Don’t try visiting these areas by yourself- use a guide - Barak is a very astute guide who explained the history of the Greek and Jewish areas very well. His knowledge is beyond our expectation . This is a very worthwhile tour. We could not have learnt or enjoyed a visit without Barak

Walking through history and colors - Nice stroll around some of Istanbul's historic neighborhoods, with tons of history told by our guide Salih, also the tea break with local snacks was a highlight for the tour.

Great tour with a really good guide! - Really nice tour! We had a great time with our guide Salih. He has a lot of knowledge and shares his stories in a both humorous, interesting and respectful way. It was a small group which was great - there was no need for microphones/headphones and it felt more like a nice stroll with a good friend showing us around. The tour was great to see two neighborhoods that are very different from the tourist-area. We took lots of nice pictures and had a really good time. This was definitely the best tour we did in Istanbul!

Vast knowledge of history. - Borack was a great tour guide. He met us at the designated spot. He was very knowledgeable about various times through history.

Fantastic - It whas great. We saw a lot of things . The food whas good. Nice to hear about the history. Salih did it verry well. Thank you(Amsterdam)

Interesting Tour - Our tour Guide, Sali, was great! He showed us areas of Istanbul that we probably would not have discovered on our own. His knowledge and enthusiasm for his city was wonderful.! I highly recommend our tour guide and this tour!

A Balat-tractive tour! - This was a fun little tour. I had booked expecting it to be a group tour, but I was the only one, so it ended up being a private tour. The guide Salih was great - he obviously really knows his stuff, is experienced and friendly, and doesn't just talk non-stop about random stuff like some tour guides I've had! Walking through Fener and Balat was a pleasant experience (despite the rainy and cold December weather); we had a nice little tea break; and the Greek Patriarchate Church was impressive. Lots of cats all around too!

Good Learning Tour - If you are a history buff, you would love this tour. Non-stop learning of history and very nice walk and very beautiful Greek and Bulgarian churches. Our guide is extremely knowledgeable and able to answer all questions. It was a treat to spend the afternoon with him.

A Colourful Day - We used public transport to get here as it is out of the central area. You can get the T1 tram from the centre to Eminonu, get off here. A short walk to another Tram station and get the T5 to Fener. We wanted to go and see the brightly coloured houses, steps and umbrellas and wander around. The steps we found were a disappointment as they really needed painting! The umbrella bit had a barrier across the front and they wanted you to pay to go in. The houses were colourful but we saw mostly pastel colours. It is very hilly and has steep streets which put us off from walking up. It made a nice afternoon out and we enjoyed a drink in a local cafe. It is popular with tours and tourists but so much cheaper to make your own way there.

Disappointing and expensive - The tour started badly when the first of the two churches we were to visit was closed ( as it appeared is always the case on Christmas Eve the day of our walk). We were only ever shown the spire of the second church over a fence and told ‘ it will be closed too’ although Google later suggested otherwise . On raising this with the organiser the initial reply was ‘ the tour operated as planned’ and then an offer to go back and join the tour for the church section alone.on another day .Beyond this there was another fundamental problem. The guide was a generic Istanbul guide with no connection to or particular interest in Balat . We were told his interest was the Ottomans - odd when the tour material stressed this area’s interest was its Greek and Jewish history . We were told no more than we could have read in any of the main web descriptions of the area. The point of a walking tour - and this one was expensive - is to walk with someone enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the area who knows and shares details you don’t read in a standard guidebook. Our guide, we decided, expected a group who really wanted to take Insta pictures of the cute houses and had no idea how to fill the time when we didn’t . One good example was stopping by a doorway which must have been connected to the areas’s Greek heritage to be told we were looking at Greek script but nothing further. At the promised cafe stop (definitely not at one of the Insta places - we found them when we abandoned the walk ) he didn’t explain what we were being offered preferring to have his smoke break. All in all a really interesting area but a very over priced and disappointing experience