Tour Overview
The itinerary that you see below to your attention is only a sample. You can have the tour in your available time interval with a professional tour guide and a driver on private basis. You can add or delete any zone from the itinerary accordingly your interest.** On Mondays, when St. Sophia is closed, we visit the Chora Church, famed for its mosaics. ** On Tuesdays, when Topkapi Palace is closed, this tour is not offered. ** On Mondays and Thursdays, Palace of Beylerbeyi is closed and replaced with Kariye Museum.
Tour Program
Day 1 : Istanbul
Meet at Istanbul port and start our tour with visit Hippodrome: The building, open square was once the site of a Roman circus that rivaled the Colosseum and could seat a quarter of a million spectators. Monuments on the site include the Snake Column from Delphi and an Egyptian obelisk taken from the Temple of Karnak at Luxor.Blue Mosque: One of the most famous mosque, the Sultan Ahmet Mosque (also known as the Blue Mosque) is a superb creation in the classical Ottoman style. The mosque has six minarets and 260 windows illuminating its vast main chamber, which is decorated with more than 20,000 Iznik tiles.Hagia (St.) Sophia Museum: It is one of the greatest marvels of architecture, constructed as a basilica in the 6th century by Emperor Justinian. Built in 537 by Byzantine Emperor Justinianus, St.Sophia has been the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years; it is considered the masterpiece of Byzantine architecture; after having been the Patriarchal basilica of Constantinople, it was converted into a mosque in 1453 by Sultan Mehmet II the Conqueror and in to a museum by Ataturk in 1935. (Closed on Mondays; will be replaced with Underground Cistern)Grand Bazaar: The largest covered market in the world with more than 60 streets and 4.000 shops, where you may find in a authentic oriental atmosphere all kind of gifts, leather clothing, rugs and kilims, antiques, jewelery, hand-woven fabrics etc.It has got very different atmosphere.It is closed on Sundays and religious holidays.
Continued...
Tour Highlights
- Roman Hippodrome Square, Blue Mosque, St. Sophia Museum, Grand Bazaar
Tour Inclusions
- Cruise port pick up & drop off
- Transportation by A/C vehicle
- Service charges and local taxes
Excludes
- All the personal expenses
- Tips to the tour guide and driver
- Eveyting which is not particularly mentioned in the including section
- Lunch & drinks
- Entrance fees
