Istanbul

Top Istanbul landmarks

Istanbul 7-8 Hours Private Guided Tour. Depart from Cruise Port

Badge of ExcellenceIstanbul, Turkey

7 to 8 hours
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Get a stress-free overview of Istanbul’s main attractions on a private full-day shore excursion from Galataport. With a personal guide at your side, you’ll explore the city’s vibrant culture and rich history through attractions such as the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, and Hagia Sophia. Discover the art of Turkish carpet making and try traditional Turkish cuisine (own expense). The flexible itinerary can be customized to suit your tastes and interests.

Enjoy the personalized experience of a private tour in Istanbul
Make the most of your limited time on dry land
Travel comfortably in a private air-conditioned vehicle
Get complimentary admission to all visited attractions

What's Included

Port pickup and drop-off
Transport by air-conditioned minivan
Professional Licenced Tour guide

Food and drinks
Tips
Entrance Fees ( Our guide will have pre-paid tickets )

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup point

Galataport Istanbul
Kılıçali Paşa Mah. Meclis-i Mebusan Cad. No: 8 İç Kapı No: 102, Kılıçali Paşa, 34433 Beyoğlu/İstanbul, Türkiye

Pickup details

- Our tours include Private Professional Licenced Tour guide, A/C transportations, Pick up and drop off, All tax and handling fees - You will decide on departure time. - Our tour guide will meet you at the port with your name sign. - Our professional tour guide and A/C vehicle will be with you from arrival till departure. - Our professional guide will be with you in the sites. - You will have flexibilty to spend how much time you want in each site and make small changes on the itinerary. - You do not have to wait for other group members. - You will have a chance to make stops to have pictues during the tour. - Our Private tour rates are more reasonable than cruise shore tours. - Your guide will have pre-paid tickets to skip the lines . Entrance fees can be paid to our guide after the tour in cash or by visa or master card - You will have several alternatives to taste famous Turkish Delicious foods, if you want to have lunch during your trip

What To Expect

Galataport Istanbul

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Galata Koprusu (Pass By)

Hippodrome

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Blue Mosque

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Topkapi Palace

2 hours • Admission Ticket Not Included

Hagia Sophia Mosque

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Grand Bazaar

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Galataport Istanbul

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Not wheelchair accessible
Not recommended for travelers with back problems
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level

Dress code is smart casual
In the event of any museum closures, an alternative similar museum will be visited. On Tuesdays : Topkapi Palace replaced by Underground Cistern, On Sundays: Grand Bazaar will be replaced by Spice Market. Grand Bazaar on religious holidays will be replaced by Arasta Bazaar. On Fridays: Blue Mosque is open from 14.30 to 16.30
Private tour for your family and friends
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

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.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

5.0

65 reviews

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

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 65 reviews

Perfect for Us

Nancy_M, Apr 2024

Our private tour with Leyla was absolutely terrific and worth every penny. We decided to book a private tour because my husband tires easily and we were afraid that it would be a problem trying to keep up with a group tour. They can be very exhausting. Leyla was very caring and considerate. We saw everything that we wanted to but my husband wasn't exhausted at the end. We highly recommend Leyla!

Another good experience with Viator

Dennis_C, Apr 2024

Guide was on time and extremely knowledgeable and accommodating. The tour went very well throughout the day.

Ideal experience for those with limited abilities

Donald_F, Dec 2023

Erkan was not only knowledgeable, but since my wife had a knee replacement her walking pace and duration was limited and he was most gracious and understanding. Even with the limitations we were able to take in all the sites we expected plus a great lunch place he knew about to give us a break when needed. Highly recommended!

Beautiful sunny and cultural day in Istanbul

Glenda_G, Nov 2023

Tayfun was a terrific guide for a day in Istanbul . He was very pleasant, spoke great English and amazingly knowledgeable. Because of his tour we are both so much more informed about the history and culture of this beautiful city. We highly recommend him for a memorable experience.

Highly recommend

Stephanie_V, Nov 2023

A great time with a great guide. I would highly recommend. We were able to see all of the mosques and the bazaar.

Excellent Tour. Guide Just OK

Daniel_H, Oct 2023

The tour itinerary was excellent and well planned. Our tour guide has knowledgeable but was clearly more interested in having us spend money at his friends restaurant and the handpicked shops than taking care of our group.

Great experience in Istanbul

barbara_r, Oct 2023

Our tour of the old city was wonderful and we hit all of the highlights including the bazaar. Despite the crowds our tour guide adjusted our schedule so that we didn’t miss a thing and didn’t have to wait very long in line at the Hagia Sophia or the Blue Mosque. We would highly recommend Mohammed! Very personable and knowledgeable. Even the place he found for lunch was great. Tour does involve quite a bit of walking.

Great place to visit that makes you feel like to come back

Jin_L, Oct 2023

All of it! We enjoyed all the places we visited and got to know and understand Türkiye much better now. It’s a fun place and yet filled with histories. So much histories. I would love to come back and visit the places which I missed this time.

The Adventure of a Lifetime

Lester_H, Oct 2023

Our guide, Erkan, was absolutely phenomenal! Articulate, knowledgeable, thoughtful and totally willing to work with our interests and itinerary. I really can't say enough good things about him - he made the whole day perfect for us!

A day in Istanbul

PeggyL, Sep 2023

We are at Istanbul in mid-September, Very hot and sunny day. This tour has many walking and one needs to be fit to do this in such a short time. Too many sites to see in such a short time. My guide is Leyla Yasar at Curio Travel. Very nice and pleasant. We have a great time.

Cruising the Greek islands

Randy_M, Sep 2023

What a great trip. The crew was exceptional and very personable. Lunch was wonderful. The highlight of the trip was anchoring and jumping into the sea and swimming. I would come back to the Mediterranean just for that! It was a perfect day.

Istanbul Eye-Opener

Declan_B, Sep 2023

Our private tour guide, Orkun, was extremely knowledgeable and entertaining. We visited the 'Cistern', the Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Mosque), the Hagia Sofia Mosque and ended our event filled day with a not-to-miss visit to the Grand Bazaar.

Istanbul highlights in one day

Ron_P, Sep 2023

All of it! Our guide Tayfun was fun, personable, and had incredible knowledge of all the sites we wanted to visit.

Beautiful Istanbul with a private guide is the best.

Carla_S, Sep 2023

Istanbul was a cruise port for us so we had limited time to visit. This private tour was the perfect option for us. Our friendly guide picked us up directly from the cruise terminal and started the tour by taking us first to the grand bazar to avoid the crowds later on in the day. Then we proceeded to the Blue Mosk, Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi palace. He was extremely knowledgable about the history of the various sights we visited, gave us a lot of information and was able to answer all of our questions. We had some very interesting conversations with him about the Islam religion and really learned a lot. For those of you with mobility issues, note that the entire area of mosks, palace etc is totally car free. We basically only had a driver to pick us up and take us back to the ship, all the rest was walking. By the end of the day I had 16000 steps on my fitbit.

Wonderful Tour

Mike_O, Sep 2023

We definitely enjoyed our excursion with Ozge. She was so knowledgeable about the past and present Istanbul. She arranged the tour to accommodate our wishes and limitations. I highly recommend them.

Terrific Istanbul turkey!!

Joseph_A, Aug 2023

Our guide Necmi was the VERY best. He took us to all the best places and told us the history of Turkey. We enjoyed every minute! Don’t miss this activity!

Day of Enlightement

Charles_W, Aug 2023

The tour was amazing, far exceeding any expectations. Tayjyn was very knowledgeable, was patient with questions. The tempo of the trip was well-planned.

We loved it. Convenient,...

Pak_H, Aug 2023

We loved it. Convenient, as pick up was near the ship. Guide was very informative, and patient, we enjoyed they day. Istanabul takes a bit a walking, you cannot avoid it. So, set your expectations properly and you will not be disappointed. P

disappointing tour

anna_t, Aug 2023

we were supposed to do 8 hour tour but was cut short and we returned to the ship at 5:30 One of the highlights of the trip was to visit Topkapi Palace, the tour guide told us that it was closed and directed us to Cistern which was very disappointing to visit. It was very dark inside and you just walk through the whole underground place. We were then treated to a carpet presentation which he should have asked us if we were interested but of course we were not. We only saw the 2 mosques and walked through the bazaar very quickly. He brought us to a tea place which we paid outrageously for our teas and then to a lamp place which my daughter did purchase some lamps. He also took us to a purse place which we were not really interested to purchase. Then he sent us back to the ship. We paid almost 800US for the tour that consists of 2 mosque, cistern (which we were not interested at all) and a walk through the bazaar. That was our tour, do you think we were charged correctly for this tour?? My family and I was very disappointed.

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Hello, Thanks for your review BUT many wrong information are given in your review. Please view details below for your 1st August TUESDAY tour in Istanbul 1- The tour date is Tuesday the 1st Aug. Topkapı Palace is closed on Tuesdays. We visit Underground cistern instead of Topkapı Palace. It is written in " Information travelers need from you" section of the tour details. Information says : In the event of any museum closures, an alternative similar museum will be visited. On Tuesdays : Topkapi Palace replaced by Underground Cistern, You confirmed this change when you booked your tour It is not acceptable 2- Your booked a tour which has 2 mosques. Both are written in the program Blue Mosque, Sultanahmet Mah At Meydani Cad No 7, Istanbul 34122 Turkiye, 30 minutes Hagia Sophia Mosque, Sultan Ahmet, Ayasofya MeydanI No:1, Istanbul 34122 Turkiye, 45 minutes You visited Underground cistern, Hipodromme and Grand Bazaar. Total 5 places as given in the program 3- Grand Bazaar is an old bazaar you walk through and there are 4.000 shops . Compalint about walking through the bazaar can not be accepted. As you see on the program , we give 1,5 hours stop at Grand Bazaar . You wanted to stay 30 minutes only 4- This tour is around 8 hours tour. We picked up guests at 10.25 a.m. and dropped them off at 17.38 . This is more than 7 hours. we have 1,5 hours in Grand bazaar. They walked through the bazaar in 30 minutes and then you did not want to see more. Thats why their tour took 7 hours 23 minutes instead of 8 hours 5- You paid 652-USD to Viator. NOT 800-USD If you have been charged more than 652-USD please contact with viator to get your refund we complated our tour as written in the program . As this is private tour, you did not want to spend more time in Grand Bazaar. we returned back around 45 minutes before the tour Best Regards, Fevzi Turhan

Great way to see Istanbul

Fran_D, Aug 2023

We took the tour and had a great time with our guide. Lots of walking but we were ready for it. Our guide did the best she could do getting us the most enjoyment in the time we were there with the lines as long and crowed as it was. She was very informative and had a great restaurant for us to eat lunch. If only we had more hours to enjoy the city.