Istanbul

Top Istanbul landmarks

All in One Day Istanbul - Historical Tour of Istanbul with Bosphorus Cruise

Badge of ExcellenceIstanbul, Turkey

16 hours 40 minutes to 20 hours
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Tick off the top sights in Istanbul in a single day during this exclusive full-day shared tour, which includes a sunset yacht cruise on the Bosphorus. Highlights include history-filled Sultanahmet, including the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, the bustling Grand Bazaar, stunning Dolmabahce Palace, and Topkapi Palace.

A full-day VIP guided tour of Istanbul with lunch and sunset cruise
Cover the city's most famous attractions in one day of sightseeing
Enjoy door-to-door pickup and drop-off from your hotel accommodation

What's Included

Lunch
Snacks
Fresh Season Fruits Served during the sunset cruise on the Bosphorus
Cookies including baklava Served during the sunset cruise on the Bosphorus
Professional tour guide in English
2.5-Hours Bosphorus Cruise on Luxury Yacht

Museum Tickets (Topkapi Palace Entrance Ticket is 1.500 TL for main entrance and Harem Section)
Entrance ticket fee for Hagia Sophia (25 euro per person)

Meeting and Pickup

You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup

Meeting point

Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum
Binbirdirek, At Meydanı Cd No:12, 34122 Fatih/İstanbul, Türkiye
We can meet you right in front of the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts between 08.45 and 09.00 am

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

09:00 AM

End point

İdo Kabataş Deniz Otobüsü İskelesi
Ömer Avni, İskele Yolu, 34427 Beyoğlu/İstanbul, Türkiye
The cruise part will end in Kabataş Pier

Pickup details

The guests who stay out of our pick-up route can come to meet the tour guide in front of the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts at 09.00 am

What To Expect

Sultanahmet District

8 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Hippodrome

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

German Fountain

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Walled Obelisk

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Obelisk of Theodosius

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Blue Mosque

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Hagia Sophia Mosque

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Topkapi Palace

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Dolmabahce Palace (Pass By)

Grand Bazaar

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Bosphorus Strait

2 hours 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Rumeli Fortress (Pass By)

Ortakoy (Pass By)

Bosphorus Bridge (Pass By)

Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge (Pass By)

Beylerbeyi Palace (Pass By)

KIz Kulesi (Pass By)

Kucuksu Pavilion (Pass By)

Anadolu Hisari Fort (Pass By)

Halic (Pass By)

Bosphorus Strait

2 hours 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Halic

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Galata Tower (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Near public transportation
Infants must sit on laps
Most travelers can participate
Topkapi Palace is closed on Tuesdays, we visit Dolmabahce Palace on Tuesdays.

The old city, Sultanahmet is closed for car traffic, travelers visit the sights by walking. There is quite a lot of walkings, so please wear comfortable shoes and get ready for a long walking day right before a very enjoyable luxury yacht cruise.
The sunset cruise ends at 21.00 from 01st May to end of July.
The tour guide will contact you one day before to coordinate the hotels pick services (if your hotel is in the city center) or the meeting point.
The Grand Bazaar is closed on Sundays and it may be replaced with Spice Bazaar or Arasta Bazaar
Ladies are recommended to bring scarfs to use while visiting the Blue Mosque
Museum tickets are not included, the tour guide can provide fast-track musem entry tickets on the tour.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Lisa_M

Yunus was an amazing guide! Very fun and thoughtful. Highly recommend this tour. Lunch was amazing also.

Reviews

5.0

428 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 428 reviews

Top Istanbul sights in one day

lou2navig8, May 2024

Sargen was a great tour guide! He geared the tour to our preferences and gave us lots of interesting background information. The lunch at a local upstairs restaurant was fabulous! Also loved the sunset cruise which Sargen escorted us to, rather than just send us on the tram. The tour was long but covered all the best sights. Would recommend that if you use a closed hotel as the meeting place, tell your clients to expect that. We started looking for a relocated hotel and wandered around for a while, following leads helpful locals offered. Finally we returned to the original location and thankfully, the van was waiting for us. It caused us some needless anxious moments, not the way to start a tour.

Experiencing Istanbul

Jenny_T, May 2024

Goos tour to see around istanbul city centre. Ahmet was really good and showed us whatever we needed to see.

A great tour, the guide...

MariaFtima_S, May 2024

A great tour, the guide was fantastic, very knowleage, lots of information of history and very friendly.

Great guides, poor tour mates

Monica_B, Apr 2024

We had a great guide, but started off rocky. The tickers we received in the app indicated the tour started at 8:45-9 am. We had friends complete the same tour 2 days earlier and followed their plan to leave our hotel via taxi around 8 to ensure arrival around 8:45. I recieved a WhatsApp message the day before tour indicating I'd recieve the guides contact info later that day. I did not receive this but didnt anticipate needing it, given the time and location were on the tickets. We were dropped by taxi on a corner, in the rain. There were many tour groups forming but never saw signage for this tour. After asking several people, a guide for a different group helped us by calling someone. While he was calling, I was waiting for a response from the WhatsApp contact who messaged me the day prior. Ultimately, our tour started 1 hours later than advertised on the ticket. We were frustrated but spent time in a nearby cafe until 10:00 when tour started. We were a group of 3, joined by 2 couples. Neither couple was prepared to walk miles in the rain, over slippery terrain, based on their physical ability and dress. The couples were so slow and we were behind schedule. We did not get to visit the Grand Bazaar, and we very nearly missed the Blue Mosque because of them. We didn't get to enjoy the other treats, like pomegranate juice or lemonade stops either that our friends experienced the day before. The guide was very knowledgeable and patient, but we paid for the full experience and didn't get it. The boat ride was nice. We actually ended the day on a positive as our hotel was out of the drop zone, a guide took us via subway to our hotel area as no taxis were available. He really went above and beyond. Nice tour, but something needs to be done about people who can't complete the tour on time. It was our last day in Istanbul and we regret not getting to thr Grand Bazaar.

A great 6 hour food tour

James_B, Apr 2024

We had a great 6 hours exploring foods and eateries we would not have explored on our own. Our guide was wonderful as she tied everything to the history of Turkey.

enchanting tour

Jack_T, Apr 2024

Hagia Sophia is truly as described in the media. The treasures at the palace are amazing. The lunch was delicious and venue had a beautiful views. The sunset cruise was enjoyable.

Istanbul beautiful tour !!!

Hildebrando_P, Mar 2024

Boat experience tour , amazing sunrise view and hospitality was excellent, travel agency take care permanently

Horrible and a nightmare

Rosalind_L, Mar 2024

This tour didn't specify that it was was a walking tour. The guide left me at the designated meeting point for lunch (a restaurant for over 2 1/2 hours. I elected not to see the castle so we agreed to meet at the restaurant. Another tour guide took me to the Grand Bazaar and one could tell he really didn't want to by asking why I didn't want to see the castle. I informed him that it was an elective tour and not mandatory. He instructed me to meet the rest of the group at 1pm. I arrived at 12:35 but the rest of the group didn't arrive until a little after 3pm. The tour guide who walked me to the Bazaar stated that I should have eaten without the group and suggested that I go and wait at my hotel until the Bosphorus river tour. I declined. Went to pay for a drink while I was waiting for the rest of the group and the restaurant refuse to take my $200 Euros. They wanted me to put it on my credit card and I refused. Gave them $11.00 in Euro coins and they refuse that. The couple that I was waiting for paid the bill and I reimbursed them in dollars. I recommend that if you are staying in old Town Istanbul, you can walk to each site without using a tour gave. My hotel was Adamar hotel and it was centrally located to all the major sites except for the Bosphorus River cruise. SHAME, shame on you Viator for not being explicit in your description of this tour as well as the rude and condescending guides that I had. Will never trust Viator ratings again!!!

If you have one day in İstanbul, do this tour!

Ron_H, Mar 2024

This is a really great way to see as much as you can of İstanbul if you are only here for a limited time like we were. The tour covers all the “big hits” of the city. Our tour guide, Yunus, knew his stuff and he gave us great information about each site we visited. We also had time to explore each place we visited on our own for pictures. The included lunch was on a rooftop restaurant and the meal was huge! The sunset cruise was the perfect ending to the day and our tour guide on the boat, Denyz, gave great commentary during the journey.

Historical adventure

DIANE_H, Feb 2024

This is a great tour. A lot of walking but you will see a lot. Our tour guide was knowledgeable. Great food and the boat ride was awesome.

Not to be missed!!!

Emma_E, Feb 2024

Yunus was an excellent tour guide. Provided details in a way I will retain better than my history teachers from school days. My favorite was the Topkapi palace. It was really cool to see and learn all about how the Sultan and his family lived. The cruise at the end on the Bosphorus was the perfect end to an event-packed day of touring. I would absolutely recommend this tour to anyone visiting Istanbul!

Great

Reny_G, Feb 2024

Wonderfully organized. They picked us up from hotel on time. Toured all the places they mentioned. Cruise was the highlight. The cruise guide was wonderful, charming, witty, explained everything.. He even took pics of pple which was kind. All in all great experience.

Excellent tour - well worth the time and cost

Mary_M, Jan 2024

This was an amazing excursion. Started with a walking tour to all of the important sites - the mosques, the bazaar and just a great long walk. About 10,000 steps. The Bosphorus Cruise was also outstanding and included great hors d'oeuvres. It was narrated by our guide and the sunset was beautiful. The guide was great, the walk was great and the cruise was great. Ten of the best hours of my trip!

Give it a go, totally worth it!

Alexandru_M, Jan 2024

Great experince, must try! The guide and driver were excellent :-) The trip done in the winter feels so much better as you experience the snow, hot drinks, the lunch itself it is a delight on the way down from the mountain.

Well worth it, book this tour.

Chentelle_G, Jan 2024

Great experienced guide with good history knowledge about the region. He was able to answer all our questions and even provide more insight further than our expectations. We learnt a lot. Very fascinating historical city. The tour was well worth what we got out of it. We wouldn’t have learnt anywhere near that information if we had’ve walked the city independently. I don’t recall our guide’s name unfortunately, perhaps the guides should wear name badges. Loved it, well worth it. Highly recommended.

Response from Host, Jan 2024

Dear Chentelle, Thanks a lot for your kind review. We wish you to have nice vacation. We are always happy to welcome you again. Best Regards

Istanbul Tour

ran, Jan 2024

Haga Sofia, Topkapi Palace and the Bosphorus cruise were the main highlights of the trip. Really impressed with our guide Yunus, he was very knowledgeable about the different sites and had an answer to all of our questions as well!

Highly recommended

Phuong_D, Jan 2024

The guide was very friendly and solicitous with very good English. He answered all of our questions and more! We had just enough time at each place to casually see things, which was really good. The cruise took us both ways to see both the Western side and the Eastern one, and it was dusk so we could see the big moon and sunset at the same time. Amazing

Amazing and worth every penny

Abraham_P, Dec 2023

The history of each site is very rich and impressive. The lunch was delicious and the views of each site excellent.

Poor in relation to time management and process considering amount charged.

Selvi_K, Nov 2023

Did the tour with Yunus. For the price you charge of approx AUD$230 this is not a really a good comprehensive tour which is supplemented with a good agenda and talk. Furthermore, the guide was more keen on impressing a particular member in the group. We had to keep waiting for this person and the guide did not mention anything to ensure he returned back promptly. Secondly unlike other tour guides we saw, this guide did not walk with us to do any peak talks and left us to wonder. Poorly managed time. Cruise was nice. Overall the program could have been better.

Istanbul tours

Jeff_S, Nov 2023

Excellent trip on land and sea! Knowledgeable guides and great service. We were picked up from our hotel prior to the tour and brought back after the tour. Communication was clear as were thr directions and times!

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