Istanbul Shore Excursion : Best Seller Private Istanbul Tour
Recommended by 100% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Istanbul, Turkey
- 7 hours 15 minutes (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
See the best of Istanbul in a short time with this private shore excursion. Meet your licensed guide at the cruise port, enjoy hotel pickup, and explore top sites like Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, and the Blue Mosque. Visit the Grand Bazaar for authentic souvenirs before returning to your ship on time.
- Private tour and shore excursion with hotel pickup for convenience
- Visit top Istanbul landmarks including Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque
- Shop authentic souvenirs at Grand Bazaar and Sultanahmet District
- Fully customizable tour at your own pace
What's Included
- Professional Licensed Tour Guide
- Public Transportation - From Cruise Port ( Pick up /Drop Off& TOUR)
- We will skip the line to buy the tickets for Topkapi palace and Basilica Cistern
- Unique time to discover Turkish Handcrafts: (Carpet -Leather-Ceramic and Jewelry)
- Lunch
- Gratitude (suggested)
- Admisson/Entrance fee - Topkapi PalaceTRY2,500.00 per person
- Admisson/Entrance fee - Basilica CisternTRY1,500.00 per person
- Transportation by VAN - UNLESS OPTION SELECTED (Pick up/Drop Off&Tour ALL DAY)
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Pickup details
Traveler pickup is offered. Guaranteed On-Time Return To Your Ship *FOR LAST MINUTE BOOKINGS AND LATE DEPARTURES, as museums and some sites will be closed around 17:00 pm, alternative tour sites will be advised by the tour guide during the tour. *Tour guide meets you at central Istanbul hotels or Galata Port. If the hotel is not centrally located, the meeting point will be in front of the Binbirdirek, **GERMAN FOUNTAIN**, Fatih/İstanbul, If van service is not chosen your guide will pick you up at centrally located hotels on foot. We pick up all guests from CRUISE PORT Ports: Istanbul Cruise Port Galataport Istanbul, Kılıçali Paşa Mah. Meclis-i Mebusan Cad. No: 8 İç Kapı No: 102, Kılıçali Paşa, 34433 Beyoğlu/İstanbul, Türkiye Hotel pickup is offered. View the hotel list on our checkout page to see if yours is included among the pickup points.
Itinerary
1
Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque
1 hour • Admission Ticket Not Included
2
TopkapI Palace
2 hours • Admission Ticket Not Included
3
Blue Mosque
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
4
Serpent Column
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
5
Sultanahmet Square
5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
6
Grand Bazaar
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
7
Basilica Cistern
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
8
Sultanahmet District
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Transportation is wheelchair accessible
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- Guaranteed On-Time Return To Your Ship
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
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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
5.0
based on 322 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
This tour has a lot of walking but all sites are very close. The knowledge and experience of our tour guide Tolga made this exceptional. He brought us to a restaurant which served authentic Turkish food…excellent place and the food was very good. I highly recommend this tour!
There are so many beautiful and interesting sites to see. Lots of walking, but with the help of guide, public transportation was quick and easy. Esra was away. She slowed down when she observed we were slowing down. She took us to the sites we were interested in and did a great job teaching us about the history of each location. She was very knowledgeable.
We booked a private tour for the two of us as we wanted to explore buildings not on the usual list of sights. Our guide Ervin was hugely knowledgeable and accommodated our requests. Her guide status got us skip the line entrance. Definitely worth it. Absolutely would do it again.
An Unforgettable Day in Istanbul — Ask for Ayşe!
What a fantastic day in Istanbul! From the moment Ayşe met my wife and me at the cruise terminal, we knew we were in great hands. She was incredibly knowledgeable, personable, and genuinely passionate about sharing her city and Turkish culture with us.
Ayşe guided us through Istanbul’s major sights while expertly helping us navigate the crowds and avoid long lines. Her knowledge went far beyond simply explaining the history of the places we visited. She shared Turkish culture, traditions, everyday life, and her own experiences, which made the entire day so much more personal and memorable.
What really made the tour special was Ayşe herself. By the end of the day, it didn’t feel like we had spent the day with a tour guide — it felt like we had spent the day exploring Istanbul with a friend.
We came away with a much greater appreciation for Istanbul, Turkey, and its people. This was easily one of the highlights of our trip and exactly what a private tour should be.
We highly recommend this tour, and if you have the opportunity to request Ayşe as your guide, do it. She gave us a truly fantastic and unforgettable day in Istanbul. Five stars without hesitation!
Very thorough and interesting information. The guide Emreyy was fantastic and knowledgeable about his history.
Our guide was professional and customized the day to meet our needs. Esra was very knowledgeable and answered all our questions.
We had a great tour with Ervim today. Very good communication prior to the tour, and the meet-up outside the cruise port was seamless. She speaks very good English and was an endless wealth of historical and cultural information. We visited Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace and Grand Bazaar. As well as Turkish coffee and lunch, both at local places where did not speak English. Ervim really increased our knowledge and understanding of Turkey’s history and how it affects our part of the world. We would highly recommend her as a tour guide.
A truely comprehensive experience covering all the important Istanbul landmarks. Nawlz was a friendly, informative and interesting guide. Access was streamlined and key landmarks covered comprehensively. A great introduction to the busy, fascinating and historically significant city of Istanbul.
Great experience! Tour guide was wonderful and very knowledgeable. Would highly recommend Denez. We saw everything there was Istanbul and more!
Deniz was a wonderful, sweet and knowledgeable guide who made our visit to Istanbul memorable. Very accommodating to our needs and preferences. We saw all the sights and had a wonderful lunch and great shopping at the grand bazaar. I highly recommend this tour.
What a wonderful tour. It was a private tour with only two of us and our guide. Communication was excellent before tour. Our Guide Savas sent messages on place and time to meet. So no stress on meeting. Savas was very knowledgeable of all sites visited and adjusted our tour to meet our preferences. He did a phenomenal job on giving the true local experience from walking the streets to see major site to sitting in a small street food restaurant having a souvlaki wrap with all locals (our choice - he offered a variety of choices) to specialty ice cream and sitting on a small table on a back street enjoying delicious cookies and Turkish tea brought over by a local as a gift to foreign visitors. What a beautiful treat. We felt like locals. Savas is a local himself born and raised in Istanbul and provided a wealth of information on each site visited. He certainly showed his love for his city. This was a tour not to be missed.
Our tour guide was Deniz, she is knowledgeable personable, gracious with a sweet personality. She picked us up from our hotel. Since we had very limited time to explore Istanbul, she worked with my schedule to ensure I saw the highlights and important historical sites. She allowed me to set the pace - in terms of how long we wanted to stay and explore a place or go to the next site.
This is a walking tour. We had the option to take the tram a short or walk to the area with all the sites. We took the tram. It was crowded but offered a good experience using their local public transportation. Deniz explained the history of each site we visited. She was gracious to take our pictures to capture those special moments. At the end of our tour she walked us back to our hotel.
If you need a guide while in Turkey, who is pleasant, kind and knowledgeable choose Deniz. I have used many tour guides during my travels and I must say she’s the best.
Sam was a great guide with tremendous local knowledge. He was flexible to our requests. Highly recommended.
We had a great day out, our tour guide Ayşe Yıldırım could not have been more helpful. Her knowledge, enthusiasm and helpfulness were excellent. She made sure we saw all the highlights, and took us to a wonderful restaurant for lunch. This is a good tour, and Ayşe is a great guide.
Such a great trip around the sights of Istanbul with our private guide who was amazing. We loved seeing the astonishing sights and the Basilica Cistern is a must in our opinion!
Very informative and the history of Istanbul was so fascinating thanks to Evrem. She made the trip!
It is a walking tour primarily with lovely air conditioned transport and we highly recommend.
Was very good tour. Pinar was very knowledgeable. Book this tour to get a good layout of city center.
We had an incredible tour today in Istanbul with Savas (Sam) and it was truly one of the highlights of our trip. From the moment we met him, he was warm, caring, and genuinely attentive to our needs. He tailored the day to suit our interests, making the experience feel personal and relaxed rather than rushed.
Sam’s knowledge of Istanbul’s history and culture was exceptional. He brought the city’s fascinating past to life with engaging history and insights that we would never have discovered on our own. Throughout the day, he also introduced us to some fabulous local places to eat, which made the experience even more authentic and memorable.
If you’re looking for a guide who is knowledgeable, passionate, thoughtful, and dedicated to creating a truly memorable cultural experience, we couldn’t recommend Sam more highly. Thank you for making our day in Istanbul so special!
Our tour guide, Mert, was very knowledgeable, informative and caring for us as we explored all the fascinating and historic sites Istanbul has to offer! He answered all our questions in great detail and provided a wonderful historic perspective on each site we visited.
We strongly recommend this tour group and suggest you ask for Mert!
Sercan was amazing. He gave us all the hidden secrets—even a good rooftop bar to visit.
The night before he texted us all the information we would need to conveniently exit the ship and find him. We appreciated that the most.
I was not prepared for our guide having no car. But we understand it better seeing the traffic in the city, it was just not made clear that this would be the case. Having said that, he was very good as guide. Friendly and with great knowledge.
Walking tour also guide has good knowledge
But transport needs improvement
As on our way back we got lost
This is a walking tour. You will do a lot of walking throughout the city. Our guide Savas was an amazing young man. He had passion for his city and was an absolute pleasure. We visited during a religious holiday so many attractions were closed or had extensive waiting lines. He was flexible with the plans and was extremely accommodating for any requests we had. He also respected any additional cost that we could incur for bypassing lines or having lunch. We could not recommend this guide any more!
Mert was a fantastic tour guide! It was very busy in Istanbul due to Eid, and his navigation and ability to get us to the sites we wanted to see, help us purchase tickets quickly was so valuable! Mert was incredibly knowledgeable and shared so much about the history of each site we visited, he was willing to alter and accommodate the tour in any way that suited our needs and even checked in the night before to make sure we were all set! He showed us to a fantastic local restaurant where we had an amazing lunch! Would highly recommend as we would never have been able to manage all of this without his guidance, just a lovely human being to spend the day with as well!
We had the best day in Istanbul! Elif was very knowledgeable and so friendly. She met us right outside the port area. We traveled to the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, The Topkapi Palace, Basilica Cistern and so much more! We had a Fabulous lunch at Galeyan. Elif gave us so much information about the cities culture and just a lovely experience in Istanbul. Highly recommend the tour and especially with Elif!
I would highly recommend a private guide in Istanbul's Old City. The attractions are all large and crowded and a private guide can get you to the most significant parts of each of these attractions. Additionally you have a much better chance of hearing what your guide has to say than if you are one person in a group of 40. Our guide was very good and thorough.
Very knowledgeable guy Excellent
Good photos
Delicious restaurant
Thank you
Wish this didn't take so many characters
We had an amazing day in Istanbul. Emreyy was extremely knowledge giving is a wonderful insight into the history of Istanbul and Turkey. A very full day. The car was useful getting to and from the cruise port for us. For others who are more able with walking the trams would be a good option. Thank you for a great day.
It was a great experience our guide was absolutely wonderful and full of knowledge. There was a quit the bit of walking so keep that into consideration. The places we got to see were beautiful. Would highly recommend.
Ausman did a great job communicating with us prior to the tour. She was prompt and immediately made us feel at ease. She took the time to get to know us and what we wanted from the tour. We felt very comfortable throughout the tour and Ausman was very knowledgeable. I appreciated the personal touches-whether that be helping with lunch choices, making sure the pace was optimal, adapting to our individual needs, as well as making sure we were taken care of when dealing with the vendors at the Grand Bazzar.
Ausman made us feel like we were friends and not just clients. I truly appreciate her calm and caring demeanor.
It is difficult to summarize this experience in a few sentences. My wife and I have traveled extensively but Istanbul is now one of our top favorite places! Our tour guide Savaş was everything you would want in a tour guide: deeply knowledgeable of both the extensive history of the area as well as the modern city life, easy to understand, customized the tour to our needs, and shared insights we could not get elsewhere. By the end of the day with Savaş we felt like we were spending the day with a friend. This was an experience we will always remember and talk about - Turkey is a beautiful country, Istanbul is an awe inspiring city, and Savaş brought it all together. We are already planning on coming back with our adult kids and of course, spending another day with Savaş!
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From
$95.00
per personWas $100.00(-5%)
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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Istanbul Shore Excursion : Best Seller Private Istanbul Tour
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