Istanbul private skip Line tickets incl.Hagia Sophia and cistern
Recommended by 94% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Istanbul, Turkey
- 4 to 7 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
Overview
What's Included
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- Private transportation
- All Fees and Taxes
- Entrance fee of Hagia Sophia museum included with skip line tickets, we do not wait to buy tickets
- Entrances of Basilica cistern with skip line ticket included
- Private guiding service during the day
- Free pick up and drop off from the city center hotels included
- LunchThere is no food provided during the tour you can have your lunch break and choose a restaurant to have lunch
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Pickup details
we do pick up from all hotel within 5 km distance to taksim square or sultanahmet square
Itinerary
1
Blue Mosque
1 hour • Admission Ticket Free
2
Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
3
Basilica Cistern
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
4
Hippodrome
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
5
Grand Bazaar
1 hour • Admission Ticket Free
6
Sultanahmet District
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
7
5K Rug Store
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
8
FIRCA El Sanatlari Merkezi Seramik
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
Joseph_Z
This was an excellent tour. Billur, our guide, was outstanding. Her knowledge of the mosques and historical sites was very impressive. She also helped us book a private yacht tour the next morning, and continued to follow up to make sure everything was okay. Highly recommend this tour and this guide! Well worth the cost.
Reviews
4.8
based on 51 reviews
Marina_M, Apr 2026
Great tour covering the main attractions in Istanbul in a day. Belgin was great and very informative. I would recommend this tour.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Thank you for choosing our company for your Istanbul Trip, we are delighted to see your happiness with the guide and service, we wish you all the best
Candace_O, Mar 2026
Kenan was a fantastic guide. He was well informed about all the historical elements we viewed, plenty of interesting stories. Loads of facts and dates. He was also very funny. He was extremely useful in helping us figure out the do's and dont's of the city and cultures. This part was all fantastic!
Only issue is the last two experiences attended were very heavy sales pitches. You get to view a person making a rug by hand and the history of this ancient art, which is all beautiful and wonderful. Then they take you to a seperate room where they offer you drinks and try to sell you a rug.
Similar, but much less pushy, is the pottery place. You watch a master create a small piece on a foot kick pottery wheel, then they let you try which is super fun. They talk about the history and materials used in their cultures pottery. Then they show you around the sales floor and try to convince you to buy their wares, but not nearly as pushy as the rug guys.
But I am from the upper Midwest in USA and anyone who talks to me in a store feels pushy to me, so perhaps to other folks they weren't pushy. If you like to haggle prices, Istanbul is your town. Everyone haggles.
Michel_S, Mar 2026
Flawless and secure. It is like viator describes it! Our guide Perry was personable and sweet, would go with her anytime
Janine_G, Feb 2026
We had a fantastic city tour of Istanbul with our guide, Kenan. He was incredibly knowledgeable, sharing the history and stories behind each site in a way that was engaging and easy to follow. His sense of humour made the day even more enjoyable, and he set a really comfortable pace so we never felt rushed. We saw all the major landmarks and even discovered a few hidden gems along the way. Kenan also recommended a lovely restaurant for lunch, which was one of the best meals of our trip. A brilliant experience from start to finish.
Naima_K, Jan 2026
My husband and I took this private walking tour in October 2025. Our guide, Ozge, was just wonderful! She’s extremely knowledgeable and knows Istanbul like the back of her hand. She was flexible and made adjustments to the tour schedule based on how busy the various sites were and whether we wanted to spend more or less time in certain areas. This tour does involve a lot of walking and I needed to go slowly and take breaks, as I am pregnant. Ozge was very attentive and accommodating, and she never rushed us. It was so nice to have her as a resource when exploring sites like the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and the underground cistern. She pointed out intricate details to us that we would not have known about on our own, and she answered our questions with ease. For the couple of questions she didn’t know the answers to right away, she did some research and messaged us after the tour. She also sent us a list of recommended restaurants and attractions to visit on the Asian side of Istanbul because we had mentioned we would be going there. We learned so much from Ozge, and we would recommend this tour to others!
Fred_D, Dec 2025
Our guide was very experienced (and knew everyone it seemed!). We had seen some of the things normally on this tour so she adapted. We were quite impressed by the trifecta of Hagia Sofia, blue mosque, and the Roman cistern we didn’t even realize was right there.
Anirudh_C, Dec 2025
Even though the price was expensive, all the cost of the tickets, including taxi and skipping lines was included, which was pretty good. Our tour guide Belgin was awesome. She is a registered tour guide with great knowledge and patience. She knows how to plan the itinerary based on her client and she was very patient with us and gave us great insights of the places that we would have otherwise not known. I definitely recommend her.
Suzanne_D, Dec 2025
This is a perfect intimate tour that gets straight to the point with all the information you need. My tour guide Eylem was very knowledgeable and knew all the tricks and spots to get photos. Highly recommend.
Kanav_B, Nov 2025
Great boat and service. The tour guide was great. Highly recommend . Pickup was on time. Very spacious boat
Sean_R, Nov 2025
I paid a lot of money for this luxury pick up tour… only to find it was a walking tour with no luxury at all. It wasn’t skip the line as we queued up like everybody else.
The guide was knowledgeable, which is the only good thing I could say about it very disappointed!!!
Response from Host, Dec 2025
Dear Sean,
You paid the same amount as everyone paid, and it is very clearly mentioned we do not wait to buy tickets but still there is a security line we have to wait
Thanks again for choosing us.
Elizabeth_K, Nov 2025
OJ was great as our guide! She was very friendly, informative and we felt comfortable asking questions.
Kristin_k, Nov 2025
We had the most wonderful day exploring Istanbul thanks to our incredible female guide. From the very beginning, she tailored the entire experience to exactly what we wanted to do, making it feel personal and effortless.
Blue Mosque: She shared fascinating insights and made sure we saw the highlights without feeling rushed.
Gluten-Free Lunch: Knowing our dietary needs, she found a delicious gluten-free restaurant that was perfect.
Basilica Cistern: She managed to skip the line, saving us so much time and letting us enjoy the magic of the site stress-free.
Grand Bazaar: Instead of wandering aimlessly, she took us straight to the shops that matched what we wanted to buy, making shopping both fun and efficient.
Street Tram & Return: Navigating public transport in a new city can be intimidating, but she guided us through the tram system and even brought us all the way back to our cruise ship.
Her warmth, knowledge, and attention to detail made the day truly special. Istanbul is an incredible city, but having a guide like her elevated the experience beyond expectations. We felt safe and cared for the entire day. A lovely day we’ll never forget!
Lynn_W, Nov 2025
We had a 5-6 hour tour with Karaman. He took us to the Blue Dome Mosque and Hagia Sophia. He was very knowledgeable about the history of these sites and the traditions associated with them. He also took us to the Basilica Cistern which was amazing. He had skip the line tickets to all sites which was really nice. After that he took us to a nice restaurant and guided us on what to order. Afterwards he took us to the Grand Bazar and let us shop for as long as we wanted. It was a great crash course of Istanbul! Highly recommend! We would never want to do Istanbul with a great guide. It is way too big! Great van/Limo transportation too!
roger_w, Oct 2025
Very professional and knowledgable Guide.
Spoke excellent English.
Made us feel totally at ease.
Our day flew by and we could not have had abetter time.
Kathryn_S, Oct 2025
Fantastic way to see Istanbul. We saw all the top attractions. Our tour guide was flexible with the amount of time we wanted to spend at each location. No waiting for tickets because they were included. Our guide was very knowledgeable and answered all our questions.
Mel, Oct 2025
We had an amazing experience with our tour guide, Belgin! She was very punctual — arriving at our hotel 30 minutes before the tour even started. Throughout the day, she shared so much valuable information about Hagia Sophia, the Basilica Cistern, the Hippodrome, and the Blue Mosque. We also appreciated how she explained details about Turkish food and culture, which made the tour even more meaningful. We truly learned a lot from her and highly recommend Belgin to anyone visiting Istanbul!
Athena_S, Oct 2025
5 star tour experience! Belgin our tour
Guide could not have been kinder and worked hard at accommodating all of us! The pick up and drop off service was top notch.
Andre_R, Sep 2025
Our guide was on time, very knowledgeable and pleasant to spend time with. He was open to suggestions on where to go and when, overall it was a good experience
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Dear Andre,
While everything seems good for all we guess there should be mistake on rating the tour, thank you for choosing us.
OGANES_S, Sep 2025
We had an amazing day suring this tour. Our guide Hilal was very professional and had great knowledge of the city and history. Definitely recommend this tour. You will see and learn a lot in short period of time
Joseph_Z, Sep 2025
This was an excellent tour. Billur, our guide, was outstanding. Her knowledge of the mosques and historical sites was very impressive. She also helped us book a private yacht tour the next morning, and continued to follow up to make sure everything was okay. Highly recommend this tour and this guide! Well worth the cost.
SCOTT_C, Sep 2025
Our excursion was labeled as transportation provided, but actually it was a walking tour. It was private just us two. And the tour guide was friendly and thorough in explaining Istanbul’s long history. We did visit a couple beautiful mosques and Cistern, but did not visit a couple other places on our itinerary. We were led to a Turkish carpet sales store and local spice and tea shop. Which we got hooked like a Timeshare presentation. We did purchase at both places. We did enjoy our time but the price for a walking tour is less than what we paid. And they do meet you just outside of the cruise terminal building Galataport. Not outside of the property. So that was a little frustrating to ask where to meet.
Dianne_F, Sep 2025
Burak was fantastic! He’s very knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. We were able to tailor the tour to see the sights we wanted to see. Our group had a great time and all agreed this was the best day of our trip.
Sarah_L, Jul 2025
We cannot give enough credit to our guide, Serkan, for making our tour today so enjoyable! He set a steady pace and used his extensive knowledge to ensure that we had minimal waiting times to get in to see each of the sights. He provided fantastic insight into each of the attractions, ably blending history with religious and cultural information to explain features of importance at the sights.
He introduced us to reliable traders and helped us find the “right price” for the items we wished to purchase. (Yes, the ceramic speaker will be a talking point at home!) Noting we were keen to enjoy local foods, he stopped for lunch at a place he frequents regularly. The food was absolutely delicious!
Thank you, Serkan for a wonderful day. You went out of your way to make sure we had a great time. Your photographic skills will be long remembered!!! We couldn’t have asked for a better guide!
Ryan_C, Jul 2025
We had a good time! Keenan was great and also spread things out accordingly and gave us food breaks, especially it being a hot day! Ty!
Rachel_d, Jun 2025
Fabulous time from start to finish! Igzi was the best guide and full of information about each place we visited. The private van was amazing and the kids loved the tv and snacks. The car/ride was comfortable and much nicer than I expected. We went to 5 places and had lunch before getting dropped off at the port. Highly recommend this tour- you won’t regret it! Ask for Igzi; she was the best!
Yukiko_O, Jul 2025
I suddenly needed a tour guide for my parents in their 70s. With no time left before the night, I looked for a tour in Japanese that was both reliable and of good quality, and here I was. Basak picked me up in the lobby of the hotel the next morning earlier than I had requested, and I knew with one eye that she was a trustworthy woman, so I could leave her with peace of mind. That impression remains the same after the tour. We are grateful that they have changed the course to the best for the elderly with weak legs.
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Severine_B, Mar 2025
La guia muy maja y nos hizo el tour muy ameno. Nos encantó. Lo hizo con mucha flexibilidad y aaprendimos mucho
From $181.52
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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Istanbul private skip Line tickets incl.Hagia Sophia and cistern
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