Boutique Tour Max. 14 people ( No Shopping )
Duration: Full day (08:30 to 17:30)
Price: 65 EURO
Run: Everyday
Destinations & Itinerary
08:20 – 08:45 After pick up from hotel or Istanbul cruise port, we will start the full day guided tour of Istanbul.
Today we will following sights:
Underground Cistern : Built by Justinian after 532, the Basilica Cistern stored water for the Great Palace and nearby buildings. Lost to memory, it was rediscovered by Petrus Gyllius, who came to Constantinople in search of Byzantine monuments. Gyllius, who noticed that local people got their water by lowering buckets through holes in the floors of their houses, found an entrance and thus put it back on the map.
Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Mosque): This mosque was built by Sultan Ahmet I during 1609-1616 in the square carrying his name in Istanbul. It is the only mosque in Turkey with six minarets. The central dome is 43 m in height and is 33.4 m in diameter. 260 windows surround the mosque. Due to its beautiful blue, green and white tilings it has been named the “Blue Mosque” by Europeans. The inscriptions were made by Seyyid Kasım Gubari.
Roman Hippodrome and Obelisk: The ancient Hippodrome, scene of chariot races and the centre of Byzantine civic life, stands in the area that is now in front of the Blue Mosque, and now part of Sultanahmet. Of the ornaments which once decorated it, only three remain: The Obelisk of Theodosius, the bronze Serpentine Column, and the Column of Constantine. Remains of the curved end of the Hippodrome wall can be seen on the southwest side of the three.
Hagia Sophia Basilica: The primary church in Constantinople, Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom), is inaugurated after being rebuilt by Emperor Justinian I (527-565). After the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453 Hagia Sophia became a mosque and is now a museum. The church of Hagia Sophia was the most important church of the Christian East. It was also structurally the first of its design, with the biggest dome ever constructed for a church, which created a light, well illuminated interior. The same year Justinian ordered to build a new basilica, the one we can see today, and only five years later, 537 AD, it was opened to the public. In 1453, with the conquest of Istanbul, Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror converted the church into a mosque. Hagia Sophia Museum, the legacy of both Christian and Muslim culture, was opened for visits according to the order of Ataturk and decision of the Turkish Assembly of Ministers on the 1st of February, 1935.
Lunch in local restaurant.
Cruise on the Bosphoros : The Cruise on the Bosphorus which will give you the best chance to view the finest palaces and the pavalions along the shores.
Rumeli Fortress ( From the sea): The biggest fortification of Istanbul can be seen clearly during our Bosphorus Cruise.
Cable Car to Pierre Loti: Enjoy the beautiful view from the cable car as you climb the hill to the cafe named French writer Pierre Loti, birth name Louis Marie Julien Viaud (1850 -1923).
Rustem Pasha Mosque: It was designed by Mimar Sinan (“Sinan the Architect”) for Grand Vizier Rustem Pasha (who married one of the daughters of Suleyman the Magnificent, Princess Mihrimah). Its building took place from 1561 to 1563. The mosque is famous for its exquisite Iznik tiles, set in beautiful floral and geometric designs, which cover not only the facade of the porch but also the mihrab, minbar, walls, and columns.
End of the tour,
Drop off Egyptian Bazaar or your hotel.
Please take note of the following:
* 30% discount for children below the age 7, free for the ages 0-2
* Haghia Sophia Museum is closed on Monday; replaced with Kariye (St. Savior in Chora) Museum
* The order of visiting sights, may vary slightly from time to time
* Clothing: Entrance to Mosques and Churches visited in our tours is not allowed to gentlemen and ladies with no proper outfit
* You are kindly requested to present your self at the pick up point 15 minutes prior the pre advised pick up time
* Smoking is not permitted but all tours make frequent stops
*Note: also available as two separate half day tours.
What’s Included:?
* Pick up and drop off at your Hotel or Cruise Port
* Transportation by air-conditioned non-smoking tour coaches
* Professional Guide licensed by the Ministry of Tourism
* All entrance fees to the archaeological sites and museums, parking and road tolls
* Lunch at local restaurant (drinks extra)
* Local taxes
