2 Continents 1 City: From Europe to Asia Free Tour

4.94

Excellent(2082)

İstanbul

Duration: 2 hours and 45 minutes

Languages: English

Guru: Haktan

PRO

Verified quality

Registered on 3 April 2019

Hi, my name is Haktan. I am a licenced tour guide, a teacher, an ethnographer, a storyteller and a game developer. I have even done some open mic stand up comedy. All of these experiences make my tours fun, engaging and informative. I traveled to 30+ countries joining free walking tours whenever I had a chance and collecting the good practices of other guides. I studied in the USA on a Fulbright scholarship and taught at different universities so I know how to capture and hold people's attention when I tell the incredible stories of this amazing city. If you read the reviews about my tours you'll see the word "funny" in almost every review. I don't want to brag about humour but let me tell you this much I once made a whole group of Polish people laugh 😎. Last but not the least, The Guardian published an article about my tours. I use audio headsets during my tours so you won't miss anything even when we are walking and talking. Looking forward to meeting you! Haktan

Free reservation and cancellation

Pay-what-you-want tour, no set price, reservation and cancellation are free

Tour description

Istanbul is the only city in the world situated on two continents. No Istanbul trip will be complete without seeing the Asian side of the city. This tour will start on the European Side and finish on the Asian Side of Istanbul, namely Üsküdar neighborhood, where you will get to see actual local life rather than the tourist bubble. We will take the ferry from Eminönü. Don’t worry about the tickets, I will have my Istanbul card with enough credits for all of us :)

Here are some highlights of the tour:

EUROPEAN SIDE:

Ahmed III Fountain
Topkapı Palace (non ticketted parts)
Hagia Irene (from outside)
Archeology Museum (from outside)
Gulhane Park
Sirkeci Train Station
A small Bosphorus tour with the ferry.

ASIAN SIDE:

Ahmed III fountain (Yes, again! :))
Mihrimah Sultan Mosque
New Mother’s Mosque
Food streets of Usküdar.
Bosphorus walk
Dolmabahce and Ciragan Palaces (outside)
Turkish Bath with reasonable prices.

Useful information for the traveler:

-No ticket is needed for any place we will enter.
-You may want to bring a scarf to enter the mosques. (Mosques lend scarves too)
-When the tour ends you will be able to pay the guru whatever you consider fair. Some will pay 15, other $50. It's up to you!

Looking forward to meeting you!

Highlights

What will we see on this tour?

Meeting point:

Cankurtaran, Soğuk Çeşme Sk. No:4, 34122 Fatih/İstanbul, Turkey

I will be in front of Topkapi Cafe (on Soğukçeşme sk). It's right next to the tourism police point. I will have my tour guide tag and an ORANGE UMBRELLA..

Free entry

Topkapı Palace

The first courtyard and the gardens of Topkapı Palace are not ticketed. We will walk those parts and I will give you lots of interesting facts about the palace and Ottoman history in general. Did you know Dracula grew up in Topkapı Palace? Of course you didn't because you didn't do my tour yet!

Outside visit

Gulhane Park

Beautiful gardens of Topkapi Palace where we have a walk and talk about important reforms in recent Turkish History that were announced in Gulhane Park.

Outside visit

Sirkeci Tren Garı

Historical train station of Istanbul where the Orient Express used to come. Agatha Christie and Istanbul has the craziest connections that I will share here!

How much does this tour cost?

Free tours do not have a set price, instead, each person gives the guru at the end the amount they consider appropriate (amounts usually range from €15 to $50 depending on satisfaction with the tour).