Istanbul

Top Istanbul landmarks

Private Guided Istanbul Day Tour

Badge of ExcellenceIstanbul, Turkey

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

Overview

Take the time to explore Istanbul’s most magnificent sites at your own pace with a full-day, guided tour of the city's historic places and landmarks. Follow in the footsteps of charioteers and Roman soldiers at the Hippodrome, then see the arcing tiles of the Blue Mosque. Listen for the whispers of courtiers and sultans inside Topkapi Palace, then see Hagia Sophia’s stunning murals and minarets. Browse the vibrant displays at the iconic Grand Bazaar, with inside tips on the best places to find carpets, handicrafts and local souvenirs.

Full-day, private tour of Istanbul
Enjoy the personalized experience of a private tour
Customize the itinerary to your interests
See the city's essential places

What's Included

Professional guide
Pickup / drop off service is provided from/to centrally located hotels at city center area.
Private tour
Transport by taxi (transportation provided only when necessary)

Food and drinks
Entrance fees

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Pickup details

Pickup / drop-off service is provided from / to centrally located hotels on the European side of Istanbul or Galataport

What To Expect

Blue Mosque

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Grand Bazaar

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Hagia Sophia Mosque

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Hippodrome

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Topkapi Palace

1 hour • Admission Ticket Not Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation
Infants must sit on laps
Most travelers can participate
Children must be accompanied by an adult

A minimum of 2 people per booking is required
Due to the COVID-19 Virus the itinerary may change as some attractions may be closed.
Topkapi Palace is closed to visitors on Tuesdays
Hagia Sophia is not a museum, open to public sight, so there might be long lines to visit inside, there is no option to skip the line
Grand Bazaar is closed to visitors on Sundays.
Dolmabahce Palace is closed to visitors on Mondays.
This is a walking tour.
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

145 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 145 reviews

Ismail our guide is...

Andrew_T, May 2024

Ismail our guide is simply amazing, very well acknowledged and educated person also very funny, thank you Ismail.

Response from Host, May 2024

Dear Andrew! We are so glad to hear that you had a good time with our services and tour guide. We hope we can welcome you back to our beautiful City. Warmest Regards

Superb

Bickram_S, May 2024

Our tour guide Ergun was the absolute best. After parting with him 5 hours later, we felt like we were saying goodbye to a family member. He was knowledgeable, friendly, professional, and was superb! Excellent! Cannot say enough good things about him!

Response from Host, May 2024

Dear Evan! We are so glad to hear that you had a good time with our services and tour guide. We hope we can welcome you back to our beautiful City. Warm Regards

What a wonderful introduction to Istanbul!!

Evan_B, Apr 2024

Lunch with Zoe was great. She was a fantastic guide, but she was also a really interesting person to spend some time with. The day went by too fast!

Response from Host, Apr 2024

Dear Evan! We are very glad to hear that you had a good time with our services and tour guide. We hope we can welcome you back to our beautiful City. Warmest Regards

Fantastic, informative tour

Joanne_N, Apr 2024

The tour guide was great, very knowledgeable and we really got to soak up all the hilights of Istanbul. I woukd highly recommend.

Response from Host, Apr 2024

Dear Joanne! We are very glad to hear that you had a good time with our services. We are very happy to hear that you had a good time with our Services! We hope we can welcome you back to our beautiful City. Warm Regards

Very nice experience

ShyamKumar_S, Apr 2024

Very nice experience. Guide was knowledgeable and took us to different destinations in a cab and explained everything properly.

Response from Host, Apr 2024

Dear Shyam! We are very glad to hear that you had a good time with our services. We are very happy to hear that you had a good time with our guide! We hope we can welcome you back to our beautiful City. Warm Regards

Great tour

sjtemi, Apr 2024

Great tour! When booking ask for Anil, very knowledgable tour guide! Able to customise tour and see sights we wanted to see within the time frame.

Response from Host, Apr 2024

Dear Sjtemi! We are very glad to hear that you had a good time with our services. We are very happy to hear that you had a good time with our guide Anil! We hope we can welcome you back to our beautiful City. Warmest Regards

Interesting tour, wonderful guide

Olivia_T, Apr 2024

Ali Arslan was the best guide I’ve had in Istanbul. He was patient, fun, willing to go above and beyond the normal tour experience. I learned so much about Istanbul and the Ottoman Empire. At the end of the tour he even took us on an extra special excursion to a wonderful little bazaar that isn’t normally on the itinerary. Thank you Alu

Response from Host, Apr 2024

Dear Olivia! We are very glad to hear that you had a good time with our services. We are very happy to hear that you had a good time with our guide Ali! Also, thank you very much for all the information from your Istanbul experience. We hope we can welcome you back to our beautiful country. Warm Regards

Great tour with our guide...

Boyden_G, Apr 2024

Great tour with our guide Baris! He was a wealth of information and went above and beyond. Very friendly, excellent English. So much “inside” knowledge and he arranged quick access to all of the sires- no long lines! He even booked us dinner reservations last minute at a top restaurant. Outstanding.

Response from Host, Apr 2024

Dear Boyden, We are so happy to hear that you had a good time with our guide Baris! We hope we can welcome you again in our beautiful country! Warmest regards

Amazing day spent with a very professional tour guide

Kathleen_H, Apr 2024

Learning about the history, seeing the Blue Mosque, the Topkapi Palace and the cistern, and the Haggia Sophia. Also impressed by the river, the gold horn and the joining of the two continents

Response from Host, Apr 2024

Dear Kathlee, We are so happy to hear that you had a good time with our guide! We hope we can welcome you again in our beautiful country! Warmest regards.

Nice trip

Peter_W, Apr 2024

Fun trip with a good guide. We saw all the key cites and were able to skip many lines. We particularly liked the cisterns

Response from Host, Apr 2024

Dear Peter, We are so happy to hear that you had a good time with our guide! We hope we can welcome you again in our beautiful country! Warm Regards.

High points of Istanbul in a day

Alan_C, Mar 2024

We wanted a private tour that could take us to the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia that we could take at our own pace. This exceeded our expectations and provided so much more. Yuksel and our driver Mustafa, met us at our hotel on time and with a beautiful clean vehicle. Both were courteous and friendly. Yuksel spoke English well, and provided information about the places, answered questions and suggested photo vantage points. In addition he guided us through the interesting Topkapi Place and directed us in the maze of the Grand Bazaar as we searched for gifts to take to family. Our guide checked how tired we were and suggested well timed breaks. When we were finished walking we were picked up near the Bazaar to return to our hotel. It was the last day of a two week trip and this adventure turned into 6 memorable hours. It was a fantastic experience could not recommend it more!

Response from Host, Mar 2024

Dear Alan! We are very glad to hear that you had a good time with our services. We are very happy to hear that you had a good time with our guide Yuksel! Also, thank you very much for all the information from your Istanbul experience :) Experience :) We hope we can welcome you back to our beautiful country. Warmest Regard

Wonderful Day in Istanbul

Richard_L, Mar 2024

Istanbul is a very large city and what we wanted to see was not strictly contained within the old city walls. Visiting without the services of an experienced tour guide like Anil would have been difficult. We appreciated his knowledge and temperament. He also suggested a wonderful place for lunch.

Response from Host, Mar 2024

Dear Richard, We are so happy to hear that you had a good time with our guide Anıl! We hope we can welcome you again in our beautiful country! Warmest regards.

Wonderful

William_K, Dec 2023

We enjoyed our tour guide. She was very knowledgable and pleasant to talk with. We really enjoyed the day tour. Thank you.

Response from Host, Dec 2023

Dear William! We are so happy to hear that you had a good time with our services. We hope we can welcome you again in our beautiful country. Warm Regards

Great way to hit the historical highlights

Ryan_R, Dec 2023

Istanbul has a lot of history, do you want to get the sampler platter in one day? This is the trip for you. A very nice Transportation van picked us up at our hotel with our true guide on board. Sergül, our tour guide was very friendly and extremely knowledgeable about the sites in Istanbul. Based our itinerary on where the shortest lines would be in the morning so we can see the most in the amount of time we had. We went to Hagia Sophia mosque and the blue mosque Followed by a carpet store, and topkapi palace. we looked out with good weather because there was a lot of outdoor walking. Unfortunately since we planned our tour on a Sunday, the bazaar was closed. This was a small detail. I didn’t see the tour book. Having a private tool guide was great because we could ask her any question we wanted, and it was all based on what we wanted to see. I recommend this to anybody who wants to make sure they see the historical sites, but are on a tight schedule in Istanbul.

Response from Host, Dec 2023

Dear Ryan! We are so happy to hear that you had a good time with our services. Also thank you so much for all the informations from your istanbul exprience :) We hope we can welcome you again in our beautiful country. Warmest Regard

Great experience. The Tour Guide was excellent!

Cross_A, Nov 2023

We visited in this tour several places. The guide was very knowleageable. I highly recommend this walk tour!

Response from Host, Nov 2023

Dear Cross, We are so happy to hear that you had a good time with our services. We hope we can welcome you again in our beautiful City. Warm Regards

Great tour and guide in Istanbul!!

tim_K, Nov 2023

Our tour guide-CENGIZ Aksu was the best!!!!! I would highly recommend him for any private tour in Istanbul!!! Very knowledgeable, knew how to avoid lines and knew where to go to get our souvenirs! Very pleasant man!!!

Response from Host, Nov 2023

Dear Tim! We are so happy to hear that you had a good time with our services. We hope we can welcome you again in our beautiful country. Warmest regards

Our tour guide Ern was...

chevypowerhp, Nov 2023

Our tour guide Ern was exceptional. He was early to pick us up. He was knowledgeable and kind. He took us to a great local lunch spot and unique shopping spots. Great tour.

Response from Host, Nov 2023

Dear Guest! We are so happy to hear that you had a good time with our services. We hope we can welcome you again in our beautiful country. Warmest regards.

Cihan was and excellent guide!

Richard_A, Nov 2023

Cihan was an excellent guide, brimming with information about what we were seeing. He was friendly, helpful and one of the best guides we have ever had. We hire private guides from Tours by Locals a lot so he really stood out in a good group. He has a degree in history so he knew loads about each site, the history of the country, and spoke excellent English. This was a great experience.

Response from Host, Nov 2023

Dear Richard! We are so happy to hear that you had a good time with our services. Our main focus is always sadisfaction of our guests. We hope we can welcome you again in our beautiful country. Warmest regards

Made Istanbul make sense in a day!

David_M, Nov 2023

Sergio has studied 6 years to do tourism systems in Istanbul. She made what we saw make sense, helped us see details we would have otherwise missed and took us into non-big 5 places to understand old city better. Because it was just her and us, lots of questions got answered that wouldn’t get asked in a group. Worth our time and money, for sure

Response from Host, Nov 2023

Dear David! We are so happy to hear that you had a good time with our services. Our main focus is always sadisfaction of our guests. We hope we can welcome you again in our beautiful country. Warmest regards.

Prefect day in Istanbul.

Joy_M, Nov 2023

We had a wonderful time with our tour guide. We asked to go to two mosques and the spice market and he delivered. Very knowledgable! He took us to a lovely spot for some tea and snacks.

Response from Host, Nov 2023

Dear Joy! We are so happy to hear that you had a good time with our services. Our main focus is always sadisfaction of our guests. We hope we can welcome you again in our beautiful country. Warm Regards.

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