Suggested Itinerary
Day 1 – Istanbul
Scheduled flight to Istanbul from your preferred airport – transfer with our professional guide in our private executive coach to the 4* Kent Hotel in Istanbul’s historic city centre.
Day 2 – Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Church of St Saviour in Chora & Pierre Loti Café
Meet our guide for a tour of the old city – head to the Sultanahmet district in the heart of historic Old Istanbul to tour the Blue Mosque, the masterwork of the 17th century Ottoman architect Sedefkâr Mehmet Aga, with its six minarets and cascade of domes – with its wide, flat dome the Byzantine masterpiece of Hagia Sophia was a daring engineering feat in the 6th century and architects still marvel at the building's many innovations – built in the 11th century, the Church of St Saviour in Chora contains a wonderfully preserved collection of Byzantine mosaics and frescoes – take a cable car to the famous Pierre Loti Café named after the French novelist Julien Viaud, who was more popularly known as Pierre Loti, with time to enjoy tea and simit, a traditional Turkish bread, and enjoy amazing views of the Golden Horn.
Day 3 – Bosphorus cruise & Spice Bazaar
Explore the Asian part of the city and enjoy a cruise on the Bosphorus – board the boat at Sariyer, a charming fishing village where the Bosphorus meets the Black Sea, and enjoy a perfect vantage point to see the Sultan’s palaces, Rumeli Fortress, the mansions and modern villas forming the elegant part of the city with lunch and a visit to the Spice Bazaar also included.
Day 4 – Topkapi Palace, Underground Cistern & Covered Bazaar
Full day in Istanbul with our guide – Topkapi Palace, home to the Ottoman sultans for nearly 400 years and the heart of the vast Ottoman Empire, is today a museum displaying the Imperial Treasury with wonderful collections of Islamic precious objects and of Chinese porcelain and the site of the Fruit Room of Ahmet II adorned with fruit and floral paintings – the Underground Cistern, built in the 6th century and re-discovered in 1545, supplied water throughout the city during the Byzantine and Ottoman times and was used to water the gardens of Topkapi Palace – the Covered Bazaar of Istanbul, with 60 alleyways and 3,000 shops, is the oldest and largest in the world.
Day 5 – Dolmabahçe Palace
Built by Sultan Abdül Mecit in 1856, the extravagant opulence of Dolmabahçe Palace belies the fact that it was built at a time when the Ottoman Empire was in decline – transfer to the airport for our scheduled flight home.
Tour Features
4* Istanbul hotel
All excursions, guided tours & entrance fees included
Professional local guide
Scheduled flights to Istanbul
Executive coach in Turkey
One free place per 10 paying passengers
Guided tour of Istanbul
Blue Mosque
Hagia Sophia
Church of St Saviour in Chora
Pierre Loti Café
Bosphorus cruise
Spice Bazaar
Topkapi Palace & the Fruit Room of Ahmet II
Underground Cistern
Covered Bazaar
Dolmabahçe Palace
Hotel
Four nights on bed and breakfast basis at the 4* Kent Hotel in Istanbul. Located under a ten minute walk from the Grand Bazaar, the hotel has a restaurant, lobby bar and spa centre and all rooms are en suite with air conditioning.
Tailor-make this tour
Your tailor made tour
Here are some more suggested places of interest:
- The Hippodrome - originally constructed around AD 200 by Septimius Severus, in AD 330 it was rebuilt on a larger scale by Constantine
- Süleymaniye Mosque - one of the grandest and most beautiful of the Ottoman mosques, it crowns one of Istanbul's seven hills and dominates the Golden Horn providing a landmark for the entire city
- Troy & Gallipoli - by combining with a 2 night stay in Canakkale, explore the battlefields of the tragic Allied invasion of Gallipoli and the UNESCO World Heritage site of Troy, the setting of the Trojan War
Tour Reviews
Reviews for Istanbul – where East meets West
Date of tour: April 2016
I wanted to thank you for the organisation of our tour to Istanbul which I thoroughly enjoyed. Everything went smoothly and we had a very good guide. Ibrahim was most informative and was also kind and helpful.
FT, Lewes
Date of tour: October 2014
I had a chat with Damian on our return to the UK after a memorable trip to Turkey. All in all we had a great tour. Our guide throughout the tour was excellent and the entire group valued the expertise, commitment and skill he demonstrated while he was leading the group. In addition I also wanted to thank you, Louise, for the help you have given me over the period I was organising the tour from this end. As you know, this is the first time I've undertaken such a task and your constant support and guidance throughout the process is very much appreciated.
LA, Ledbury
Date of tour: October 2013
On the whole it was a very good trip. Though we did a lot of travelling, that was always part of the plan if we were to see so much. There has been a good deal of road building in Turkey recently, and it is still going on, so a fair amount of the travel was quite comfortable. We enjoyed the boat trip and the ferry. The Capadocia area and the Hittite history, which were new to us, stood out for Jane and me. As well as the listed items, we went to a winery, a carpet warehouse, and in some cases had a balloon ride in the early morning. Our guide/tour manager Belgin was superb, she did the housekeeping without apparent effort, told us what we needed to know but not to excess, helped those in need of assistance, and joined in the fun with good humour. She was helped a lot by our driver Serdar who certainly knew exactly what he was doing. The coach was not as luxurious as some we saw but was quite decent. We enjoyed the lunch stops by the roadside. The hotels were fine, except for Pine Bay and the Mirilayon which was simply not up to scratch - thanks for moving us back to the Kent, which was excellent.
RH, Pewsey
Date of tour: October 2012
I am pleased to say the recent tour to Turkey was a great success. Not only did we have exceptionally fine weather but all arrangements in Turkey worked really well. The guide was superb and was a very endearing young man we would be happy to use again. The programme was just right being a balance of culture, history, leisure and sightseeing. Thanks for your help and to everyone in Tailored Travel that made our tour the great success. I look forward to working with you in the future.
VF, Amersham
Date of tour: September 2012
The holiday was an enjoyable experience to a fascinating city. The days were well organised with time to visit all the major attractions as well as free time for shopping and walking around to savour the atmosphere. The guide was well prepared and spoke good Italian. The Tailored Travel trip planning was impeccable and everything went smoothly.
TC, Italy
Date of tour: June 2011
My wife and I would like to thank all at Tailored Travel for the wonderful help and very kind attention you all gave us during the recent holiday to Istanbul. The way you supported my wife when I was taken in for emergency surgery for a twisted colon was tremendous. It is at times like those that we really needed help and you came to our rescue. Ibrahim, our tour guide, was absolutely brilliant. Would you please thank him for his help and copy him into this letter.
NR, Dorking
Call us on
020 7064 4970
to tailor this tour
for your group
Tailor make your group tour
Remember this itinerary is just our suggestion. Tailor make this tour exclusively for your group to suit your members’ budget or preferences. You could:
- stay on half board basis
- with more dinners included
- for more (or fewer) days
- include different excursions – see ‘Tailor-make this tour’ tab for suggestions
- include UK airport coach transfers
- bring a specialist lecturer
- include all gratuities
Call us on
020 7064 4970
to tailor make the perfect tour
for your group
