting spot. When we queried how much it would cost he said it would be USD$80. To us, this was outrageous as it was only about 2 miles away and the cost of a tram, which we did use, was minimal and easy. We felt that this kind of quote is not in the best interest of their customers and we would’ve loved to have canceled it, but it was less than 24 hours.
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Eren was very profesional and have very clear and destiles explanations of everything we visited. He was very flexible with our plans and showed a lot of professionalism and positive attitude the entire time.
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Eren is a friendly, warm and knowledgeable guide and I strongly recommend booking a tour with him! We had a mini food tour thrown in as well as a break in between our actual tour and the food and dessert were wonderful! I’ve been to Istanbul a few times but today’s tour was insightful beyond expectations and much more than previous experiences and I am immensely grateful!
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Excellent guide Eren! Highly experienced and dedicated to provide interesting insights into all that we saw! Very knowledgeable and helpful
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