Istanbul Highlights Tour (Private)

Day 1 : Istanbul Highlights Private Tour

Your private guide will come to meet you at your hotel if you stay in the Old City. For guests coming from outside of Old City, a meeting point is arranged and details are sent by the tour consultant.

Then we discover stunning Old City with these visits:

Hagia Sophia: As one of the attributes of Jesus Christ, ‘Holy Wisdom’ Church Hagia Sophia was built by Byzantine emperor I. Justinian and his big love Theodora. The biggest cathedral of its time and presents amazing marble and mosaic work. It was converted to mosque during the Ottoman time by adding up the minarets, the mosaics covered by plaster and recently revealed, serving as a museum for visitors all around the world.

Byzantine Hippodrome: The Hippodrome witnessed the biggest competition between teams of Blues and Greens with chariot racing as it was the most popular sport of Byzantine times. The The Egyptian Obelisk, the serpentine column and the German fountain of Willhelm II are sites to be visited.

Blue Mosque: This stunning mosque with 6 minarets was built during the Ottoman times by Sultan Ahmet. Even though it is called as Sultanahmet Mosque by Turks, it is also called Blue Mosque because of its incredible hand-made quartz tiles.

Topkapi Palace: The house of 24 Sultans of Ottomans is full of exhibitions of relics, Sultans’ costumes, swards, guns, treasury, thrones. The harem section is not included in this tour.

Grand Bazaar: The oldest and largest shopping mall of the world, Grand Bazaar has more than 4000 shops, 60 streets, selling jewelry, ceramics, carpets, copper, leather etc, and it is the only historical market in the world that attracts between 250.000 and 400.000 visitors a day.

Please Note:
* This is the walking tour since all the attractions are located within the walking distance.

*Topkapi Palace is closed on Tuesdays and replaced with Underground Cistern.