Highlights & Hidden Gems of Istanbul: Private City Tour with a Local Guide
4.9
188 Ratings
Fatih
Experience the best of Istanbul with a local guide on this private city tour. Discover hidden gems, avoid the crowds, and get a unique perspective of the city's culture and history.
Duration: 3 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Topkapi Palace - See Topkapi and other landmarks and must-sees of the city. Your local host will take you to the main spots in town so you can get the perfect overview of what makes Istanbul so unique

  • Hagia Sophia Mosque - Hagia Sophia is often referred to as the eighth wonder of the world and one of Istanbul’s most impressive sights! See it from the outside. Along the way, your local host will show you treasures hidden in plain sight that only the locals know about. Get to know the city through a different perspective, the local way, and discover places and stories that not many tourists experience

  • Blue Mosque - Blue Mosque is Istanbul’s most beautiful (and blue) active mosque built between 1609 and 1616 years. Behind every landmark and every stop, there’s a story, and your local host is ready to tell it all. Get ready to listen to incredible stories, one-of-a-kind insights, and fun facts only a knowledgeable local would know!

  • Hippodrome - Depending on your host and their chosen route for the tour, this stop might also be included in your route.

  • Caferaga Medresesi - Depending on your host and their chosen route for the tour, this stop might also be included in your route.

  • Galata Tower - Depending on your host and their chosen route for the tour, this stop might also be included in your route.

  • Historic Areas of Istanbul - Depending on your host and their chosen route for the tour, this stop might also be included in your route.

What's Included
  • Experience a carbon-neutral tour, ensuring an environmentally friendly journey.
  • Enjoy the exclusivity of a private tour for a more personalized experience.
  • Benefit from the knowledge of a local guide and gain insider insights.
  • Indulge in the local flavors with a complimentary drink or tasting.
What's Not Included
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Extra food & drinks
Additional Information

This is not just another city tour; this is the best of Istanbul with hidden gems that only a local can show you. Get to know Istanbul on a city tour that gives you the perfect overview, from culture, history, and local lifestyle - this tour has it all!

Forget about big touristy groups and the crowds; it’s time to see Istanbul at its best thanks to your local guide’s knowledge and stories. Check out main landmarks like Topkapi, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and uncover city secrets that will show you the city through a different perspective. As they say, the locals know best!

Highlights & Hidden Gems of Istanbul: Private City Tour is one of Withlocals’ signature tours available in major cities worldwide. We work with passionate local guides who earn a fair fee. We support local economies by only offering local produce and prevent over-tourism with only small non-intrusive groups. Our tours are carbon-neutral and away from the standard tourist routes.

  • Private tour: only you & your local guide
Location
At Meydanı Cd 3/A
At Meydanı Caddesi
Meet at the entrance of Sultan Cafe in front of the German Fountain in Sultanahmet.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(188 Ratings)
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Harid5
Jun 17, 2024
A knowledgeable and adaptive expert on Istanbul - Gulce is an incredible local to hang out with if you want to know the historical views of Istanbul but at the same time is very knowledgeable with her tips for shopping, food and getting around. Her very calm and patient demeanour is a great asset especially when she was taking my wife and I along with our two young boys around such a busy city. She understood the audience well and catered the speed and detail of the tour accordingly and adapted to the needs of young kids well. The food tour around Taksim Square left all 4 of us wanting more but the orur appetite was our only limitation.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jessicak14491449
Jun 17, 2024
Great experience with Oguz! - We highly recommend Oguz!!! He is very knowledgeable, charming, thoughtful and patient! We are a family of 4 with varied interests and he managed to accommodate all of us with the sights we visited and his stories of the history. We would have been literally lost in Istanbul without him as he helped us put together a plan of sites to visit without him through the rest of our stay. He is so nice and his English is *excellent*.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Richard_m
Jun 11, 2024
3 hour walking tour . - We had a lovely guide . English excellent. Very kind and the tour was very much what we wanted to do .. There was no rush to finish going some time over. Great tips for restaurants. Really good value
Review provided by Viator
Ianj580
Jun 10, 2024
Great walking tour of Istanbul. - We had a short time in Istanbul and Emre showed flexibility in tailoring the tour to our time constraints. He was kind, smart, very knowledgeable, great English. Fun to spend an afternoon with. Highly recommended.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ann-kathrin
Jun 9, 2024
Open minded historic city tour - Mine has been an amazing tour guide for us. She is very open minded, historically educated and showed us her favorite mosques that created goosebumps! 🙏 Thank you Mine we will definitely come back and recommend you.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sffred2015
Jun 8, 2024
Emre for Istanbul tour guide - Emre is one of the best tour guide that I have worked with. Before the trip, we exchanged WhatsApp and Emre went above and beyond to provide me tips on where to go for food or sightseeing. Emre tailored the tour based on what I needed. It was very relaxing experience when the tour guide listened to your needs vs gave lectures. Even after the tour, Emre and I still communicated for tips about Istanbul. I can’t recommend Emre enough for your next trip to Istanbul!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lokikatz
Jun 2, 2024
Excellent tour with Emre - I only had an afternoon and evening in Istanbul and Emre managed to get me to all the main sights without making it feel hurried. He’s an excellent guide with deep knowledge of the city, its history and life. Emre was great to share a beautiful day in a great city with. I hope to come back and will definitely take another tour with him. Thank you for a great time. Highly recommended!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lamonty2016
May 31, 2024
Best private tour guide for a family in Istanbul - A friend of mine had a day in Istanbul and highly recommended booking with Dilek, and now I know why! Istanbul has so much to offer, but it can be difficult to choose the correct tour and company to book with, so most important is the best tour guide! And that is Dilek! She is happy, kind and has a great positive attitude chuckling when people in big groups of people get pushy or attitudes, making our day so fun, positive, and most importantly we felt safe! She always stayed at our lead and right beside us for the day and intervened with we experienced pushy salesmen trying to get us to take their taxi. It made our day so easy and most importantly we grew to really like her as a person. She is so great - highly recommend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Meander59325957589
May 29, 2024
Experience Istanbul’s Magic with Abdullah (Withlocals) - I had the incredible pleasure of experiencing Istanbul through the eyes of Abdullah, and I cannot recommend him highly enough as a tour guide. From start to finish, Abdullah was exceptionally accommodating and flexible, adapting our itinerary based on the length of queues at various sites, which saved us a tremendous amount of time and allowed us to avoid massive crowds. Our tour included an array of fascinating landmarks: the German Fountain, Hagia Sophia Mosque, Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern, Theodosius Cistern, Dönerbank (where I enjoyed the best Doner Kebab I've ever had), and the Grand Bazaar. Abdullah's local insights and historical knowledge added immense value to each location. He shared engaging stories and historical context while we queued and walked between sites, enriching my understanding and appreciation of what I was about to see. Abdullah's personable nature and depth of knowledge made the tour exceptionally enjoyable. He struck the perfect balance between guiding and giving me time to explore on my own, which was perfect for taking photos and videos. His ability to weave together historical facts, cultural significance, and fun tidbits made the entire experience feel both educational and entertaining. Halfway through the tour, I felt like Abdullah was not just a guide, but a friend showing me around his beloved city. Whether you're visiting Istanbul for the first time or the hundredth , having Abdullah as your tour guide will undoubtedly enhance your experience. His professionalism, adaptability, and warm personality make him an outstanding choice for anyone wanting to truly experience the magic of Istanbul.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Youtubey745
May 27, 2024
Great tour - We had a great tour. Nihal gave us a lot of hiatorical information and walked us through the highlights of Istanbul. Warmly recommended!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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