Private Istanbul Layover Tour From Airport

Meet your tour guide and van at Istanbul New Airport (IST) or Istanbul SAW Airport and start the Istanbul layover tour with the highlights of Istanbul. At the end of the Istanbul layover tour, you will be transferred back to the airport to catch your flight.

Istanbul Layover Tour

Your tour guide will meet you at your hotel lobby or cruise port and start your Istanbul Old City Tour;

Highlights of Topkapi Palace Museum; (Topkapi Sarayi) More than just an Imperial Residence of Ottoman Sultans, it was the seat of the Supreme Executive and Judiciary Council for almost 400 years long as a backbone for the country. Topkapi Palace is a great monument of beautifully designed Oriental architecture that should be listed at top of your sights to see in Istanbul.

Byzantine Hippodrome / Sultanahmet Square; where the chariot races were held in the Roman Empire times and today we see German Fountain here.

Hagia Sophia (skip the line service is not available for active mosques – there is a queue for the entrance);  (Ayasofya, Santa Sofia) Built in the 6th century by Emperor Justinian, played a very important role in the Christian and Islamic World. After the Ottoman conquest the bells, altar, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels were removed, and many of the mosaics were eventually plastered over to convert the church into a mosque, then a museum in 1934. In July 2020 it is converted into a mosque again and it’s the must-see point of daily Istanbul tours.

Blue Mosque (skip the line service is not available for active mosques – there is a queue for the entrance); Built in the early 1600s for Sultan Ahmet I, Blue Mosque is truly a magnificent masterpiece of architecture with amazingly delicate proportions for a building of such massive scale and it’s on the to-see list in Istanbul of every guest so we are visiting in our Istanbul layover tour.

Grand Bazaar; (Kapali Carsi) One of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world with over 4,000 shops selling spice, Turkish delight, jewelry, gold, leather products, carpet, and rugs. And guided tours are best here to visit Grand Bazaar, otherwise, you will get lost in its appealing streets.

At the end of your Private Istanbul Layover Tour, you will be transferred back to the airport for your international flight.

Please Note:

Blue Mosque is closed until 2 pm on Fridays.

Topkapi Palace is closed on Tuesdays.

Hagia Sophia entrance will be restricted during praying time.

Grand Bazaar is closed on Sundays so will be replaced with Spice Market if your Istanbul layover tour is Sunday.

Children aged 7 and under are free of charge. Please make sure that you have passport copies of children as we have to verify their ages at museums for free tickets.

If one of the mosques are not visited, Basilica Cistern will be visited as a replacement.

On Fridays, Hagia Sophia or Blue Mosque will be visited from outside because of the worship.

Annual Closing Dates of all museums and bazaars in Istanbul in 2021 are as follows;

January 1 – New Year

April 9, 10 and 11, 2024  – Ramadan Celebrations (Eid Al Fitr 2024)

June 16, 17, 18 and 19, 2024  – Eid Celebrations (Eid AL Adha 2024)

October 29 – Republic Day