Tours and Tickets by My Local Guide Istanbul
Private Layover Tour from Istanbul Airport & Hotels
Take advantage of extended layover time in Istanbul on a round-trip tour of city highlights from the airport, customized to suit your interests and schedule. Zip with ease between iconic sights such as the Hagia Sophia, Grand Bazaar, or Topkapı Palace, and benefit from historic and cultural insights provided by your professional guide.
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4 to 6 hours
Highlights of Istanbul- Half day walking tour with small group of max 8 people
Appreciating Istanbul’s many historical and cultural landmarks can be tricky on a self-led excursion. Explore on a walking tour with a local guide for intimate insight into top attractions, including the Hagia Sophia and Basilica Cistern. Avoid hidden costs with a traditional lunch, refreshments, and entrance fees included, and benefit from the small-group tour size for a more personalized experience.
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5 to 6 hours
Fener - Balat- Piere Lotti and Golden Horn Experience
This tour is to the neighborhoods far away from main touristy parts of the city and it is about experiencing the real Istanbul. In this afternoon walking tour, we take you away for an introduction to the local life style of Istanbul. We will start with experiencing of using all sort of public transport as tram, bus and cable car. Visiting the residential neighborhoods which will give you the chance to see how locals live in this cosmopolitan city. We will sit at the local cafes to sip cay tea and see how local get social. We will pass through the local markets, bakeries, tea houses. We will learn how the Constantinople was concurred by Ottoman in 1453. And finally we will be on top of the Piere lotti hill to watch the view which inspired the French poet to write the book titled Aziyade. We will have a coffee break here on top of the hill to watch Istanbul over the Golden Horn ( natural harbor ) and we can count Istanbul’s seven hills together.
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5 hours 30 minutes
Secrets of Istanbul - half day walking tour - Off The Tourist Trails
Get deep into the history of Istanbul and visit off the beaten track destinations with the Secrets of Istanbul walking tour. Discover the hidden gems of old Constantinople and explore its puzzled streets with an English-speaking expert guide who knows the secrets of the city very well. Visit places that are not easy to find on your own, hear stories of Istanbul legends and historical personalities and see the best attractions of Istanbul along the way.
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5 hours
Ottoman and Byzantine Relics-Less known mosques, city walls,local markets
This is a package of different activities combined for those who don't want to do the same and similar things all day. This tour appeals to those who likes see the different face of Istanbul.
We will start with the Topkapı palace where the Ottomans used to control the empire for four hundred of years. Your guide will bring to the live with the stories from the Harem, about the Grand viziers to Sultan skills and weakness.
We then will walk off the main touristy part of the city to little known Şehzade mosque which was built for the Sultan's son Mehmet who died in a young age.
We will be looking at the Roman aqueduct which has been challenging to the centuries. These are the part of the city where you will only see yourself among the many locals. We will continue to Chora museum which has some the most beautiful and oldest icons in the world. And finally get scrubbed at a non touristy bath house to relax and wash the dirt and the stress away.
We will start with the Topkapı palace where the Ottomans used to control the empire for four hundred of years. Your guide will bring to the live with the stories from the Harem, about the Grand viziers to Sultan skills and weakness.
We then will walk off the main touristy part of the city to little known Şehzade mosque which was built for the Sultan's son Mehmet who died in a young age.
We will be looking at the Roman aqueduct which has been challenging to the centuries. These are the part of the city where you will only see yourself among the many locals. We will continue to Chora museum which has some the most beautiful and oldest icons in the world. And finally get scrubbed at a non touristy bath house to relax and wash the dirt and the stress away.
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7 hours
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My first time visiting Istanbul.I took three tours with my Local Guide I had a very good time Salih is very professional and friendly he is also very knowledgeable I enjoyed the food and culture tour and the meals at the local cafes.He even taught me how to use the public transportation.I highly recommend Salih to the visitors of this beautiful city.…
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Date of experience: October 2020
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Responded 1 week ago
Thank you for your lovely review. It was a pleasure to show you lovely Istanbul and help you to discover it’s hidden gems and flavors. Thank you for choosing to travel with My Local Guide Istanbul. We hope to see you in Istanbul again.
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We booked 'Ultimate Istanbul Tour' for our family (2 adults + 2 teenagers) - 8 hours walking tour to visit major sites and historical places in the city. What we got, was a wonderful day spent wandering through rich history of the city, and the region, visiting all sites that were listed in the offer... But, thanks to our guide Iskender, we got lot more - we were privileged to reveal some hidden places, great viewpoints and feel the vibe of the city. Shortly - unforgettable day spent with very kind and professional guide...…
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Date of experience: September 2020
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We had a wonderful few days with Salih...first day he picked us up from our Airbnb and took us round the major sites (Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Hippodrome) followed by a nice lunch and the spice market. Next day he sorted a great boat trip up the Bosphorus and then lunch and a walk around the Grand Bazaar. Salih speaks excellent English and explains things very well, to adults and kids of all ages. His restaurant recommendations were very good and he looked after us well. Very happy to recommend him highly for your trip to Istanbul!…
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Date of experience: August 2020
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We visited Istanbul in December last year (2019) on our way home from a European trip. Our flight arrived very early, and we were leaving very late the following day so we effectively had 2 full days. We wanted to see as much as possible, so we decided on a personalised tour. After reading other reviews we contacted My Local Guide Istanbul prior to the trip. Salih organised a 2 day personalised tour for us, including airport pickup & drop off. He also recommended an excellent hotel. Salih was so easy to deal with when organising our tour, and responded so quickly. Once we arrived in Istanbul everything ran exactly to his plan. Salih made our time in Istanbul great - he was professional and informative, but still very relaxed and friendly. We saw as many sites as possible in the time we had, and we also visited different markets, and shared some lovely meals together at the local cafes and restaurants he recommended. It was a short time that we had in Istanbul but we loved every minute of it. We would highly recommend Salih and his company to anyone visiting this beautiful city :)…
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Date of experience: December 2019
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Responded Apr 21, 2020
Thank you very much for your lovely review. It was a great pleasure to show you lovely Istanbul. We are glad to see you enjoyed Salih’s service. He is a great part of the team and loves what he does. He is great at showing the best of the city, local cafes, restaurants, markets and hidden gems of Istanbul. We are lucky to have him. We were blessed to have the chance to have you on our tour and we hope to have this chance again in the future. We wish the healthy days to you and the rest of the world.
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when we talked to our "supposed tour guide, he refused to come into the airport to get us and help us walk through the arduous task of getting out of the huge airport. no one mentioned that we needed leave the secure area to get a visa for 3 hour tour. When we asked the airport security and airlines about the trip they told us due to extra (coronavirus) security we might miss our flight if we left the airport. Bottom line, we missed the tour due to visa and no assurance we could get back for our flight. Very Disappointing. Our guide was so sorry and too bad!…
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Date of experience: February 2020
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Responded Apr 21, 2020
We are sorry to see that you missed to join the tour which would have been a great experience for you. And we are sorry to receive a negative review which is not likely for us as we work hard to provide a good service for our clients. So let’s make it clear. 1. We don’t mention on our website neither on TA that the guide will be at the airport as it is not necessary while we have the Meet&Greet staff there from 07:00 am till midnight. He meets the clients at the exit door with the board sign, lead them to driver and the guide meet them at the center to start the tour. This is what we have said for the tour details. 2. We have made it very clear at the tour details that “ you might need a visa to leave the airport, please check online for a Turkish visa which you can apply online to save time at the airport “ This is a warning at the section before you book the tour. 3. You had enough time to have a layover tour. If your layover time wasn’t enough we would have send you a message to not having the tour as we do when people don’t have enough time because we don’t want them to rush. However, when you landed, we didn’t hear from you for two hours which normally we get people 40-50 minutes the latest after landing. We try to contact you many times. We sent you many sms and direct call but your phone was off. Airport has free WF at many cafes which you could use to contact us but it seems instead doing that you chooses to asking the airport staff about our tour and they told you that you don’t have enough time for a tour. When you have booked a tour with us why wouldn’t you talk to us about this but asking airport staff ? How would they know about a tour we organize ? After two hours at the airport, finally you turned on your phone and l managed to reach you and you kept saying that “ you don’t want to pay for the visa while you still could have the tour and you chose to not having it. So short of long, you didn’t read the tour details and you didn’t want to pay for the visa which you decided to stay at the airport for the following eight hours. We respect your decision but we wish you had joined the tour and you would have seen that it worth way more then paying for a visa and staying for eight hours at airport.
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