Our small group of four decided to spend four nights in Istanbul taking advantage of Eid holiday. We contacted Turkey Tours Company after reading good reviews. Serkan replied us immediately and suggested a private tour of Istanbul. We were initially apprehensive to travel to Turkey as the country just imposed a national lockdown although tourists were exempted. Serkan prepared a 3-day itinerary for sightseeing in Istanbul. He assigned Yuksel (aka Joseph) as our guide during those three days.
We were glad to still proceeded with our trip. We really enjoyed our time in Istanbul. It is such a beautiful city and the weather was so nice in May. We were glad to have have Yuksel. He was proud and so passionate with his country. Many places of interest for tourists remained open except the Grand Bazaar. We visited the Dolmahbahce Palace, Suleymania Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sofia, Ortakoy, Uskudar, and many others. The country is rich of history and we learned a lot from Yuksel, about the Ottoman Empire, Turkish culture and cuisine. He took us to Koskeroglu, a baklava shop popular among locals, and to Hazer Baba, a lokum shop, they were absolutely delicious. Througout our time in Istanbul, Serkan kept contact with us to make sure we were doing fine and enjoying our trip.
There are so many things to see and learn in this big country. We will not hesitate to use Turkey Tours Company's services again the next time we visit Turkey.