Small-Group Istanbul Old City Tour

Discover Istanbul’s hidden gems with a personalized, in-depth guided tour. Perfect for first-time visitors seeking a deeper understanding of the city’s rich history and culture.

Duration: 3 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • German Fountain - This will be our meeting spot…
  • Hippodrome - The Hippodrome, the ancient stadium of Byzantium, could accommodate 100,000 spectators and showcased artifacts from across the empire. Among these, an Egyptian obelisk and a bronze sculpture of three entwined serpents from Delphi have endured.
    The Hippodrome of Constantinople was…
What's Included
  • Guiding fee
What's Not Included
  • Entrance fees
Additional Information

This tour is ideal for first-time visitors to Istanbul, offering an in-depth exploration of the city’s treasures.
It provides an excellent introduction to Istanbul, allowing for a more thorough visit to key historical sites than typical tourist paths.
Participants will enjoy a customized tour where questions are encouraged, and have the chance to uncover…

Location
German Fountain
At Meydanı Caddesi
Our meeting point is GERMAN FOUNTAIN (Alman Çeşmesi in Turkish language) located in the heart of the main tourist area of Istanbul. It is just one minute away from Sultan Ahmet Tramway station.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(58 Ratings)
5 stars
4 stars
3 stars
2 stars
1 star
762ronaldd
Oct 10, 2025
Perfect! - We Had a great trip with the family! Absolutely recommend! Great stories, skip the lines and Israfil is a nice tourguide.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Haris_a
Oct 2, 2025
Israfil was... - Israfil was knowledgeable, courteous and accommodating. So much good information really heightened my experience of the city. Would definitely do again!
Review provided by Viator
932cadenm
Sep 24, 2025
A Highlight of Our Trip—Highly Recommend Israfil - We had an absolutely amazing time touring Istanbul with Israfil! He is incredibly knowledgeable and engaging, and from the very beginning, it was clear how passionate he is about sharing the history and culture of this incredible city. He is currently pursuing his master’s in Art Philosophy, which allowed him to bring such unique perspectives and insights into everything we saw—especially the cultural and religious history of Turkey. His explanations gave us a much deeper understanding and appreciation of the sites we visited. Israfil answered every question with detail, and you can tell he truly enjoys teaching and guiding people. This tour was one of the highlights of our trip to Istanbul! If you are considering a tour here, definitely book with Israfil! You won’t regret it!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Eric_c
Sep 24, 2025
great for solo travelors - Israfil gives a fantastic tour of some of istanbuls greatest hits. he has intimate knowledge of each site and spent time answering hundreds of my questions.
Review provided by Viator
Ellen_b
Sep 10, 2025
Great tour with İsrafil! - İsrafil was a great tour guide and we enjoyed the small group tour thoroughly. He was very professional, personable and knowledgeable. We enjoyed the personal service and itinerary for this tour. It was a perfect balance. Thank you, İsrafil!!! Highly recommend!
Review provided by Viator
Richard_s
Aug 1, 2025
Guided tour with Isrifel - My wife and I did a guided walking tour though the Blue mosque,Haglia Sophia,Basillica cistern and finished off at the grand Bizarre. Our guide Israfil was fantastic . He had a very friendly and humorous manner as well as being a waking history book. Very genuine and utterly professional and we would thoroughly recommended him to anyone interested in learning the history of old Istanbul
Review provided by Viator
Brent_s
Jun 24, 2025
Great small group tour - We took this tour our first morning in Istanbul just to see some of the major sights. The tour guide was knowledgeable and responsive to group questions. More importantly, the tour guide helped to provide a lot of context to the development of what we are seeing (it wasn't a list of facts about the Sultanahmet Mosque or trivia items). He helped to bring the story of the objects to life for us. On our tour, we had 4 people, so it was also great to only be concerned about a small group. Overall, I would recommend this to anyone that is looking for a private guide type experience, but doesn't quite have the budget for that. While it won't be private, my understanding is that the groups are always small.
Review provided by Viator
Hannah_b
Jun 19, 2025
Fab tour of Istanbul - Fantastic tour of Istanbul. Really good communication beforehand and great information during the tour. He is extremely knowledgeable of Turkey and its history and makes the tour very interesting. He even provided us with some information afterwards. I would highly recommend.
Review provided by Viator
Traveler66547783557
Jun 13, 2025
Immerse into the history of Istanbul with the local guide - We had a fantastic and very informative tour around Old Istanbul. Israfil told a lot about the history of the city and we visited spectacular places. The tour was also very engaging for children, Israfil is very good in communicating with kids. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone .
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Elena_k
Jun 1, 2025
Highly recommended tour... - Highly recommended tour with Israfil. He shared a lot of interesting information in a fun way and engaged my 9y old daughter as well. Nice tips about the bazar and not only.
Review provided by Viator
From $45
up to 15 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).