One Day Istanbul Discovery Tour

One-Day Istanbul Discovery Tour

Best of Istanbul Tour to History & Nature
08:30 am – We will be collected you right from your hotel and take you to the meeting point.
Once meeting with the group and your Istanbul local tour guide start the full-day Istanbul discovery tour. In the morning part of the trip, we will visit Byzantine and Ottoman remains in old Istanbul including Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, and Hagia Sophia. After visiting the historical sights in Istanbul, you will continue on a boat sightseeing cruise on the uniquely Bosphorus in the world.  You will be served lunch on the boat. While continuing to watch Istanbul from the Bosphorus Strait, our professional guide will give you historical information about the old Pasha villas, palaces, and mansions. We are going back to the hotels after the insatiable boat cruise between Asia and Europe continents.
17:00 pm – At the end of the best of Istanbul city tour, drive back to your hotel.

Brief Info about the sites in the day tour:
Hippodrome: The scene of ancient chariot races, the ancient Hippodrome, with its four monuments; the German Fountain of Wilhelm II, the Obelisk of Theodosius, the bronze Serpentine Column, and the Column of Constantine.
Santa Sophia (Hagia Sophia): This ancient basilica, built by Constantine the Great, in the 4th century and reconstructed by Justinian in the 6th century, is one of the architectural marvels of all time.
Blue Mosque: Across from St. Sophia built in the 17th century by the architect Mehmet, is known as the Blue Mosque because of its magnificent interior decoration of blue Iznik tiles.
Bosphorus Cruise by Boat: A traditional excursion by boat along the waterway separating Europe and Asia. The shore is lined with old wooden villas, palaces of marble, fortresses, and small fishing villages. During the excursion, you will pass the magnificent Dolmabahce Palace, and further along, the parks and imperial pavillions of Yildiz Palace. On the coastal edge of this park, is Ciragan Palace, 300 meters of its marble facade facing the shore. At Ortakoy a great variety of artists gathers every Sunday to display their work along the street. Ortakoy is a symbol of tolerance with a church, a mosque, and a synagogue existing side by side for centuries.