Istanbul Highlights! Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkapı and More
Recommended by 99% of travelers
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Istanbul, Turkey
- 8 to 9 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Explore the highlights of Istanbul in a day with this small group tour. Delve right into the history and culture of the city with a guide. Start your tour with a visit to the old Hippodrome, then continue to the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Museum and the Grand Bazaar amongst other places. Enjoy some delicious Turkish food during your included lunch.
- Explore the Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar, Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Museum amongst other sites
- See all the highlights of Istanbul in a day with a small group
- Learn about the local history and culture with a guide
- Taste some Turkish food with an included lunch
What's Included
- Lunch3 course lunch (mixed kebab meal or vegetarian)
- Topkapı palace + Harem + Hagia Irene (Combine Tickets)Included! ’$62 USD’
- Hagia Sophia Ticket Included! ‘$28.5 USD’
- Coffee and/or Tea
- Bottled water
- All Fees and Taxes
- English Speaking Professional Tour Guide
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- Gratuities
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- German FountainBinbirdirek, At Meydanı Cd, 34122 Fatih/İstanbul, Türkiye
German Fauntain is just by Blue Mosque and 2 mınutes walk from Sultan Ahmet Tram Station
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Operating hours.9:00 am
Itinerary
1
German Fountain
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Blue Mosque
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
4
Obelisk of Theodosius
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
5
Serpent Column
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
6
Hippodrome
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
7
Nakkas Oriental Rugs & Textiles
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
8
Grand Bazaar
1 hour • Admission Ticket Free
9
Tamara Restaurant Sultanahmet
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
10
TopkapI Palace
2 hours • Admission Ticket Included
11
Hagia Irene Museum
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum (Turk ve Islam Eserleri Muzesi) (Pass By)
12
Column of Constantine
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
13
Nuruosmaniye Camii
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
14
Jewelry Market
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
15
Sogukcesme Sokak
5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
16
Divanyolu Street
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
17
Topkapı Palace Harem Units
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- Infants must sit on laps
- Infant seats available
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 10 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.9
based on 633 reviews
Craig_L, Apr 2026
This tour covered the main highlights very efficiently. It was jam packed with information and sights at a comfortable pace and no wasted time. I learnt so much more by having a guide as wonderful as he was. I would recommend this tour to anyone visiting Istanbul for the first time
BRIGGETTA_D, Apr 2026
Ozzy was a great tour guide..SUPER knowledgeable! You will see all the major sites. Its a walking tour so wear comfy shoes.
Stephen_H, Apr 2026
Oguzhan is an excellent guide and received many questions with skill. He has a good sense of humour and guided the tour to avoid local busyness.
Sabra_M, Mar 2026
Oguzhan was an amazing tour guide. He was knowledgeable and passionate about sharing is love of Turkey. The tour covered some beautiful must sees -Blue Mosque and Topkapu Palace of Istanbul. The lunch was delicious.
Ewan_F, Mar 2026
Excellent tour with Oğuzhan who is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Saw the main sights in the old city with coffee and lunch breaks.
Thoroughly recommend.
nancy_h, Mar 2026
Going on this tour was one of the highlights of my trip to Istanbul. Not only did we get to see some of the most amazing monuments, but truly understanding the history behind them made the experience far more meaningful than I ever expected.
Our guide, Oguzhan—Ozzy—was absolutely fantastic. From the very beginning, it felt less like a formal tour and more like spending the day with a knowledgeable friend. He had a great way of bringing each location to life with detailed explanations, while still keeping things fun and engaging.
He also went above and beyond by helping us capture some great photos along the way, which made the experience even more memorable. His passion, friendliness, and deep knowledge really stood out.
I would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Istanbul. It’s the perfect mix of history, culture, and a genuinely enjoyable atmosphere.
Brooklyn_L, Mar 2026
Truely a lovely tour! We had Ozzy as a guide and loved how personalble, kind, and informative he was. All the sights are amazing and there is nothing I would change!
Kirsten_C, Jan 2026
Oğuzhan was an amazing tour guide for the day! There was only one other person on our tour, making 3 total so it felt like a private tour! We loved visiting all of the places. Oğuzhan made sure to tell us when he could not guide us (govt/site regulations) but would tell us about what to see and look for and why it was important. I'm glad we did this tour as we were able to see most of the big sites in Istanbul all in one day! Topkapi palace seems like it would be overwhelming without this as we saw the highlights, but it never felt rushed. I loved visiting Hagia Sofia to learn about the history of the site but also how its evolved and its role in politics. On the tour, it wasn't just about visiting the sites but appreciating the culture! The lunch felt very local and was super tasty! It was worth seeing every site and I'm glad we chose to take this tour! I loved the walking aspects of this, and even though we are fit, I think its a walk that anyone would be able to do!
Suzanne_V, Dec 2025
Highly recommend! What a wonderful day we had with Oguzhan (Ozy)! The tour included all of the highlights of old town Istanbul. We went to famous mosques, a palace, had a delicious lunch and then hit the Grand Bazaar. A memorable day with an excellent guide! He met us promptly at the agreed upon location and we started our day. We walked first to TopkapI Palace and got to see how the sultan and wives and harem life appeared. Toured the treasury with beautiful jewels, gifts from other countries, weapons, and lots of gold. From there we headed to Hagia Sophia and saw how the mosque had previous lives as a church, a temple, and then an active mosque. We wandered through the streets of the old town and learned so much history. In total, a fabulous tour by an amazing and knowledgeable tour guide. Highly recommend!!
Lori_S, Dec 2025
A wonderful day to experience Istanbul with our tour guide and see the sites in the old city! Great!
Robert_E, Dec 2025
What an extraordinary tour this was! Oguzhan "Ozzy" gave us a master class in the history of Istanbul, covering the time before the Roman Empire to present. Even though it was the off season the venues were still pretty crowed but Ozzy had all our tickets taken care of to get us in front a lot of groups. This tour of Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkapı and More is an all-day event and was a perfect introduction to Istanbul, the Bazaar's (Grand/Spic) and culture! The More is you will visit a rug and pottery shop to learn about the craftsmanship of Turkish made items, which is amazing. Yes, they will try and sell to you but enjoy the Turkish coffee, enjoy the show that they put on but don't feel that you have to buy unless you want too. =) Lunch was included and was exceptional at a hidden mom-and-pop type restaurant that was warm and welcoming. Ozzy's personal touch, energy and knowledge made this a trip of a lifetime! If you book this tour with Ozzy tell him that the West Virginia boys say Hi and there is always room on the bus!!! LOL!
Katronia_R, Nov 2025
Okay, so unlike my fellow attendees, I did not read the reviews on this experience. And I must admit that even if I did, I still would have been blown away! Ozzie was so knowledgeable and transparent at the complicated history and culture of the people of Turkey. I literally learned so much in so little amount of time. He was patient and kind with us. And he is an excellent photographer as well lol. I am so delighted and if you are like I am, always asking why? This is the tour for you!!!
Kristin_W, Nov 2025
Oz was AMAZING! It was like having the mayor of Istanbul walk us through the city. He was so knowledgeable as though taking a college course, and patient and kind! If we could do every tour with this man we would! He should be in every city. History, present, looking to the future- he knew it!! Cannot say enough wonderful things about this phenomenal guide.
Brenda_N, Nov 2025
Ozzie was a fantastic guide. His enthusiasm for his beautiful country, his knowledge of the history and significance of its culture helped to make this tour an absolute must. And I loved the little added personal touches he added to the experience I so enjoyed
Amy_L, Oct 2025
We really enjoyed our tour with Ozzy. He was so knowledgeable and helped us to understand the history of Istanbul city. Lunch was a delicious meal where we tasted traditional Turkish food. The tour was worthwhile to do, especially for your first visit to Istanbul. Highly recommended!
rrjcschwe, Oct 2025
Comprehensive visit to some of Istanbul highlights. Participants should be informed there is a visit to a Turkish rug supplier with opportunity to purchase.
Dorothy_M, Oct 2025
Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and did an excellent job explaining the history of the places we visited. This tour is best suited for someone that wants an introduction to Istanbul’s most historic sights. Be prepared for a long day with a lot of walking. Highly recommend this tour.
MAHYAR_S, Oct 2025
It was a good tour but I do not give this tour a good rating. The tour leader took the travellers to a carpet shop which was not a good idea for this tour. The carpet shop owner and his team tried everything they could to forcing the tourists to buy their carpets. It was not a shopping tour and the tour leader wasted one hour of our tour time. It seemed to me the touring company is looking for its commissions from the carpet shop. The worst part is when i complained later about the carpet shop the tour guide fired back at me that I was not a good traveller!!!!!!! That was funny.😁
Response from Host, Oct 2025
Hello greetings from Türkiye!
This tour is not a shopping tour on the 8 hours of a tour there is grand bazaar and Nakkaş oriental rugs, carpets is part of this itinerary! First of all our guide should never shared his contact with you so that you wouldn’t get to message him all evening long until 01am after the tour comes to an end! In a small group, all the participants were happy that he made that decision so that tour will avoid the cruise liners making blue mosque busy to visit he had shifted the itinerary! Your critics are inoperable and both tour guide for the day and agent knows what you are really trying to do here! You may try to read what you are booking before actually book then criticise! And also actually have respect for employees that were doing their job with giving many information try to listen to them so that you won’t ask again and again what’s already being informed. This is something that really wastes time for other people! You may stop giving other people hard time that are willing to enjoy a good day in Istanbul! One note in small group tours it’s not what you only want from a good qualified employee but what participants generally want! You may try to book private tours for your fallowing vocations and get your needs served!
We are not comedians but seems like we made you laugh! So you did thank you!
Adios
Jan_J, Oct 2025
The tour hits all of the main attractions in the historic area, and is entirely on foot. The pace was easygoing, with stops for coffee and for a one-hour lunch. It was a wonderful trip, and our guide 'Ozzie' was amazing; informative, deep knowledge, friendly.
Kathy_J, Oct 2025
Loved this tour with Ozzy! It was our best tour of the seven ports we stopped at. Highly recommend it!
Linda_H, Oct 2025
Oguzhan was an outstanding tour guide. He is clearly knowledgeable and passionate about the history associated with the various sites. He gave out easy-to-understand information but also had story after story that made the history of Istanbul come alive for us. He was personable and made our day lots of fun. He knew how to organize our timing, so that we minimized standing in lines. It was wonderful to have such a delicious lunch included. An extra bonus was his ability to take some quality photos for us to remember our time in Istanbul. Overall, we thought this tour was an amazingly great value.
Lambert_B, Oct 2025
Our guide, Oguzhan "Ozzy" Ceylan, did a great job, was very organized and best of all, because he is a registered professional tour guide, he could walk right up to the front of the line and get us ticket, bypassing the lines. Once we discovered that, we had him get one person in our group a ticket to the nearby Cistern after our original tour, which again allowed that person to skip a very long line. The only disappointment was that the Grand Bazaar is closed on Sunday--the day we toured--so we didn't get to see it. THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISCLOSED ON THE VIATOR WEB PAGE TO ALERT CUSTOMERS! Instead, we toured a much smaller bazaar nearby. Of course, the itinerary states only one hour is allowed for this anyway, so one would not have had adequate time to see the largest bazaar in the world anyway--just a small taste of it.
TsingPing_C, Oct 2025
Our guide Oguzhan is just great! He is very knowledgeable with Istanbul history and culture and carried out with enthusiasm.
Tamara_L, Oct 2025
Our guide Oguzhan was wonderful. He was a wealth of information and more than happy to answer everyone's a questions.
The communication was good with us receiving a message the previous day confirming the meeting point and a reminder on the dress required.
The tour of Hagia Sofia and the Topkapi Museum & Harem were both very interesting.
The included lunch was delicious and they were able to cater to one of group who is vegetarian.
I would highly recommend doing this tour.
Samantha_C, Oct 2025
We visited many mosques and received so much information about Turkiye. The guide was extremely knowledgeable and very nice. Lunch was awesome! It was a lovely group. It a definite must do.
Marla_R, Oct 2025
Fabulous tour and fabulous guide. Ozzy was friendly and incredibly knowledgeable. Best guide I’ve ever had.
Linda_W, Sep 2025
“Ozzie was an amazing tour guide! We spent a full day exploring the highlights of Istanbul and enjoyed a delicious lunch along the way. He was so organized that we never had to wait in lines, and his knowledge of the culture, history, and scenery was truly in-depth. We had such a great time with eight other travelers from all around the world. It was an unforgettable experience—highly recommend Ozzie!”
Geoffrey_H, Sep 2025
An absolutely amazing full day tour filled with the rich history of the old town, Palace and Hague Sofia. I’ve been on many tours in many counties and Ozzy is top notch. He knows the history and tells it in a very engaging and entertaining way. Highly recommend if you have a full day and want to learn and have fun!
Marcia_H, Sep 2025
Izzy Tour Guide was the best tour guide one could hope for. His knowlege is incredible and he communicates in a very warm and friendly manner. He leaves you wanting to know more about Istanbul and plants the seeds to return.
yazmin_M, Sep 2025
Small group of 6-8 people and our guide, Ozzie was awesome - very well spoken and knowledgeable about each place we visited. So much history and our lunch was also great. Thank you Ozzie for a wonderful day spent in Istanbul learning the culture and history of this beautiful place.
From $175.00
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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