See the highlights of Istanbul’s historic peninsula in a single day with a licensed guide. We pick you up from your hotel and spend the day in Sultanahmet, the UNESCO-listed heart of the old city: Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome, the Grand Bazaar and Topkapi Palace. Your guide brings more than 1,500 years of Byzantine and Ottoman history to life, and lunch is included.
All the main sights of Istanbul’s Old City in one day
Licensed professional guide
Hotel pickup and drop-off by air-conditioned coach
Skip-the-line entry to Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace
Lunch included
Small group of up to 20 travellers
Pickup from hotels in Taksim, Sultanahmet, Karaköy, Aksaray and Topkapı, with drop-off at the same hotel.
8:00 am
Pickup: we collect you from hotels in central Istanbul (Taksim, Sultanahmet, Karaköy, Aksaray and Topkapı areas) and bring you back at the end of the day. For hotels in other areas or the airport, an extra charge may apply, so please ask us.
Good to know: mosques are places of worship. Please wear clothes that cover shoulders and knees; women also need a headscarf for the mosques.
We start at Hagia Sophia, built in 537 as the largest domed building of its time. Your guide explains its Byzantine mosaics and its long history as church, mosque, museum and mosque again.
Duration: 1 hour · Admission included
A short walk brings us to the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, known as the Blue Mosque for the blue İznik tiles that cover its interior.
Duration: 40 minutes · Admission free
On the old Hippodrome of Constantinople, where chariot races once took place, we see the Egyptian Obelisk, the Serpent Column and the German Fountain.
Duration: 30 minutes
Time to explore one of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world, with thousands of shops selling carpets, lamps, jewellery and spices.
Duration: 1 hour · Admission free
We pass Hagia Irene, one of the oldest Byzantine churches in the city, in the outer courtyard of Topkapi Palace.
Duration: 10 minutes · Entrance not included
We end the day at Topkapi Palace, home of the Ottoman sultans for almost 400 years. See the palace courtyards, the Imperial Treasury and views over the Bosphorus.
Duration: 3 hours · Admission included (Harem not included)
