Exclusive Wonders of Istanbul

We thoroughly enjoyed this tour of the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and all the other sites on the way. Selcuk was an exceptional guide, well educated, knowledgeable about Turkish history, with a strong command of English. He clearly enjoys leading tours. If you take the optional carpet demonstration, be prepared for a mild sales job at the end.

This was a great tour! And you can't beat the price! Our guide was very knowledgeable and entertaining. We got to see all the highlights of Istanbul. My only complaint was that this tour was not any smaller than the tours through our cruise ship (we filled a large tour bus), but considering that the price was much less than it would have been through the cruise, we were happy to be on this tour.

Istanbul's Shore Excursion Group tour was one of the best tours we have taken (ever). Istanbul is a remarkable city by itself, but our tour guide truly made it an even better experience. He was kind and patient with our questions at the end of the tour, and provided a perfect balance of talking and explaining and giving us choices to see Istanbul on our own.

Wonderfully friendly & educated guide..spoke excellent English and was super knowledgeable!! AMazing city and was a good variety of places to see ..ONLY downside were the annoying sales people in the street but that had nothing to do with tour guides...beyond pushy and put a damper on visit

our tour guide made this excursion an excellent trip to remember. He is extremely knowledgeable and personable, as well as patient and polite. The tour was not time constrained and he made sure we got what we wanted out of each visit. I would have liked to have had the tour include a stop for refreshments along the way. Unal Aydin, our tour guide directed us personally to the market where he said goodbye, and then we strolled around and found our way to food and drink. He went above and beyond to ensure that we understood everything he was telling us. He answered all questions to the best of his ability and was at all times friendly, patient, polite with a good sense of culture outside of his own.

Very impressed with the service and excellent guide

Very enjoyable and informative. Our guide was very happy to share information with us and answer any questions we had. We learned a lot about Islam and the history of Istanbul. Would have liked to have a tour that included the Topaki Palace.

Our guide had perfect English, was very informed about all aspects of the religions and had studied Istanbul history through English & Greek. I asked for his card and would definitely use him again. Brilliant.

Would have enjoyed a meal of the local cuisine along with the excursion.

This was an outstanding overview tour of Istanbul. The Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque were stunning. The Grand Bazaar was very entertaining and interesting. The guide we had was excellent and spoke perfect English. We felt extremely safe and comfortable during our entire tour. Excellent tour!

cheaper than joining in cruise

This trip was everything it was promised to be. Smaller group than the ship's excursion, but lower price. Excellent guide. He was personable and spoke good English. I enjoyed everything we did. Istanbul was interesting and fun.

I was apprehensive about purchasing a tour outside the cruise ship, but, I was pleasantly surprised with Shore Excursions Group. The guide was friendly and knowledgeable about the Muslim culture. Although not rated as exciting, it was pleasant and met our needs.

The use of earphones were outstanding much better than yelling in a large crowd. Very knowlegeable guide. sensitive and helpful

It was my first visit to Istanbul and Turkey. I left with a wonderful new appreciation for the city, country, culture,religion and people. Our tour guide spoke superior English and was passionate about sharing his love for his culture with us. He met us at the ship, quickly boarded the bus and was very organized in setting a schedule that allowed us to see highlight of the city and gave us free time at the spice market. I've traveled with many groups and Shore excurions has definitely hired educated and delightful local young people who truly want to meet other people and share their passion for their countries. I highly recommend this company.

Since you pretty much have to arrive the night before this is an excellent way to spend your day before boarding the cruise ship... was also used by folks leaving the ship. Saw the sights that Istanbul for which is famous along with some excellent information on the history on what we were seeing. You can stay across the street from the cruise port at Nidya Hotel and leave your bags there or take them on the bus with you. Tour startws and ends on the pier in front of the ship.

The guide had excellent depth of knowledge

The guide provided a great overview of the sites and Turkish culture in general. Lots of crowds, so felt a little rushed. The guide gave us some great ideas of where to eat and things to do when we elected to stay in town rather than take the bus back to the ship.

Guide was informed and able to present info in interesting manner. Gave enough info for us to be informed, but not too much to make it boring. Good timing for each site. Not too interested in tour group personally, but enough to give us a good tour.

Our guide Unal was the best. He was able to see the long wait lines and make a time adjustment to our tour so we weren't waiting and waiting. We saw everything we wanted, had time for lunch and shopping at the Grand Bazaar. My husband and I loved Turkey and we will be back. Thanks Unal for a great day! Rick and Yvonne

Wish I would have had more time to shop at the bazaar! It's amazing!

The tour bus was comfortable, we weren't rushed, and in between sights, we were able to stop for refreshments. Our guide, Tolga was young, friendly and informative.

The place was so just a tourist place The show was good

Our guide was excellent and covered all topics well. It was well organized and the guide had a sign so we were able to locate him easily just outside the port area. This was our first tour with Shore Excursions but will not be our last!!

Very pleased with professionally run excursion from provision of water on coach, inclusion of attraction entry tickets together with a knowledgeable and polite guide.

great tour guide and interesting place to visit. I would like to go back sometime.

Great way to see the city in 1/2 a day.

A very good tour of a marvellous city. Our guide took us to a very nice restaurant for lunch and gave good hints at bargaining in the bazzar

This was a great excursion, largely because of John, our guide. He was thorough and very accomodating of our questions and requests. Istanbul is a beautiful city and he really presented it well. Use of the headphones kept everyone keyed in all the time to what he was saying and close together, in spite of the large crowds.