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Ortaköy Mosque on the Bosphorus shore with the bridge behind it.

Türkiye

Best of Istanbul Tour

Istanbul tour

User:Darwinek · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

4 days and 3 nights through Istanbul. Takes in Hagia Sophia Museum, Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace Museum. Shaped around your dates, your hotels and your pace — this is the route as it stands, not a fixed departure.

Suits

  • A short break that still goes somewhere

Day by day

Day 01

Welcome to Turkey

Arrive IST airport. Arrive IST airport, meet our representative & transfer to hotel. Evening Bosphorus Dinner Cruise Tour with soft drinks and show. Bosphorus Strait is a natural waterway that runs through Istanbul, dividing the city into two continents. The Bosphorus connects Europe and Asia via the Sea of Marmara We pick up our guests from hotels. 3 hours sunset cruise on the bosphorus. Discover the Bosphorus Strait, while cruising between European and Asian sides of Istanbul. Enjoy local cuisine on cruise while watching traditional dances as well as Latin dances and enjoy live DJ performance while cruising. Admire the iconic palaces standing along the strait and see Dolmabahçe palace, Beylerbeyi palace, Cirajan palace, Ortaköy mosque, Camlica mosque, Maiden tower and many nice houses from the sea. End of the tour drop off to the hotels.

Day 02

Istanbul City Tour

Guests will be picked up and brought to the Sultanahmet district, the oldest, most historic part of the city. The first stop of the day will be the Hagia Sophia, as our tour guide explains the significance of this massive building that was once a Christian church, then a mosque, then a museum and now a mosque. Afterward, we will pass the Hippodrome of Constantinople, where we will see the sites impressive obelisk, before reaching the Blue Mosque. We should be sure to take pictures of both the interior and exterior of this impressive building. Next, we will continue to the Grand Bazaar, a massive, bustling complex to find clothing, decorative furnishings, food, and more. On the way to the bazaar, we will see other historical monuments, like the Tomb of Sultan Ahmet I, the Firuz Aga Mosque, and the exterior of the Tomb of Mehmed II. After our visit to the Grand Bazaar, we will make a brief stop for lunch. In the afternoon, we will visit Topkapi Palace (entrance not included), the primary residence of the Ottoman sultans for nearly 400 years. Afterward, the guests are returned to their hotels.

Day 03

Prince’s Island Tour

Travel from your hotel by air-conditioned coach to the port with your guide, and board the boat that will take you to the Prince's islands. The largest and most interesting of the islands is Büyükada, which is your destination for the day. From the boat, look back on the sights of Istanbul, seeing iconic landmarks such as Topkapi Palace and the pretty Kiz Kulesi (also known as the Maiden’s Tower), which was featured in the James Bond film, The World is Not Enough. Dock in Büyükada and then take a stroll through the streets on your own, soaking up the laid-back atmosphere of island life. Return to the boat and listen as your guide talks about the island’s history during the ride. Learn about its time as a place of exile for banished statesmen and royalty, and of its life as a monastic settlement during Turkey’s Byzantine-Christian period. Pass lovely wooden mansions that are stunning examples of the island’s late Ottoman-era architecture, and look out over the sparkling sea. Seagulls are everywhere in Büyükada, and if you’d like to feed them your guide will give you simits (bread with sesame seeds) so you can toss them a treat. Have lunch in a restaurant, then spend the rest of your day at leisure on the island. Later, meet your guide at a pre-arranged time for your boat ride back to Istanbul. The last leg of your journey will be by coach, and you’ll be dropped off at your…

Day 04

Fly Back Home

After checking out, board the transfer to the airport for your flight to Istanbul. From there, you can take your flight back home.

What the service covers

  • All accommodation as listed, with daily breakfast
  • All ground transport by private, air-conditioned vehicle
  • Meals as named in the day-by-day
  • A licensed guide for every sightseeing day
  • Airport transfers on arrival and departure
  • Entrance fees for the sightseeing named in the itinerary
  • A single named trip designer, reachable by WhatsApp for the whole journey

Not included

  • International flights, unless the itinerary says otherwise
  • Visa fees, travel insurance and anything a government charges directly
  • Meals other than those named in the day-by-day
  • Anything personal — minibar, laundry, spa, tips and porterage
  • Optional experiences and upgrades offered on the ground

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