Istanbul certainly surpassed my expectations. It is a vibrant, modern as well as ancient city. The Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar were fascinating. It is a clean, progressive, friendly city that I would like to return to and spend more time. Viator did an excellent job. A much better deal than a ship's excursion.

Met as directed at the Pier gates, a bit of confusion at first as there were so many agencies vying for custom. However once identified and in the minibus, the tour took us to all the places that we wanted to see. Our guide was excellent avoiding queues wherever possible, answering questions with patience and generally making sure that we saw everything we wanted. The lunch provided was excellent in the patio area of a riverside hotel. The final call was at the Grand Bazaar where we were given 45 minutes really just to sample it because you will never see the Grand Bazaar in one call so we came back next day on our own to wander around without time restriction. We could have done without the carpet presentation. Intersting enough to hear about how they are made and see the handiwork but talk about the hard sell !!! We could have done without that and it was essentially a waste of time. For the price we paid, it was an excellent tour and we will use Viator again in the future if we need such a service.

Many thanks for an excellent day with a very informative tour guide who managed to get just ahead of all the crowds !! After being collected from our cruise ship we saw some amazing sites together with an enjoyable lunch.
We were very lucky as there were only six of us on our tour and we all got on well together.
This was our first Viator trip and will certainly use you again.

Istanbul was wonderful in part because of our great tour guide.
Thanks
Deanna

We met Omar at the cruise terminal and again an easy access mini-bus vehicle, very clean and right on time. This time 12 people from the ship joined in this adventure. Price was less than half that from ship based tours. Group was smaller and more personable. Omar and the driver worked well together in some really tight traffic situations. Omar was very professional, a wealth of knowledge and gave us a lot of information with good explanations and illustrations/examples. While we were driving to the first location he talked to us in the van and explained the agenda for the day. It was a crowded day but he managed to move us into specific areas to explain what we were seeing without all the noise of the other tours. He gave us ample time to view different things and indicated where and when to meet again. He was always visible to the group. Tour included a pleasant lunch at a harbor side cafe.
He made sure that the tour was structured around what everybody wanted to do and we decided as a group the time needed at the bazaar. Due to the fact that our group was so much smaller than any cruise excursion, we were able to get more information, insight and a more customized tour. Great value for money- We highly recommend this company, very professional and reliable.

We thoughht we had booked private car for 4 of us but it was 17 on minibus. Turned out to be most outstanding tour on our entire cruise for half the price!! Omar was our tour guide, very easy to understand, excellent English and just amazing!

Highly recommend Istanbul shore excursion The guide was very knowledgeable and caring of his group The location and content of the lunch far exceeded our expectations I shall book Viator in the future.

A wonderful tour, 8 hours, we saw so much, more than we would any other way, a little rushed, but it had to me so we could see it, The guide was clear, helpful, friendly and got in everywhere avoiding the crowds , lunch was wonderful, salad, chicken and baklava, coffer and beer was extra, but cheap, it was clean, great service too and worth so much than what we paid, thank you, I would give this 10 out of 10 Dont even hesitate, BOOK it

We were pocked up ahead of time at cruise terminal in clean modern minivan. Total 10 persons. Omar our guide was very knowledgeable about all of the locations visited

Blue Mosque

Topkapi Palace

Grand Bazar

Hagia Sophia.

He made sure that the tour was structured around what everybody wanted to do and the departure time of the ship. In spite of huge crowds, he managed to get us into he venues with a minimum of fuss and we were back at the ship in plenty of time. Tour included a pleasant lunch at a harbourside cafe.

This was an excellent day out and the tour recommended. Five stars.

An excellent trip great value for money driver picked us up from cruise ship and returned us as promised viator will be who I book all my trips with now be it cruise trips land holidays
Lorraine N Ireland

This was a great tour. It allowed us to see the highlights of this amazing city. Our tour guide was very knowledgable.

Excellent tour. Guide was knowledgeable, interested and interesting. Lunch at local restaurant was very good. Price was less than half that from ship based tours. Group was smaller. Highly recommended.

Great day. Guide knowledgeable and considerate. First class use of time available.Kept us all moving and covered vast amount of information, Lunch ready on arrival, perfectly adequate and not too long spent at restaurant. Certainly use Viator again.

We really enjoyed this tour, our guide was very professional and extremely knowledgeable. The lunch was very good. Our only complaint was that there just wasn't time to see everything. This could have been solved by spending much less time at the carpet merchants. We would definitely book tours with viator again!

Great tour! Engin our guide was brilliant, great English and his knowledge was great too. Istanbul is easy to make your own way around, but it was also good to know what you're looking at! Thanks Viator for a great trip.