Best City Tours

On a city tour, a guide takes you round one city's main sights, generally over four to eight hours, setting off from where you are staying or from a central spot. Istanbul makes up most of this list, though Antalya and Trabzon also have city days for travellers staying there. The format you pick matters most in Istanbul: the key sights are close to each other, but waiting times vary widely over the day.

Group or private

The Istanbul city tours here come in two formats. Cheapest are the group tours, which include entry tickets and pick-up from your hotel. For $120 per person over 6 hours, the morning group tour of Hagia Sophia (ticket included), the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar covers the first set of sights. The afternoon group tour of Topkapi, Hagia Irene and the Grand Bazaar costs $170. At $220, the full-day Old City group tour with tickets and lunch joins the two halves together.

Private tours are more expensive per person, but you decide the speed and the itinerary. From $180 per person, tickets not included, there is the private full-day Istanbul city tour. For $200 per person, the Private Istanbul Heritage Tour also helps you skip the lines at ticket offices. Already seen the classics? For $100 per person with tickets, the Istanbul Modern Art Tour gives you a day at Istanbul Modern, Arter and the Pera Museum.

What is included and what is not

Check three items on every tour page: entry tickets, transport and whether lunch is provided. In the old city, the biggest ticket costs are Topkapi Palace and the upper gallery of Hagia Sophia; some group tours include them, while most private tours do not. When a private tour lists "Transportation by Private Van (Optional)", it is a walking tour unless you add the van. Only the full-day group tour includes lunch.

Best hours in Istanbul

Sultanahmet's old city is calmest before 10am and after 3pm. When cruise ships dock at Galataport, big groups reach Sultanahmet in the late morning. Visitors cannot enter mosques during prayers, and on Fridays the midday prayer keeps the Blue Mosque closed longer than the others, so Friday tours normally go there in the afternoon. Topkapi Palace closes on Tuesdays, so schedule palace visits on other days.

In summer the walk from the Hippodrome to Hagia Sophia and on to the Grand Bazaar is short but has little shade. Indoor sights such as the underground Basilica Cistern or the covered Grand Bazaar make good stops around midday.

City tours beyond Istanbul

Antalya has the Private Antalya Old Town Tour, priced from $90 per person, which explores Kaleici and the old harbour before ending at the Duden Waterfalls. On the Black Sea coast, the Trabzon City Tour (from $75 per person) includes Trabzon's Hagia Sophia, Boztepe Hill and the Ataturk Mansion.

Pairing with other tours

Many travellers do a city tour on the first day, then spend another day on an afternoon from our Bosphorus cruise options and a shorter outing chosen from our half-day trips. Before you go, read our guide to Hagia Sophia for the rules that apply to foreign visitors.