It is not a coincidence that Istanbul forms the most visited destination in Turkey. The unparalleled charm that the city has achieves to attract millions of visitors every year. The city demonstrates deep-rooted tradition and long history since antiquity. For those wishing to explore the city’s history, a walking tour is one of the best options as it allows you to stroll around the streets and get the authentic vibes of the city. Our Istanbul City Tour (Full Day) – Byzantine & Ottoman Relics is listed among the best available tours, as it combines all the great monuments and places of interest into one fascinating, yet informative excursion.
The walking tour starts during the morning. A comfortable car will pick you up from your hotel and drive you towards a meeting point, where you will meet the tour guide. The professional guide will be the person in charge to provide important descriptions of the places you are about to visit during the day. With this tour you will be able to explore the Sultan Ahmet Centre by walking through the major monuments and places of interest of the area.
The first visit will be made at the Hippodrome, where sports events were taking place during the Byzantine period. There are four monuments which you can observe there. These are the German Fountain of the Wilhelm II, the Column of Constantine, the Serpentine Column and the Egyptian Obelisk. The walking tour continues with a visit at the infamous Blue Mosque. This impressive Mosque is one of the most important in Turkey and is known for its interior design that features blue tiles. Since Blue Mosque is an active worship place, visits are not possible on Friday.
Another important monument, next to the Blue Mosque is Hagia Sophia. This impressively big church was constructed by the Constantine the Great during the Byzantine period. The museum of Hagia Sophia is one of the most visited monuments in Istanbul due to its history and its outstanding architectural design. It must be noted that, Saint Sophia is closed every Monday. Thus, participants will visit the Underground Cistern on that day.
Visiting Topkapi Palace, Sultans Tombs, Grand Bazaar.
Visiting Hagia Sophia, Hippodrome, Blue Mosque.
After visiting these great monuments in city centre, the most exciting stop follows. In our Istanbul City Tour (Full Day), you will also visit the famous Grand Bazaar. This bazaar is the most popular and known of its kind due to its size and due to the variety of things visitors can discover. It includes more than 4000 small shops in which you may exercise your bargaining skills. In these shops participants can discover handcrafts, spices, clothes and every type of souvenir.
Once the Grand Bazaar tour is over, a lunch break follows at a local restaurant in the nearby area. Take this chance to relax and enjoy the vibrant atmosphere of the city’s centre. Energized and relaxed, you will then walk towards the Sultans’ Tombs. These five tombs of Ottoman Sultans feature exceptional ceramic panels of the 16th century. Visitors can observe the delicate flower motives and multiple colours, as well as other interesting covers placed on the sarcophagus.
The last stop of this guided walking tour will take place at Topkapi Palace. The palace used to be the residence of the Ottoman sultans between the 15th and the 19th century. Nowadays, it hosts an interesting museum with precious gems and jewelleries, costumes of the sultans and other important items of that era.
As this is the final stop of the walking tour, participants will then return to their hotel with a comfortable and modern bus. Arrival to hotel is scheduled to take place during the afternoon. Joining this exciting and informative tour will be an unforgettable experience like no other during your holidays in Istanbul.
Istanbul Hotels – 08:30 /09:30
If you like historical tours you can check to different options for Istanbul , the other tour options can be also interesting for you.
Join an exceptional walking tour and get to visit some of Istanbul’s most known monuments. The Byzantine & Ottoman Relics Tour is the ideal option for those who wish to experience the real vibes of the city’s centre. In addition, this tour is specially designed to provide interesting information about the history and the culture of the city. This full-day excursion will offer you long lasting memories and boosts your enthusiasm.
Pick up: This walking tour takes place every day during the morning. Thus, a comfortable vehicle will pick you up from your hotel and drive you towards the meeting point. There, you will meet your assigned professional tour guide. The experienced guide will be responsible to provide interesting descriptions about the places of interest during this walking tour.
Hippodrome: The first stop of this walking tour will take place at the Hippodrome. This used to be the place where sporting events were taking place during the Byzantine period. The broader area features 4 monuments. During your time there you may observe and admire the Egyptian Obelisk, the Column of Constantine, the Serpentine Column and the German Fountain of Wilhelm II.
Blue Mosque: Then, you will walk towards Blue Mosque, which is listed among the most visited and most important mosques of the country. This active worship place is a true miracle of interior design. Inside, you may observe the blue tiles on the walls. The tour guide will explain everything you need to know about the history and the importance of this place.
Hagia Sophia: The walking tour continues with a visit to Hagia Sophia. This emblematic monument will impress you due to its size. It was constructed during the 4th century by the Constantine the Great and reconstructed again during the 6th century. Nowadays, it forms one of the most visited monuments in Turkey.
Grand Bazaar: After visiting these great monuments, you will continue walking towards the infamous Grand Bazaar. This will be the perfect opportunity to exercise your bargaining skills and to experience the real vibes of the city. With 4000 shops, located in narrow labyrinth-like paths, Grand Bazaar impresses visitors since the very first moments. There, you can find clothes, handcrafts of all kinds, street food and many other interesting souvenirs.
Lunch: A lunch break will then offered at a local restaurant in the nearby area. Relax and enjoy your tasty meal before proceeding with the rest of the tour.
Sultans’ Tombs: After the lunch break, the tour continues towards the Sultans’ Tombs monument. There, you will observe five tombs from the 16th century. The ceramic panels and the decorations of the sarcophagus are among the interesting highlights.
Topkapi Palace: The last stop of this tour will take place in one of the most important monument in Turkey. Topkali Palace used to be the residence of the Ottoman Sultans for 5 centuries. Today, visitors can visit the palace and walk around its various rooms. Moreover, the place hosts an impressive collection of Ottoman items such as jewelleries, precious stones and costumes.
Return: After the last stop, you will return to your hotel with a modern vehicle. This walking tour will be an interesting excursion and will offer you an unforgettable journey in time.
This was an amazing tour of Istanbul that takes in all the must see sights in a single day . You get to see the Blue Mosque , Topkapi Palace , Haga Sofia and the Grand Bazaar. I have been to over 65 countries and this was one of my best tours.
I enjoyed the cultural references to Ephesus, Jerusalem, Mecca and Rome as I am interested in architecture, ancient civilisations and religion. The lunch was included and we had soup , mixed lamb and chicken kebabs and a chocolate dessert. Delicious. It was a busy day and we had a lot of fun. We selected to end up at Grand Bazaar due to our limited time in İstanbul. This will be word of mouth to all my friends who will be traveling to İstanbul in the future.
Loved, loved, loved it!!! Best way to go around the city! I was there last week for work, and joined this tour as I wanted to go around the city. I knew Istanbul was interesting, but I wasn’t expecting this. Group was quite small, but the perfect size to go around and enjoy. Guide was lovely, very polite and helpful with everything. Visited some very important sites and learnt many things about them. My personal favourites were the bazaar and the topkapi palace. I recommend this tour to all. It gives you a general idea about the city’s history and culture.
When I visit a city for the first time, I always go for a guided tour, and this is what happened in Istanbul. It was a nice day and the team picked us up from the hotel. I have to say that the organisation was perfect, we had no problems during the day. The schedule was well made, all the important places were part of it. We were mainly around the centre and saw all the famous sites like the sultans’ tombs, and the Sultanahmet square. I was impressed by the variety of monuments that this city has. Lunch was nice at a cool place. At the bazaar we had so much fun, and bought some cool things.