I'll start with WOW and go from there. I've done a few of the free walking tours with the…read moreSandeman's folks and they did a great job in Edinburgh and Prague but they're not in Istanbul so I turned to Yelp and found these folks. Meeting by the Cistern, we walked a solid 20,000 steps (according to my Fitbit) through a half dozen of Istanbul's best known sites including the Topkapı Sarayı, the Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome and Hagia Sophia. Along the way, we made several stops and there were a good number of spots where our super tour guide gave us time to explore on our own. When she led us around, she had constant knowledge of the sites and the city of Istanbul and of Turkey. A vast and deep knowledge. I was impressed. Our tour was well organized and well run. The lunch spot was excellent. A couple of tips. - Bring a backpack and a bottle or two of water. - An umbrella is a good idea as the tour runs even if it's raining. - Sunscreen! - Comfortable walking shoes that have a good tread. Istanbul's streets are smooth stone and you don't want to slip and fall. - For the Blue Mosque, you'll be expected to dress appropriately. There are free head coverings. - Extra batteries for your phone/camera. You will take a lot of pictures in six hours! - Pay attention to the meet up spots after the self-exploration. A certain Yelper *cough* Bruce K. *cough* got himself separated from the tour and was nearly stuck on his own until he spotted the green umbrella!

In the past year I've had some pretty fun adventures all over the USA, in China, Korea, Australia,…read moreNew Zealand, Canada, Germany, the UK, Spain, the UAE, and now Istanbul. While I've had a lot of fun in all those places, I can say unequivocally that my Istanbul Classics small group tour with Metin has been the best $90 USD I have ever spent on any activity in any of those places. If you are considering a tour of Istanbul and questioning whether you should do it with Daily Istanbul Tours, with some other tour organizer, or on your own, I can assure you that the best decision will be to book with DIT and be sure to request Metin as your guide. I won't bore you with details of the sites we saw, since you can get all of that information from their website. What I'll do instead is share a little about why this tour ended up being the highlight of our holiday: * It's easy enough to find and get into the sites, but there is so much information out there about them that it's really hard to distill it all into useful material. Metin is an expert on each site and knows exactly what the most interesting and relevant details are; he'll definitely help you make the most of your time at each place you go. Going on our own would be been stupid; we would have wasted hours wandering around, not really knowing what the more significant parts were or what we were looking at, etc. With so little time and so much to see, it was important to use our time efficiently, which we definitely did. * There can be something intimidating about being in a foreign country, especially if you are easily recognizable as a foreigner, don't speak the language, and aren't traveling with a group. Spending a day with Metin lets you truly relax and focus on the amazing sites without having to constantly watch your back or worry about getting screwed (which is a concern in any major city). With Metin, there's no pressure to buy any random crap, no worries about cultural faux-pas, and nobody bothering you at all when they see you are with him. If someone does approach you, he will dispatch them quickly. * Whatever random questions you have, I guarantee Metin will be able to answer them. Want to know what material a wall was built from? Metin knows its chemical composition. Want to know what year a building was constructed? He can tell you when each part of it was created, how long it took, how it was made, who made it, how many times it has been destroyed, where the materials came from, etc. Curious about some Turkish or Islamic history? Metin knows the years, the people, the hows, and the whys. And don't worry about being able to understand him and communicate easily; his English is fantastic, with a slight British accent on some words, which is an extra bonus for us Americans who don't get to hear real English very often * Metin is very personable and took a sincere interest in making sure we had the best possible time in Istanbul. When I mentioned that I really wanted to smoke some narguile, he made sure we were able to get some after our lunch. While we were hanging out at the café, several of his friends happened to be passing by or were around, so he introduced us to all of them and we ended up having some very interesting conversations. We had such a great time on the tour but didn't have any plans later for our last night in Istanbul, so Metin invited us to meet up with them later since they would be hanging out along Istiklal near our hotel. We ended up spending another few hours together that evening and into the early morning hours talking about all sorts of interesting topics, exploring some really fascinating areas that we would otherwise have missed, and meeting more people. This was advertised as a 4 to 6-person small group tour, but due to the season and perhaps people's irrational fears about coming to Turkey, it ended up just being me, my dad, and Metin. This definitely helped contribute to the awesomeness of the experience, but I have no doubt that a group of any size would get great value out of a tour with him as well. We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Daily Istanbul Tours and Metin for making our trip to Turkey so memorable.

The day cruise on Bosphorus River is almost a must do tour by many tour group. This cruise display…read moremany buildings and historic landmarks along river. The cruise is about 1 hour. The ship did a stop near Asia side Istanbul. Then head back to the original port. If you join the second tour to Asia side of Istanbul, you will get off here. I decided to head back to the Europe side Istanbul. The cruise allows you to see the long suspension bridge that cross under. You also can see some landmarks on the top of the hill. Palaces mostly on the riverside.

The Bosphorus cruise is a must do in Istanbul…read more The Bosphorus is where Europe and Asia flirt shamelessly across a narrow strip of water. This strait, slicing Istanbul in half, has been causing geographical identity crises since forever. Want to sip tea on one continent while judging the traffic on another? The Bosphorus says, Sure, hun. Historically, it's been the watery red carpet for empires including the Byzantines, Ottomans, and now Instagram influencers. Fun fact: the current flows two ways because one direction just wasn't dramatic enough. So yeah, even the water here is extra. In short: it's blue, it's historic, it's chaotic, just like your life.

From the owner: Bosphorus Tours, Bosphorus sightseeing cruises, Bosphorus dinner cruise, Istanbul city cruises,…read moreprivate boat charters, VIP yacht charters on Bosphorus

Efendi=High Quality on Short Notice. Two big thumbs up Yusuf…read moreKaraca of Efendi created a luxury package to Cappadocia in the span of three short hours, for a reasonable price. I was in Istanbul and though I could spend a month in the city without getting bored, I started wondering if I should see something more. It is a 12+ hour flight from Miami, so when would I be back? I decided Cappadocia would be perfect. Because Tom Brosnahan's Turkey Travel Planner is my bible for travel in Istanbul and beyond, I took his advice to contact Efendi. I sent a simple email to info@efendi Within minutes, Yusuf was emailing. There were no sales come ons, attempts to upsell or to pressure me to close the deal. There was, a pending deadline, because I was aiming to leave about 48 hours after contacting Efendi. Let me state up front, I'm a very independent traveler. I have seen vast parts of Europe, Latin America and far beyond -- with or without any local language skills -- on my own. I have booked daring travel way back before we had the internet, trip advisor and all the online ways of doing research. So to like a package tour, it had to be near perfect. Right off the bat, Yusuf found a 3-day, 2-night visit for about 500 USD. That was the price I would pay just for round trip flights, had I booked on short notice on my own. We ultimately settled on a package costing roughly 600 USD (we could have gone as remarkable low as nearly 400 USD) to ensure a great time. I was staying in an area on the tramway in Sirkechi. All of my previous taxis, ubers and drivers dropped me off blocks from my hotel. Pickups were more strung out delayed and confusing. Yusuf assured me that my driver would be at the door of my hotel, plus he would call ahead to let the front desk know if he was arriving late at all. This gave me such comfort and assurance. Through a smart phone, while tidying up my room, doing some light sink laundry, organizing my receipts and recharging my camera batteries on the middle day of a 14-day trip, Efendi completed the itinerary. Even though I could easily call up word docs and PDFs on my phone, Yusuf personally delivered a print out to my hotel and insisted the front desk place it in my room. The 600 USD included transfer to and from Ataturk airport, coach seats on a larger than I imagined jet to Nevsehir Airport, transfer from that Cappadocia area airport to my hotel and back, plus two full days of touring itinerary with an English speaking guide. Best of all, the extra 100 or so I spent got me a prime room at Yunak Evelri Cave Hotel. Now there are hundreds of cave hotels in Cappadocia, but few are a 4 to 5 star that Yunak is. The service was superb, the finishes amazing, the common areas upscale, etc. I feared the restaurant would be mediocre and expensive, since it was a bit of a hike into the ancient village of Urgup for a dining alternative. But it was the opposite a multilevel lounge deck -- with spectacular views of the canyon around us and the hotel's cliff facade -- welcomed with a fireplace, hip music (volume not too loud) and an array of items. Eating late and on the road, I opted for a simple margarita pizza and a gourmet, ultra thin crust creation arrived with a price tag far less than you'd pay in the states. Breakfast -- 95% of Turkish small hotels, be they rural or urban, have a buffet spread in the morning -- had all the traditional Turkish white cheeses, breads, olives, pickles and dips -- along with enough warm food, jams and other items to appeal to the more western palate. The room at Yunak was spectacular, though it involved climbing very many outdoor, smooth marble stair cases. It had a very modern and luxurious bath. There was a heater, but I never needed it. Plenty of comfy sheets and blankets made me at ease with the constant 67 degree interior. The room was large as a suite, stocked with free bottled water and amazing to sleep in, what with it's carved niches from being an ancient cave home. Each day, I was picked up around 9:30 a.m. and taken around to all the key sites and museums. I must say, the buffet lunch was fairly mediocre, but no lacking for items. There must have been 100 things to choose from, which is good for the picky eaters. Efendi and Yusuf even helped trouble shooting a problem of my own creation. The number one thing I wanted to see was the Goreme Open Air Museum. We were supposed to see it on the first day, but the on-site tour operator switched my itinerary. Day 1 was a long hike and my knee was acting up. The weather for the next day called for storms. I pictured my only visit to Cappadocia being marred by a sore knee and rain sweeping away photos I wanted to take in Goreme. I offered to leave the tour halfway into Day 1 and pay a taxi to Goreme. The tour guide was polite, but balked at it. I dialed Yusuf (he gave me his cell and told me to call 24/7) and quickly, the tour driver was depositing me in Goreme with the understanding that I would not have travel protection

This was one of the best airport pickups ever. The booknig process was fast, easy and accurate,…read morethe price was the cheapest out there and the staff were very helpful. The driver was waiting at the airport as promised in a nice vehicle and managed to get us to our apartment in spite of having an incomplete address. The pickup was on time and again very smooth. Drivers spoke good English and were courteous. Recommend these folk highly.

The staff here is outstanding. They have assisted me with travel during 2 trips to Turkey over the…read morelast 5 years, and they did a fantastic job both times! The best part is their understanding of my travel needs, and how they personalized all the arrangements that they made. They also allowed time in the plans for us to "do our own things" - they didn't try to plan out each day to such a degree that we were tied to a grueling schedule. What we do might not work for everyone but we made a couple of nights reservations in Istanbul at the start and the end, but left the middle days open, then as soon as we reached Istanbul we stopped in and made our travel arrangements with Shiny to go elsewhere in Turkey, leaving about day 3. Then we did a couple of days of sightseeing in Istanbul, checked out of our hotel, walked over to the Shiny travel office to get our tickets at the prearranged time, and went on a 5-day excursion. They always do a great job, and I can't wait to return to Istanbul to work with then again.

From the owner: Turkey Tours & Travel offers daily trips, Turkey package tours, hotel reservations, flight…read morebookings, bus tickets and free tips regarding our competant area.

First time here. Good service. Very professional staff and…read morecourteous. Not sure who runs it but good.

Thanks to an oversight from our Travel Agent, our roundtrip booking between Bucharest and Istanbul…read morewas booked as an equivalent of basic economy. The key thing about that was that there was no checked baggage allowance and anything handled that was was charged at 7 Euro per Kilo! Turkish Air is an odd duck. After 2 economy and 2 business class flights, we've found their in flight service to be just short of phenomenal. Yet their "back office" (e.g., reaching them by phone, website, IST Care Point) has consistently been bad. I'll save some of this for a separate IST-based review that covers our international business class flights. We ended up at the Taksim Sales Office as our phone calls and web inquires turned up as a big fat zero. After spending more time than we should bulking up carry on bags, and receiving poor information via our travel agent, our local guide found this office so that we could get service in person and apparently the only way. Contrary to what we had been told, the per kilo baggage charge is the same whether you do it at the airport or before. The guy who helped us at the Taskim office was helpful enough, which was a relief. We paid our fee, received a receipt, and thank heavens the weights all worked out at IST. We did eventually get restitution via our travel agent for about $460 in baggage charges over 2 flights, but otherwise this travel adventure was a complete waste of time and worry.

these airline has the most dissatisfied . I travel with my family to Istanbul made a reservation…read morefor two stopping in Istanbul and people that speaks English and no one seems to understand or help or be willing to help. Make sure if you travel airline, you read the rules no exceptions and not whatever situation you need help with. Try to get help over the phone is impossible. They always send you to a website. For communications, at their own hub IST airport they send you from one desk to another desk to another desk and talking about distances between no one is willing to help very close minded. My husband lost a connection. He decided to stay a few more days in Istanbul his next flights without any notification. He was asked for his passport to buy a new ticket for another person sell the ticket with the passport when he wants to check in is not allowed to go with sell the ticket. He ended up buying another ticket. They will not return. The money made a which was the only way to complain or ask for a refund they answer back with different reasons. No way to communicate with a human being no way to communicate through . We way to make in their own language. They pretend they understand something different. They will never return your money no explanation for what they do all they care about is the money and so bad because they in flight service is excellent. Would I recommend ? Not in 1 million. Would I ever use TURKISH AIRLINES again? No .

Total scammers. Stay away from them. They have hired local guides who grade them high but all…read moretourists have graded them dreadful. They are dishonest and shameful. You can see their actual reviews on Google. Mr. Orhan is a fraud along with others.