Best of Istanbul: 2-Day City Tour of Landmarks and Culture (Private Tour)

Highlights of the Best of Istanbul 2-Day City Tour

Travelling as a private party with your own guide, vehicle and flexible pace, this two-day program distils the very best of Istanbul into a perfectly balanced short break — one day for the imperial monuments of the historic peninsula, one day for the palaces and villages of the Bosphorus that divides Europe and Asia. It is the ideal way to understand a city of fifteen million people and two continents without feeling rushed, with hotel pick-up and drop-off and a professional English-speaking guide throughout.

Your first day explores old Sultanahmet. You walk the ancient Hippodrome of Constantinople, with the Obelisk of Theodosius, the bronze Serpentine Column and the Column of Constantine, then stand beneath the cascading domes and six minarets of the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque) and the mighty Hagia Sophia, one of the greatest buildings of the ancient world. The afternoon winds through the fragrant Spice Bazaar and the surrounding streets of artisans and souvenir shops, with a lunch break along the way.

Day two takes to the water for a Bosphorus cruise, gliding past the baroque Dolmabahce Palace, Ciragan and Yildiz palaces, the pretty waterside square of Ortakoy beneath its mosque and bridge, and the great fortress of Rumeli. You cross to the Asian shore to see the elegant Beylerbeyi Palace, pass under the Bosphorus Bridge and climb Camlica Hill for the finest panorama over the whole city, finishing with an optional visit to workshops for Turkish carpets, jewellery, ceramics and leather. With guided city and Bosphorus tours and entrance fees to the major landmarks included, it is Istanbul at its most memorable.