Istanbul Off the Beaten Path Tour with Guide, Lunch and Transfers

Posted By : D3219NYjohnh
Unfortunately, we did not get to go on this tour. We booked this for the Saturday and a few days before I was called to say we were the only two people on the tour and could we do Sunday instead. Unfortunately we could not, as we were flying home that day. I was given three options: Cut the tour short on Sunday and pay the full amount, pay double for a private tour on Friday, or cancel the booking. Bear in mind that on the TripAdvisor website it clearly says that the minimum number is 2 people, which we fulfilled. No apology was given and the person I spoke to seemed completely uninterested in providing a decent customer experience. We cut our losses, got a refund and explored the Asian side on our own!
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Posted On : 2024-06-25 08:50:36

Posted By : Jonathan_F
Great tour going to off the beaten track places. Using public transport, trying some nice snacks along the way with a great guide.
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Posted On : 2024-06-21 04:30:47

Posted By : Linn
Very interesting tour which showed many sides of Istanbul. Would definitely recommend.

My guide Özkan was friendly, knowledgeable and gave me some great recommendations for further exploration of the city.
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Posted On : 2024-06-06 09:32:08

Posted By : Laura_C
My guide was fantastic and showed me some great hidden gems in Istanbul. She also picked great spots to sample Turkish cuisine, which was delicious.
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Posted On : 2024-05-21 22:24:05

Posted By : Vivek S
It was a fascinating tour . Sedat's ( hope I got his name right) knowledge and history was amazing.. and clearly his enthusiasm to impart it. I had booked a group tour but as I was the only one on it, it became a Private tour , covering the Suleyman mosque, the New mosque, the pavillion in front of The Blue mosque, the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Bazaar and the neighbourhoods of Balat and Fener - which I would never have done by myself.
There was very little over lap of this tour and the other tours I have done so far. So it was all very fresh and interesting.
It was a bit tiring at times though.. especially at the Greek Orthodox church we went to in Fener.. Sedat was going into too much detail ( bless his enthusiasm) though I wasn't so interested in all those saints.
I would highly recommend the tour though to anyone interested in getting to know Istanbul better than the average tourist.
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Posted On : 2024-05-12 09:10:35

Posted By : Claire_M
'Hidden' mosque near Spice Market.
Turkish coffee in hookah cafe.
Informative, very pleasant guide.
Great to see sights that most tourists would not discover.
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Posted On : 2024-05-05 14:14:42

Posted By : Sandra_O
Going to the shisha place, the old university bookshop and the Rustum Pasha mosque.
I was with 2 English people and their company made this trip so enjoyable for me.
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Posted On : 2024-05-01 13:04:27

Posted By : Olivia_T
It was wonderful seeing the different areas of Istanbul such as the Jewish quarter and the Christian quarter. Our guide Yassin was excellent, taking the time to explain and even go more into detail
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Posted On : 2024-04-28 03:26:06

Posted By : Natalie_R
Our guide Salih was very informative, chatty, helpful and we really enjoyed our time on this tour! He took us “behind the scenes” of the tourist areas of Istanbul - to areas that we would not have normally been able to find on our own. We went with kids aged 15, 13 and 10 and although it involved a lot of walking we all managed to keep up fine! Would definitely recommend this tour to others.
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Posted On : 2024-04-05 13:11:51

Posted By : Natalie_S
I had been looking forward to this tour for months! Ozge was so kind and knowledgeable. Our walk covered 18,000 steps and lived up to its promise to explore less talked about parts of Istanbul. Highly recommend!
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Posted On : 2024-04-05 00:21:05