2025 Istanbul Local Highlights Option - 8 Hours - Provided by Sea Song Tours
Guests will enjoy a pre-arranged sightseeing itinerary with a Private Car and Guide to explore the following destination highlights.
You will meet your professional guide, holding a name sign, outside of the terminal building at the port for a full day of private sightseeing.
Your private tour of Istanbul starts with a visit to the Byzantine Hippodrome, which was one of the largest chariot race grounds of the Byzantine Empire. Istanbul's Byzantine Hippodrome was the heart of Constantinople's political and sporting life, and the scene of games and riots throughout 500 years of Ottoman history as well. This was the largest hippodrome of the ancient world with a design that was conceptually based on the Circus Maximus in Rome. You will see Egyptian Obelisk, Serpentine Column, and Constantine Column, which are remnants from the original Hippodrome.
You will take a short walk to the Blue Mosque, completed in 1616, it is a triumph of harmony, proportion, and elegance. The mosque was a part of a complex also including, tombs, fountains, kitchens, and a bath. Its colourful 260 windows enables the sunlight to reach inside. This makes the interior unusually light. The blue Iznik Tiles covering the walls have given the mosque its popular name.
After a short walk, you’ll enter the awe-inspiring Topkapi Palace Museum, royal residence of the Ottoman sultans for the better part of four centuries. There are four main courtyards which contain extensive gardens, pavilions, fountains, royal gates, divans, kitchens, library, and mosques. Steps away, a visit to the Harem section offers a revealing look into how the sultans of the Ottoman Empire lived in private.
Lunch is suggested at the Seasons Restaurant which serves international cuisine.
Next, you will visit one of the greatest buildings in the world: St Sophia Mosque, it was built during the reign of Emperor Justinian (AD 537) and remained the greatest church in Christendom until the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by Sultan Mehmet II who ordered to convert Hagia Sophia into a Mosque.
Your last stop will be the famous Grand Bazaar. It is the largest and oldest covered Bazaar in Turkey with more than 4,000 shops. A variety of Turkish Handicrafts, Oriental carpets, rare jewels, and inexpensive souvenirs all sold in small shops next to each other. The streets are named according to the trades, such as gold and silver sellers, carpet sellers, booksellers, etc. The most oriental atmosphere in Istanbul is found in the bazaar.
At the end of your sightseeing, you will return to your ship.
Included:
- Private Luxury Van (Mercedes Vito) with English-Speaking guide and driver for 8 hours
- Entrance fees for listed sights
- Gratuities to guide and driver*
- Bottled water in the vehicle
Excluded:
- Cost of meals and refreshments other than bottled water
- Items of personal nature
*Gratuities have been prepaid. Additional gratuities are at the guest’s discretion.
