Top Istanbul Private Sightseeing Tours

We were extremely excited about the tour. It was a small group of four (wife, daughter and her boyfriend). Thankfully we booked this tour before traveling, to occur the day after we arrived from the US, as it rained the other two days we were in Istanbul. Omer was a wonderful guide. He met us at our hotel and we traveled to the Hippodrome. He is extremely knowledgeable about all things Istanbul and had great insight to the history and explained the culture over the thousands of years of Turkey and Istanbul. He laid out the options of the places to see and we prioritize what and when to see them. This was helpful considering the jet lag from the prior travel so we could shorten or skip a location if needed. Omer made this a wonderful experience.

My husband, 13 year-old son, and I met Nurten at the German Fountain for a fabulous half-day tour of the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Basilica Cistern, and Grand Bazaar. Nurten was so friendly and easy to talk to! She took family photos for us at all of the sites. Along the way, we stopped for tea and treats at a cafe, and she pointed out places that we wouldn’t have otherwise noticed to have lunch and dinner all along our route for later on our trip. She had answers for all of our questions. After giving us a lot of helpful tips for shopping in the Grand Bazaar (including details around handbag shops, etc.) I feel ready to return and do some more shopping on my own. She even stayed on after our tour would naturally end and patiently taught us how to shop for carpets in one shop outside the market and helped us extricate ourselves gracefully when we were not ready to buy. She was funny and smart and never rushed us or directed us somewhere we did not want to go. A good guide can make a tour good or bad and we were so lucky to meet Nurten. Even my son loved the tour and our guide- which says a lot coming from a teenager who doesn’t love museums! Fully recommend!

The tour started a little late because we were delayed in traffic. Sude our tour guide was an excellent guide. She managed to get us into some of our sites ahead of the queue even though we had no advanced tickets. Her knowledge was excellent and maintained our interest throughout. We were given time to take photos and wander. She did bring us to an excellent inexpensive restaurant for lunch. The weather was horrible but she did an amazing tour under this disadvantage. Highly recommend