Maximize your time ashore with our Istanbul Shore Excursions directly from your cruise ship. Immerse yourself in the city’s rich history and vibrant culture as you explore iconic landmarks like the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and the Grand Bazaar. With a seamless itinerary tailored to your ship’s schedule, our excursions ensure a stress-free and enriching experience, allowing you to make the most of your time in Istanbul before returning to your cruise ship on time. Discover the beauty and heritage of Istanbul with our convenient and captivating shore excursions.
ISTANBUL SHORE EXCURSIONS
Book Istanbul shore excursions, hassle-free port pickup and drop off. Skip the line tickets, expert guides, private tours from the dock in Istanbul.
Istanbul Shore Excursions Itinerary / Istanbul Shore Trips
Hagia Sophia: The Church of Holy Wisdom, undoubtedly one of the greatest architectural creations in the world, was used as a mosque during Ottomans and now serves as a museum.
Byzantine Hippodrome: The center for entertainment, amusement and sports in the city during the Roman and Byzantine Empires. The Egyptian Obelisk, the serpentine column and the German fountain of Willhelm II are sites to be visited.
Blue Mosque: The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, one of the most revered masterpieces of the Islamic world, is famous with its blue ceramic tiles and six minarets.
The Roman Cistern: The cistern was known in Byzantium as thebasilica Cistern, Justinian was the founder of the largest underground cistern, built after the Nika Revolt in 532.The number of the inhabitants of Constantinople increased and bring a problem of water supply. Basilica Cistern was used to store water for the Great Palace.
Grand Bazaar: The oldest and the largest covered market place in the world with more almost 4000 shops owing rich collection of handmade carpets, jewelery, leather and souvenirs.
Private Istanbul Shore Excursion Prices (Per Group):
For parties of 2 / 280 USD
For parties of 3 / 300 USD
For parties of 4 / 320 USD
For parties of 5 to 6 / 340 USD
For parties of 7 to 8 /360 USD
For parties of 9 to 10 / 380 USD
For parties of 11 to 14 / 400 USD
You can check the other tour options in Istanbul here
* This is the private tour for your party only.
* This tour is for the cruise ship passengers only.
* We also do Ephesus Shore Excursions, Please click here to check the details.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I meet my private guide & driver?
You will be met by your private guide & driver at the exit of the port in 30 min after the arrival. Our guide will be holding a sign-board with your NAME & SURNAME on it.
Can I state the time I wish to meet my guide ?
Yes you can do it since this is the private tour for your party only.
Can we find our own fellow cruisers?
Yes you can find, if there are more than 14 people please contact us for better prices.
Do we have to pay in advance?
No, Book Now Pay on the Tour Day. You don’t need to send any deposit, so you can cancel at any time you like with no cancellation fee.
How do i make the booking?
STEP 1 : You should send our online request form with the full details (ship name, arrival departure times, exact date etc)
STEP 2 : We will get back to you and arrange the pick-up time.
STEP 3 : You should send back another email with the confirmation of the pick-up time.
We took this tour independently from our cruise booked through Tours Turkey. As one of my friend booked from them, I knew this would be a good tour and I was not disappointed. Our guide, Ozlem, was very knowledgeable and personable. Our tour was to include The Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. We ended up not going into either of these as the line was SO long for both. This had absolutely nothing to do with our tour. In fact, Ozlem was more than happy to wait, but my husband and I had no desire to wait that long. Our problem (I believe) was that our cruise did not get into port until almost 1:30PM. Too late in the day to visit such busy monuments. We had a lovely visit to the Basilica Cistern. We were able to do a “skip-the-line” and go right in, which was so nice! And because we had extra time, Ozlem gave us options to choose from, depending on our interests. We chose to go to a ceramic shop, Firca, that had a demonstration of making them as well as many beautiful options. The best part of a private tour is that they give you these options and gear it toward your preferences. These private tours are the best was to see a large city. We used this company in Kusadasi/Ephesus and loved it. They were so helpful in working with our cruise info and in communications. I would recommend this company any time!
Amy was an excellent tour guide, friendly, fun and filled with information and history of Istanbul. She picked us up on time at the cruise port in Istanbul. We had excellent tours of the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Basilica Cistern and Grand Bazaar. We walked and toured many side streets of Istanbul and had a delicious Turkish lunch. I would recommend this private Istanbul tour with Amy.
Our family of 11 booked this private tour and it was hands down the only way we could see so much of Istanbul. We were met promptly by a very knowledgeable and super accommodating tour guide who took us to the mosques, cistern, bazaar and even to old town for lunch. We were able to customize our tour by spending less time at certain stops and more at the bazaar. Our guide even helped us with our purchases by translating our bargaining. She showed us where to get delicious local food. She was able to answer all our questions whether it was related to the sites or not at all. It was something we couldn't have done on our own with the time we had. I would wholly recommend this tour.
Emel, our tour guide knew everything about the locations we visited and the city itself. I would definitely go back and ask for Emel to show us the rest of the city.
Fantastic tour, stress free and really informative. Highly recommended. We were from a cruise and everything went very smoothly.
This tour was amazing! We took the two part tour of Istanbul and Ephesus ! Our guide in Istanbul was Beyza! She was just wonderful! She was a wealth of information and we had an amazing day! She took us everywhere that was promised on the tour plus she allowed us to have a bite to eat in a local restaurant that was just delicious! It was a long day because of traffic and the amount of people in Istanbul because of the holiday but she never tried to rush us thru anything! She was very kind and personable!! Always making sure everything was ok with us!!! Last but not least she dropped us back off at the port and she recommended one of the restaurants to and also took us for some Turkish delight!! Ephesus tour was also excellent! Our tour guide was Hatice and again she was just wonderful! She gave us so much history and took us to such interesting places! At the rug company they showed us how they spin the silk and than allowed us to participate in making the rug!! We had lunch out side the rug company which was local food! It was inexpensive and received more than enough food!! We also went to a little owned family business that makes pottery! They had a demonstration of how they make the pottery! the mom that does all the painting was there painting the pottery!! These two tour left us in awe of the two cities!! We would definitely recommend them!!! You won’t be disappointed! Our pictures will not download!!
Diana is wonderful and knowledgeable . We went to everything I wanted to I see and even learned some language that I enjoyed using. Wonderful lunch and I enjoyed Diana’s company the entire day
We loved our tour! Ozlem helped us cover a ton of sites in a short amount of time and she was as delightful as she was knowledgeable. Wear good walking shoes!
It was very cold and raining the day we toured Istanbul but she enthusiastically took us on the full tour anyway. She is a very experienced guide and was very knowledgeable about all of the sites we visited. This tour was so much better than going on a cruise ship tour with a whole bus load of other people. The van picked the six of us up in front the of the cruise port and dropped us back off in plenty of time to get back on board in time. There are long lines at the end of the the day from all of the busses returning. The line moved fairly quickly but allow an hour to get through the lines and security checks.
Hazal was an amazing tour guide who helped us navigate the crowds and line ups in Istanbul. She kept us informed about important aspects of the highlights with passion and enthusiasm. Of note, one of the tour group members lost their phone/wallet in the vehicle and she ensured that the phone/wallet was returned to the ship intact! We appreciate the efforts Hazal displayed in our visit to Istanbul and look forward to visiting again! The tour operator, Soner, was very responsive prior to the tour and we appreciate prompt responses to requests for changes. As well, Soner ensured detailed communications to assist in retrieving the phone/wallet. Thank you Soner and Hazal!
Soner Tufan the Operations Manager for Tours Turkey did an outstanding job of organizing my family of 9 adults - their pick up at the Istanbul cruise ship terminal, their transport with all their baggage and personal items from the terminal to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in the Old City of Istanbul, getting everyone checked in and then providing us with a full two day tour of all the sites in the city including the Topkapi Palace, the Dolmabahçe Palace, the Roman cisterns, the Agha Sophia Cathedral, the Blue Mosque, the Mosque of Sulieman the Magnificent, the spice bazaar, the Grand Bazaar, the list was endless. More importantly he provided us with a professional driver for our Mercedes tour vehicle and the best tour guide any of us have ever had. BEYZA is exceptional. She is fully knowledgeable of the history of Constantinople and Istanbul from 300 AD to present. She is a university graduate, is perfectly fluent in English, is amenable and a person fully focused on the comfort, safety and enjoyment of her guests. She was a pleasure to be with at all times and never left our sides keeping all 9 of us with her and under her scrutiny from 8:00 am until 8:00 pm each day. I cannot praise or compliment her enough. She is an exceptional, caring, considerate, competent, knowledgeable, warm, intelligent person in all aspects. She is the best ever and for touring Istanbul and Turkey you will never find a better one. On our third day in Istanbul, Sonar organized our travel from the Crowne Plaza Hotel to the Airport. Right on schedule. I cannot praise Soner's skills at organizing and implementing all aspects of our tour. An outstanding exceutive to work with at all times. A true credit to his company.
We were scheduled on a Celebrity Cruise in the Mediterranean which we had to cancel because of complications from Covid. Our first stop was to be Istanbul where we had booked with Tours Turkey for a two-day city tour and then a tour later to Ephesus. Soner was fantastic to deal with, responsive, thorough and informative. When we had to cancel, he was so gracious, wished us well and there were no cancellation fees. Will definitely use them when we are able to return to the Mediterranean.
We had the most fabulous day - one of the best of our entire cruise. We were not docked in Instanbul for as long as we had been on previous cruises but we managed to pack so man y sights in with the time available The places we saw were fascinating and our tour guide Emel was just lovely. She was so knowledgable and was accommodating to our needs. As an extra treat we finished the day with dinner at a local restaurant where she joined us and recommended what local dishes we should try. I would thoroughly recommend this tour.
Diana was the best guide ever. We had a two day tour and she made she we saw exactly what we wanted. Her knowledge of history was so helpful and added a lot of value to our tour. She was hands down best tour guide ever! We highly recommend taking this tour over the cruise line tour. It’s personal and perfect. And cost about the same or less.
Absolutely wonderful private tour! Diana our guide exceeded all expectations- she greeted us at the port and looked after us throughout the day! Diana was very knowledgeable and was able to adjust the tour to make sure we weren’t queuing up in long lines. She was very empathetic and made sure the tour was paced at a comfortable pace. Her passion and love of her job is evident. I would highly recommend Diana to fellow travellers. Thank you Diana for such a lovely day!
Our guide Diana was very knowledgeable and knew where to take us at the right times in order to avoid long lines. As I am into photography she took me to beautiful spots to take photos. She even helped carrying my lens bag. She was super!
We had a absolutely amazing tour with Emel! We only had a day to see an incredible city that needs much more time. We were able to see some of the great highlights while still enjoying our time and having a great guide to explain and navigate all of the details. We also enjoyed great food and transportation. 5 Stars!
Wow! What an amazing experience seeing all the most important highlights of Istanbul. Sinan was our guide and he provided so much knowledge and insights about culture, history and the various places we visited. Experience of a lifetime.
Our tour guide very informative, polite and excellent all around. She arrived early and was easily available when we got off our ship. The ship we were on offered the same private van service with a guide but their price was more then double. So we saved money and had an excellent time, and we learned so much from our knowledgeable guide who spoke English very well.
We had a very good two days with our tour guide Ozlem looking around the top sites of Istanbul. The tour was fun and was extremely informative. Oz took us to some amazing sites. The price for the four of us was not much more than what we would have paid for a ship excursion.
This is a very ambitious tour. The amount to cover in 1 day is not easy. I think our tour guide was very nice and knowledgeable. I think Istanbul takes 3-4 days to really enjoy. If I were to do this again, I would probably only go to the palace and one other location, like the Grand Bazar. Trying to go to both mosques is a lot. We didn't have time to have lunch and still cut it very close to getting back to the ship. I would recommend a less ambitious tour.
Great experience. The van was spacious and well air conditioned. Our guide, Diana, was amazing. The heat was too much for some of our group, so we were able to adjust the tour easily. The tour requires walking and some hills, so it is best for people who can walk a few miles at a time over uneven surfaces. The 2 day tour was a great way to cover the highlights of Istanbul. If you book, request Diana, she is the best!
We highly recommend this private tour with Ozlem! She was very informative and positive! It was so nice to have a private car pick us up and a private guide to see the important historical sites. She knew all the tips in getting us in to everything with minimal wait time. It is so hard to get a taxi here and without a guide it would have been horrible. Thank you Ozlem for being so kind and helpful. You made our tour so memorable!
Loved our tour. Our guide was great and we saw so much in a very short time. We arrived early on our cruise ship and she was already waiting and controlled the whole tour so it met our pace and requirements. Always exposing things and ensuring we were comfortable throughout.
Our guide Diana was terrific. She was knowledgeable, professional and fun to hang out with as well. She not only knew her stuff she was very open to taking us to places we wanted to see. She adjusted to our needs and as the day went on and she got to know us better, she made new suggestions that she thought we’d be interested in seeing. Perfect day!
This tour was absolutely wonderful!!!! Our tour guide, Hazal, was fantastic!!! She was so full of personality and super enjoyable to be around. You could tell she definitely loved being a tour guide. She took us around Istanbul all day, allowed us to pick and choose our itinerary, was full of knowledge, and took us off the beaten path too! Being on the private tour was perfect, as I feel we were able to cover more ground than being with a big group. I’d definitely recommend this tour and Hazal to anyone traveling to Istanbul!
Hazel was a great guide. She made our few hours in Istanbul very enjoyable. We packed a lot into a few hours. She even helped us navigate the Grand Bazzar to get in as much as possible. We really enjoyed our time and this was really well worth it.
Absolutely incredible . What a great city and one of the if not the best guided tour we have had in any city around the world . Ms Ozlem was knowledgeable , friendly and very flexible . We were a group of 7 people with different interests and passions . Ms Ozlem was a Rock star and we would recommend her and this company to anyone out there.
This was an excellent two-day tour which really maximized our time in Istanbul. The tour guide was also very flexible and made sure to customize the excursion for what made the most sense to the whims of our children. We would highly recommend this tour company.
Diana was fabulous. She stayed with us the entire day, leading us through the mosques and Spice Market, helping us shop, getting us deals. We loved her!!
Definitely worth every cent. Our guide Emel Kesir was amazing. She is very prepared and professional, and explained us every single detail about the past and present of Istanbul. She also had prepared skip the line tickets (where available) for the main attractions, and for those which didn’t, she spent the time sharing more historic data and helped us taking great pictures. This tour experience is a must.
Hazaal and her tour were wonderful! We had a great visit. She knew all the history and sites to take us. You may have to walk if traffic bad so have good walking shoes and get some local currency. Recommend this tour!!!! ♥️♥️
We had a wonderful time with our guide Wazim. She has a wealth of knowledge about Istanbul that she is passionate about sharing with her clients. She was organized, well spoken and attentive of all our needs. Thank you for an awesome time Wazim!!
The Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia and the underground cisterns were amazing. Very helpful to have a guide. Istanbul has been on our bucket list forever and to be in this historic place where East meets West was awesome.
Our guide, Özlem A, was one of the top tour guides I’ve ever toured with, and I have toured with guides all over Europe and Asia. She was extremely knowledgeable about the statistics and history of Istanbul, clearly gave fantastic descriptions of the sites and in depth answers to our questions. I cannot overstate how amazing she is as a person and a guide. We had a driver + Özlem as our guide who accompanied us into all sites.
As we had booked this tour a couple months in advance, the communication was fantastic between booking and actually scheduled to take the tour. I felt totally comfortable that our guide would show up and there wouldn’t be any problems which turned out to be the case! I do recommend using a tour guide in Istanbul, even though everything is close to really get the story behind everything a knowledgeable tour guide is the way to go. Also, booking with a private tour guide is the way to go and. Emel our guide was fun, knowledgeable and totally enthusiastic about her job and country! I would use this agency again for sure.
We were 3 couples arriving in Istanbul having not been before. We had a fantastic guide. Bezoar spoke perfect English. She was very knowledgable and interesting and made sure we saw the important sights. Such a lovely lady. Also would Highly recommend agency. Efficient and easy to deal with.
We had an excellent Istanbul experience with Zeynep. A little disappointed because the Grand Bazaar and Spice Market were closed due to the election, however she made it up to us with a wonderful tour of the other Istanbul sites. She is very knowledgeable of Turkish history. I highly recommend this tour company and Zepnep if you are looking for a great overview of Istanbul.
We decided to take the all day tour of the Best of Istanbul. Booking was extremely easy and we liked the aspect. We could cancel if necessary. I had a few questions on the meeting spot from the cruise ship and got a text right back which was very clear. Our guide Hazal was right there with a sign and a big smile waiting for us. She showed us to a private car immediately and we were on our way. Hazal was very knowledgeable and even with the crowds at the major sights she assessed the situation and took us to the least crowded first. She gave us much enrichment material and made it come to life. We saw everything and more plus a stop for a a great local lunch. We highly recommend Hazal, it was time and money well spent in this busy city. Also we had a very spacious new van to move around. We have used viator in the past and always found their guides excellent. A better value than taking a crowded ship excursion. No waiting time or wasted time!
It rained non stop all day which obviously affected our impression of the tour but it wasn't the fault of our tour guide or the sights. I would highly recommend this tour and our tour guide. Hit all the highlights and the tour guide was very friendly and knowledgeable. Long line getting into Haifa- Sofia but it was worth it. Grand Bazaar a little disappointing but we were beat and soaked by that time of day
We started out early from our cruise ship and did everything on my list: Balat, Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque, Haj Sofia, Basilica Cistern, Hippodrome, and the Grand Bazaar. We had a fabulous guide, Beyza, who made us feel at home. She filled us with history and even took us to a quick and delicious food stop for lunch!
Istanbul is such a fascinating, bustling city, and I do not think we could have seen as much or learned as much without the tour. Our guide was fantastic. Having said that, tourists should know that you are going to be invited to learn about the national treasure of Turkey, which is the Turkish rug. It is amazing to see the art, craftmanship, and months of labor that go into creating each masterpiece. You will WANT to buy one, so be prepared to spend from a thousand to 20 thousand and buy the treasure that you can pass down for generations. If that is something that you cannot or will not do, skip the demonstration, because it takes time and you will be sad to say "no thank you."
Our guide Emel was wonderful … so knowledgeable and friendly … we managed to see our list of sights and enjoy a wonderful lunch even with tremendous crowds in Istanbul. I would recommend her very highly to friends planning a trip to Istanbul, Thank you Viator!
Diana was a wonderful tour guide. Very passionate about her city and very knowledgeable. And fun to be with. Made sure we saw all the best sites, in particular the Blue Mosque and Cistern. Highly recommend the tour and asking for her!
Fantastic guide! Zeynep was professional, knowledgeable, intelligent, and classy guide. We had an amazing experience visiting Istanbul with her as our guide. She tried to take as many places and give us as many experiences as time allotted. Highly recommend her!
Our guide, Diana, picked us up at our cruise terminal, and the driver took us to our first destination. We visited all the locations requested, walking for the next 7 hours to get a feel for the city. At the end of our tour, the driver returned us to our ship. Diana was knowledgeable and personable, and this was the best way to experience Istanbul during our 1 day in port.
Awesome tour, so much fun! Our tour guide Emre Aldeniz was so professional, knowledgeable, and planned an amazing day for us. He covered so much history. Best use of our time. Thank you Emre!! From David & Michelle.
Our tour guide, Emel, was priceless. She met us at the cruise port and was with us every step. She was knowledgeable, professional and personable, with a sparkling personality and brilliant smile. She even took my wife on a personal shopping trip at the Grand Bazaar. Emel put the “personal” in our personal tour. She made our visit to Istanbul the highlight of our cruise experience. Emel is truly the superstar of your staff.
We visited Istanbul on the first day of the festival day after Ramadan ended, and the day the president visited to reopen the Blue Mosque. Despite these potential difficulties, our guide expertly took us through the Hagia Sofia , the Topaki Palace and then on to an excellent lunch. We could not have been happier with our tour of Istanbul and especially our guide.
This was a wonderful introduction to Istanbul. Diana was very knowledgeable and friendly. It was nice having a personal guide to learn about this interesting city. She took us to places that we were interested in seeing and even fended off the overeager vendors ! I would highly recommend this tour. It was a perfect tour for our cruise ship port stop.
Great guide full of information and flexible with timing in accordance with our interests. We chose this tour to specifically see the cisterns and spent all the time we wanted there.
We had just a day to explore the old city and Ozlem really made it easy. It was a lovely experience. She was very informative and pleasant to talk to. We spent a lot of time in Grand Bazaar shopping and Ozlem helped us all along. We will definitely recommend this guided tour. I wish we had more time to spare but hopefully next time …
Tours was absolutely fantastic. I’ve been to over 50 cover countries and Istanbul was my favorite destination. The private tour is the only way to go, no lines to mess with, all your questions answered, and I were the guide was super friendly and knowledgeable and helped us immensely.
We are so happy for the great time we spent as a family in Istanbul. Our tour guide was the best. She was vey friendly, kind, courteous, inviting and flexible with our needs. She showed us the main city highlights and we did so much and even enjoyed a traditional dinner (not included). We hope to come back and we will definitely recommend her to our friends and family!!!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
We booked about a week before going. We had good communication with the service and had a great tour. We had a 2 day full tour with a car and had 2 different guides. Both were great. Spoke very good English and knew a lot about the places they took us. Also it was incredibly helpful to have them because we did skip the line to get into the sites and museums. I would book through this service again.
Beautiful Hagia Sophia….didn’t disappoint. The whole city is magical. Osmin my guide was top notch and provided a wonderful commentary full of facts from the past and interesting insight into modern Turkish life. The only drawback was horrendous traffic between the old town and the port. Osmin recommended booking tours that use public transportation rather than vans and coaches because of this traffic problem. I would highly recommend this tour.
The street walk from them Takhim took us thru many unique building facades and historic roots was most memorable. The stop at the gaziantepli koskeroglu for pastries and tea was a culinary delight. A wonderful city to explore by private car.
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