Istanbul Tours with a Russian-Speaking Guide: Private Options

At Get Turkey Tours, a Russian-speaking guide for Istanbul is arranged on request. Right now Russian is not a set guide language on any of our private day tours, so when you book we confirm a Russian-speaking guide for your date, and only then do you pay. Russian is already built in on three kinds of product: our Istanbul packages, the Princes' Islands day with an assistant who speaks Russian, and the Bosphorus lunch cruise, where the guide is listed as speaking English and Russian. Below we lay out which option works how, so you can ask for exactly what you need.

Tours that already come in Russian

The table lists the products whose language details on our tour pages include Russian (as of October 2026).

One thing is absent from this list: a private Old City day with a guaranteed Russian-speaking guide. That we set up booking by booking, as the next section explains.

Private Old City days with a Russian-speaking guide

You can ask for a Russian-speaking guide on any private day tour in our list of all Istanbul day tours. Because the tour pages make no promise about it, we confirm the language in writing at the moment we accept your booking, and no payment is due before then. These private routes are booked most often:

• Private Old City day, 8 hours: Hagia Sophia (seen from the upper gallery), the Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome, then Topkapı Palace, ending at the Grand Bazaar; the guide collects you from your hotel on foot. Tickets and lunch cost extra. Prices start at $180 and depend on the season, the size of your group and any extras, so ask us for the current price.
• Old City half day, 4 hours: Sultanahmet Square and the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia next, then the Grand Bazaar and finally the Spice Market.
• Basilica Cistern plus Topkapı Palace, 4–5 hours: the price covers museum entry.
• Byzantine and Ottoman classics, 6–8 hours: Topkapı, the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, the Cistern, then the Grand Bazaar.

All four appear in our list of guided city tours. Write "Russian-speaking guide" in the request together with your dates. Should we be unable to confirm one for that day, you hear from us before any charge, and you can either change the date or take an English-speaking guide.

Hearing about the Bosphorus in Russian

For Russian commentary on the Bosphorus, the simplest choice is the 3-hour lunch cruise. Pick-up from central hotels, lunch on the boat and entrance fees are included, and with the transfers the trip lasts roughly 4 to 4.5 hours. In our tour data the guide is listed as speaking English and Russian, but the inclusions mention a licensed English-speaking guide. So commentary in both languages can happen, and you should ask at booking whether Russian will be spoken on your day.

More choices among our boat trips on the Bosphorus:

• Evening cruise with dinner and a Turkish night show, 6 hours: a meal with live music and dance, with very little commentary that would need translating.
• Private yacht for 2 hours, one price for the boat: a licensed guide joins you on board; ask for a Russian-speaking one when you book.
• Yacht hire by the hour (2 hours minimum): only the captain and crew, with no guide, so the language is not an issue.

That Bosphorus boat trip list also includes a private ferry day to the Princes' Islands with a guide of your own, and a Russian-speaking guide can be requested for it.

Princes' Islands day with an assistant who speaks Russian

Prices for the 8-hour Princes' Islands day begin at $80 and vary with season and date, so check today's rate with us. We collect you from your hotel, and the ferry crosses the Sea of Marmara, passing Kınalıada and Heybeliada on the way to Büyükada. There you eat lunch at a local restaurant, then have free time to walk among the old wooden mansions. The ferry tickets, lunch and transfers are covered; renting a bicycle or an electric vehicle on the island is not.

Know what kind of day this is. It is a group outing run by an assistant who can speak Russian, English or Spanish, and not a history tour with a licensed guide. Families looking for a relaxed day will enjoy it. In July and August the boats and Büyükada get packed, and the island has the feel of a busy seaside weekend rather than a peaceful escape.

Churches and sites Russian travellers ask us about

Our private tour of active churches takes 7 hours; a van and the entry fees are part of the price. It visits churches used by the Armenian, Bulgarian, Greek and Russian communities. Stops include the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the Fener district, the Iron Church of St. Stephen, which belongs to the Bulgarian community, St. Panteleimon, the Russian Orthodox church in Karaköy, and two more: St. Anthony of Padua and Santa Maria Draperis. The tour is not offered on Sundays. A guide who speaks Russian can be requested.

Orthodox visitors naturally put Hagia Sophia at the heart of their visit. From January 2024, foreign visitors pay to enter (€25 in 2026, subject to change) and view the interior from the upper gallery, home of the Deesis mosaic, while the ground floor is reserved for prayer. For a full account of the visit, read about our guided visit to Hagia Sophia.

Packages that list Russian

For a trip of several days, packages are where Russian is most reliably on offer. Russian is listed on all four Istanbul packages, lasting 4, 6, 8 or 10 days. You pick the hotels separately, and the price varies by season, hotel and inclusions. Every package covers airport transfers, a guided day in the Old City and a cruise on the Bosphorus; longer packages also bring a dinner cruise, a private car tour of the city and the Princes' Islands. Russian is listed on the Istanbul and Cappadocia packages too (6, 8 and 10 days), and these include the internal flights.

When you book a package, say that every guided day must be in Russian. Within the combined packages, some Cappadocia day tours are small-group tours, and the language used depends on the other people booked.

Useful details

• Tickets: Topkapı Palace, the Basilica Cistern and Hagia Sophia all charge for entry, which most private tours leave out of the price; you can visit the Blue Mosque for free.
• Closing days: the Grand Bazaar shuts on Sundays and Topkapı on Tuesdays. Each Friday, between 12:30 and 14:30, sightseers have limited access to the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.
• Clothing: in mosques, cover shoulders and knees, women wear a headscarf, and shoes come off at the entrance.
• Meeting point: private guides come on foot to hotels in the centre; otherwise the meeting point is the German Fountain in Sultanahmet, or you can book a car.
• Booking terms: Book Now, Pay Later. Cancel free of charge, with all your money back, until 7 days ahead of the tour; inside 7 days there is no refund.

Every day tour sits on our Istanbul tour list, and the guided Old City routes are in the Old City tour list. For routes and booking with private guides in general, go to private guides in Istanbul.

Frequently Asked Questions