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Private Old City Guided Tour

204 Reviews 4.98 out of 5 stars Based on 204 reviews collected by City Balloon Tours and TripAdvisor | Recommended by 99% of reviewers |
Badge of Excellence |Badge of Excellence This experience is highly rated by travelers and has met our top quality standards.
Istanbul, Turkey
Don't miss out!
On average, this is booked 23 (0) days in advance.

5 to 7 hours (approx.)
Hotel pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English
Instant confirmation

Overview

This private guided tour aims to give you most important information about history of those beautiful monuments such as Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Basilica Cistern and Hippodrome so what actually makes special about these places are the history behind of them and that is where the guide will be giving you all details about history and what happened in back of time until present day.
The professional tour guide will ccompany you which will make things easier and comfortable in most of the touristic places, museums and palaces the tour guides have the priority can skip the lines. The best part is the tour is customizable for so you can add new places you would like to see or remove the places you don’t want to see.

What's Included

  • Pickup available from city center hotels or locations, if required.”
  • Skip the long line at museums
  • Private professional personal tour guide
  • Tips are not included
  • Entrance fee
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Meeting and Pickup

Pickup point
Pickup details

The personal private guide meet you at your desired adress... can be your hotel lobby or any place you want be meet up. Please be informed that the private vehicle will be used, if need be. Meet up can be your hotel lobby. Only pick up offered in the city center.

What To Expect

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Our secure website provides real-time availability, instant confirmation, and free, no-hassle cancellations up to 24 hours before your tour begins.
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Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque

Hagia Sophia   (Ayasofya, Santa Sofia) Built in 6th century by Emperor Justinian. It plays a very important role in Christian and Islamic World. After the Ottoman conquest the bells, altar, and sacrificial vessels were removed, and many mosaics were covered to convert church into a mosque.
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1 hour Admission Ticket Free

Blue Mosque

Blue Mosque: Built in the early 1600s for Sultan Ahmet I of the Ottoman Empire. Blue Mosque is truly a magnificent masterpiece of architecture, with amazingly delicate proportions for a building of such massive scale.  Very intresting fact that locals never calls Blue Mosque, we as locals call it Sultan Ahmet Mosque (Camii). There is a lot of intresting information that i would be sharing with you about this beautiful mosque.
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1 hour Admission Ticket Free

Basilica Cistern

There is a very mysterious place in Sultanahmet, the heart of Istanbul: Basilica Cistern. The Cistern was also used as a venue in many movies and series. Did you watch Inferno, the movie starring Tom Hanks? It was shot in 2016, adopted by Dan Brown’s book. One of the main venues of that movie was Basilica. Basilica Cistern İstanbul or Basilica Palace is one of the most important structures in the history of Istanbul. The features of the columns inside, and the Medusa head, which is especially inverted, attract a lot of attention. There was a basilica where this cistern was built. For this reason, the cistern is called the Cisterna Basilica. Would you like to have some more detailed information about this place, please book our private guided tour to join me to discover... Remember Private guide can skip the lines, handdle your tickets and make your limited time worthile.
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1 hour Admission Ticket Free

Hippodrome

Byzantine Hippodrome / Sultanahmet Square; where chariot races were held back in Roman Empire times, Egyptian Column from Byzantine Empire era. German Fountain
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1 hour Admission Ticket Free

Grand Bazaar

Grand Bazaar is a place that keeps lots of vanishing professions alive with their unique culture. It is the world’s oldest, the biggest bazaar where the most variable products are exhibited. The bazaar includes more than 3 thousand shops and it is visited by approximately 400 thousand people. During the Ottoman Empire era, jewelry and precious hand-woven textiles were gathered in Grand Bazaar from all over the country to be sold, and it is a shopping paradise for the ones who especially appreciate traditional textiles and authentic jewelry.
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1 hour Admission Ticket Free

TopkapI Palace

Topkapi Palace is one of the world’s largest surviving palaces and was built between 1460 and 1478 under the orders of Sultan Mehmed II a few years after he conquered Constantinople. The palace served as the home of the Ottoman Sultans for almost four centuries. It was also the state’s administrative and educational headquarters. The Topkapi Palace complex consists of four main courtyards and many smaller buildings. Female members of the Sultan's family lived in the harem, and leading state officials, including the Grand Vizier, held meetings in the Imperial Council building. The Topkapi Palace is huge place and it needs few hours to discover it. İts just like small village and there are alot of stories and intrigues to tell :) We private tour guides have priority to skip the lonq lines at the museums and Topkapi Palace is museum as well.
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2 hours Admission Ticket Free

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Additional Info

  • Confirmation is instant and will be received at time of booking
  • Public transportation options are available nearby
  • Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Frequently Asked Questions (7)

Q: What is the cancellation policy for the Private Old City Guided Tour?

A: You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the tour for a full refund. For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the tour start time.If you cancel less than 24 hours before the tour start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.Any changes made less than 24 hours before the tour start time will not be accepted.Cut-off times are based on the tour local time (+03). Read more Apr 2025

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the tour for a full refund.

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Activity code: C-425970P2

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Reviews

4.98
204 reviews

Average 4.98 out of 5 stars based on 204 traveler reviews collected by City Balloon Tours and partner sites such as Cool Destinations and TripAdvisor

5 stars
202
4 stars
0
3 stars
1
2 stars
1
1 star
0
Don't miss out!
On average, this is booked 23 (0) days in advance.

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What's Included

Activity name

  • Pickup available from city center hotels or locations, if required.”
  • Skip the long line at museums
  • Private professional personal tour guide
  • Tips are not included
  • Entrance fee

Additional Info

Activity name

  • Confirmation is instant and will be received at time of booking
  • Public transportation options are available nearby
  • Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Report Product Issue

Activity name