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We have used our extensive knowledge and contacts to create the definitive Istanbul tour, the very finest historical adventure and exploration of this entrancing and familiar-unfamiliar city, Peter’s favourite metropolis in the world.

It’s hard not to speak in superlatives when describing this epic cradle of civilisation, this imperial Queen of Cities. No other great centre in the world can have been besieged so many times, so greatly was it coveted by peoples outside of its walls. Like no other, its destiny lay in two continents, over both of which its dominion and cultural power spread far and wide. As the heart of Byzantium, it transformed the world of the Balkans and eastern Europe; during its time as capital of the Ottoman Empire it was the most multicultural city in Europe, on whose streets more than a dozen languages were spoken, from Italian to Persian, Greek to Arabic. This city utilised its mercantile dominance over the narrow channel that connects the Mediterranean and Black Sea to grow wealthy and multiply its political strength. These successive cultures have liberally endowed the city with beautiful symbols of imperial power, from its imposing fortifications to its serene places of worship.

On this escorted tour of Istanbul you will see such world-famous sites as Topkapı Palace, Hagia Sofia and the Süleymaniye Mosque with the aid of expert eyes, and match them with some seldom-visited wonders that only the true connoisseurs of the city know well. We sample some of the best food that Istanbul has to offer, from the long-established cornerstones of Turkish cuisine to traditional local eateries that have raised the simplest of local dishes to a culinary art form. Our Istanbul tours allow you to immerse yourself in a city that has been shaped and moulded by some of the key cultures of the western and eastern worlds for over 3,000 years.

Our Tours receive an average rating of 5 out of 5 from 941 reviews, according to AITO reviews.

Day 1: Welcome drinks and dinner.
Day 2: We begin with a short journey to Istanbul’s magnificent Archaeological Museum, housed in fine neoclassical buildings between the old palace area and the lovely Gülhane Park. Passing by the porphyry tombs of Byzantine emperors, we’ll experience a truly world-class museum, encountering the Alexander Sarcophagus and others from Phoenicia, magnificent Greek and Roman statuary and far more, all beautifully displayed. A further very short journey then takes us to the Yerebatan Saray, an iconic and wonderful space below the city that’s sure to be a memorable highlight for many, despite being ‘nothing more’ than a cistern. As you’ll see, it goes far beyond what you’d expect. A grand project of the Emperor Justinian, it’s a cavernous space in which hundreds of Roman columns seem to recede in row upon row to infinity. Justly famous images of sculpted faces and thoughtful lighting make this a hugely impactful, awe-inspiring place. Afterwards, we emerge in the open air and make a short journey to the site of the city’s Hippodrome, where the emperors presided over races by the notorious circus factions of the city. Along its spine, we find some remarkable remains – Egyptian obelisks, carved columns and even the famed Serpent Column from Delphi, brought here by the Roman emperors when it was already centuries old, a marker of the victory in the Great Persian War, some 2,500 years ago.

After lunch, we visit a very special carpet shop built over another ancient cistern. Having explored this subterranean treasure, we’ll hear about the splendid traditional Turkish rugs craft and admire examples both antique and more recently made from the living, skilled tradition that they’re so well-known for. After, we make our way to the mosque of Küçük Ayasofya (‘Little Hagia Sofia’). In origin, it’s the great Justinianic church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, a highly influential architectural marvel. We enter via a beautifully proportioned courtyard to its capacious interior, now with a restrained and dignified Ottoman appearance. After tea in the garden, our final visit takes us to the grand mosque of Sokollu Mehmet Pasa Camii for an essential meeting with the work of the great Ottoman architect Sinan at arguably the height of the Ottoman empire.
Day 3: The late Roman walls of Constantinople are colossal in scope and size, truly imperial in scale and complexity. In the Middle Ages they inspired awe and almost an incomprehension that they could be possible. For centuries they held back invaders so that the empire could endure even when it was relatively weak. Armies and fleets of Huns, Avars, Bulgars, Arabs, Rus and others failed before them, and they arguably delayed the Ottoman conquest by nearly a century. Our day begins with a drive to view some of the most important sections, including the great Marble Tower near their south-west extremity. We then visit the recently-revitalised display of the formerly derelict complex of the Yedikule fortress and the Golden Gate. Here, a vast late Roman gateway, designed to overawe with its imposing size and majesty was turned by the Ottomans into a grand fortress and prison with soaring walls and stupendous views over the city. We drive a length of the seemingly-endless line of triple fortifications up to Blachernae and visit the Tekfur Saray, the wonderfully renovated palace of the later Byzantine emperors. After lunch, we move on to the Kariye Camii mosque, a particularly beloved former Byzantine church, St Saviour in Chora, lavishly decorated in coloured marbles and with an exceptional array of mosaics still in place, among them some of the greatest achievements of Byzantine art. Returning towards the heart of the imperial city, we view the Roman aqueduct of Valens and end the day with a truly great experience: the Great Church itself, Hagia Sophia. Now a mosque again, we’re still able to take in the enormous scale and fine form of this impossibly historic building and to experience at close hand the wonderful mosaics of the upper galleries of this, one of the most beautiful and imposing buildings ever created.
Day 4: Along with its walls, the deciding factor in the greatness of Constantinople and Istanbul was its location on the Bosporus and its arm, the Golden Horn, and it’s to these waters that we take today. Our boat trip takes us into this broad, grand channel, the source of so much trade and wealth for the empires centred here, where great ships can still be seen making their way to and from the Black Sea. We head first for Rumeli Hisar to view the awesome fortress built by Mehmed the Conqueror as part of the preparations to take Constantinople at the start of the 1450s. Its myriad walls rise up from the shore and march up the green hill behind, interspersed with colossal Ottoman towers, designed to forbid anyone using the strait against the Sultan’s will. Continuing up the Bosphorus past beautiful Ottoman villas we come to land north of Istanbul and visit a hidden gem, the Sadberk Hanım museum. Housed in opulent nineteenth century villas, it’s a remarkably high-quality private collection of archaeological material from across Turkey’s ancient past – Neolithic and Bronze Ages, classical Greeks, Lydians, Romans and Byzantines are all to be found here represented by pieces of exceptional beauty. Having had lunch we take to the Bosporus again before visiting the Istanbul Naval Museum for some superb finds, including a uniquely surviving complete Ottoman galley and one of the Byzantine chains which secured the Golden Horn against seaborne attack.
Day 5: The morning brings us to Sinan’s masterpiece, the Sulemaniye mosque (Süleymaniye Camii), the largest of the city’s newly-built mosques of the Ottoman period, it’s silver-grey stone rises high from its verdant green hill setting, blue domes abound, column capitals drip with delicate carvings and thin minarets collared with yet more rich stonework spear the sky. After tea, we enjoy a walking tour of the city, visiting the Column of the Emperor Constantine, the Valide Han – a grand inn associated with the powerful ‘Queen Mother’, Kösem, and the Grand Bazaar, a vast and bustling complex begun shortly after the Conquest. After lunch, it’s off to the Eminonu area to visit the Rüstem Pasha mosque, a highly-visible work of Sinan’s near the entrance to the Golden Horn featuring a splendid decoration of Iznik tiles inside. Not far away we find the seventeenth-century Spice Bazaar and the opportunity for an aromatic and flavourful end to another excellent day.
Day 6: Our morning begins with a visit to a less well-known site, the church of Hagia Eirene, almost literally in the shadow of Hagia Sophia, the oldest extant church in the city and one which has never been a mosque (its fate was to be an arsenal, instead!). St Eirene was brought into the walls of our next visit after the Conquest, the simply massive Topkapı Palace, from which the horizon-spanning Ottoman Empire was ruled in its greatest years of power. Its vast, sprawling and endlessly varied courtyards, palaces-within-palaces and the multiplicity of rooms and treasures are crowned by the magnificence of the Harem within. Certainly a place to tax the most powerful camera batteries, and one to which your memory will return frequently long after our trip. In the afternoon we make the drive to the Pera Palace for tea and cakes in Belle Epoque elegance. This famed European-style hotel and museum is intimately associated with the Orient Express reaching its destination; a setting of innumerable novels, and a wonderfully evocative meeting point of East and West, its fin de siècle character makes it the perfect setting for our last visit. In the evening, we’ll have our final meal together.
Day 7: Departures.

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For information not covered below please refer to our FAQ’s or contact us directly on info@petersommer.com

Arrival and Departure Information

Arrival Airport – Istanbul (IST)

Departure Airport – Istanbul (IST)

Check in time at our hotel in Istanbul is after 14:00 so we recommend choosing a flight that arrives mid to late afternoon. Check out time is 11:00. We will arrange local transfers from and to Istanbul airport on the first and last day of the tour.

Booking Flights: There are a number of airlines that offer domestic flights in Turkey. The cheapest way to book flights is directly with the airline online.

Please note: Flights are subject to change. Please contact the airline for exact details.

If you prefer to book with a travel agent, we are happy to recommend specialists in a number of countries around the world, please contact our office for more details.

Travel Insurance: We consider adequate travel insurance to be essential. You should ensure that you take out a suitable policy, to make sure that your trip is properly covered. Please be advised some insurers may require you to take out a policy within 15-20 days of booking your holiday to receive all of their insurance benefits.

Visas: You must check to see if you require a visa to enter Turkey. Visas are easily obtained online at eVisa and must be purchased before you travel.

Custom Tours: If you are thinking of extending your trip to Turkey to include visits to Cappadocia, Istanbul or further afield, please contact our office for further information.

Tour Includes:

Accommodation – we stay at the magnificent and historic Galata Istanbul Hotel MGallery, converted from the Baltazzi Han dating back to 1836
All meals (except 2 dinners) including water, tea and coffee and wine with dinner
The services of your expert tour leaders throughout the entire trip
Airport transfers on first and last day of tour
Travel by private minibus
All entrance fees
All tips to restaurant and hotel staff
Hotel taxes

Not included:

Flights and airport taxes
Visas
Travel insurance
Tips for drivers
Tips for guides

Jim Crow

Jim Crow’s research interests focus on Roman Frontier Studies and Byzantine Archaeology. A graduate of Birmingham and Newcastle Universities, he directed the archaeological excavations on Hadrian’s Wall for the National Trust for most of the 1980s and has run field projects in Northumberland at High Rochester and Harbottle. He has served on the Hadrian’s Wall management plan committee for many years, and currently performs an advisory role on Hadrian's Wall and the Cheviots. Jim published two fantastic books for National Trust: “Housesteads: A Fort and Garrison” and “Hadrian’s Wall: An Historic Landscape”. He is one of the leading World Experts on Hadrian’s Wall and Roman frontiers in general. Jim has also worked in Turkey and Greece for over twenty years and completed a major research project on the Water Supply of Byzantine Constantinople and the city’s hinterland fortification system ‘the Anastasian Wall’. He has led many Istanbul tours for Peter Sommer Travels, and also served as tour leader on a number of our gulet cruises. Jim is a marvellous enthusiast and stimulating travelling companion.

What previous guests have to say about Jim:

"Jim was an inspiring, knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide with great communication skills." Maria Onley "Jim was extremely knowledgeable and also personable and provided a great deal of information on all of the sites we visited. He kept everyone's interest - everyone was fascinated." Diane Fenicle “Jim was a very stimulating, enthusiastic, funny and knowledgeable guide.” Jennifer O’Riada "the terrific combination of expertise with an informal approach and an extremely informed, often humorous, commentary by Jim made this tour outstanding. I had studied Byzantine art as a student and always wanted to visit Istanbul.. a most memorable experience, which I have described glowingly to many friends and acquaintances.” Liz Eastmond "I had a wonderful time - an absolutely outstanding expert guide. We really did get under the skin of Istanbul and into some places that few if any travellers will see unaided. Worth every penny.” Richard Smith

View Jim Crow's Biography

Map of sites on our Exploring Istanbul tour

Accreditations

AITO Tour Operator of the Year 2015 Gold Award AITO Tour Operator of the Year 2017 Gold Award AITO Tour Operator of the Year 2018 Silver Award AITO Tour Operator of the Year 2019 Silver Award Best Travel Company for Arts and Culture Holidays Silver British Travel Award 2022 Member of ABTA the Association of British Travel Agents Member of ASTA The American Society of Travel Advisors Member of ABTOI the Association of British Travel Organisers to Italy

Rated as Excellent on Aito Reviews with over 500 reviews