Cost of private guide

Thinking of going with a private guide for a all day heritage walking tour in Istanbul, it is a 140E (doesn't include entrance fees or lunch) for the day for 2 people, is this reasonable, or any other suggestions? :)

If this is a full-day tour for just the two of you, then I guess that's a fair price for the guide's time.

It's very easy to take the tram from the port to the Sultanahmet part of the city & explore on foot by yourselves, saving that €140 (minus 4 x 3.5TL tram fares). That's what a great many people do - for the freedom & adventure as well as the savings.

But even with deep advance research & guide books in-hand you're not going to have as informative a look round as you will with a guide, especially the sort of background that doesn't come from guide books.

Your guide will also avoid potential pitfalls like taking a wrong turn or three, joining a line, or being ripped-off by a restaurant. It can be quite comforting to have a "friend" in a foreign city.

Do make sure that he doesn't waste your time taking you to places where you'll be given the hard-sell - carpet-making demos etc, that will earn him a commission for a sale. You may have to be quite forceful about that - private guides can be as guilty of that as cruise line excursions.

It's possibly worth quoting the guide's name in case anyone has experience - and check out reviews for that guide on the internet - as in all walks of life there's good and poor.

A walking tour is very much the way to do it.

Because of parking, a car needs a driver as well as a guide - significantly increasing the cost. And in a car you're not involved - you're in a bubble looking on.

Just MHO as always

JB :)

The tour price sounds reasonable.

To get a feel for this check out trip advisor where you can see other tours and see what the cost other are charging.

Keith

Mausie777

Hi. That $Price$ is reasonable. You will have a wonderful time. Compare your 'Guided Daytrip' with those from UrbanAdventures or CulinaryBackstreets...two walking daytrips that we really liked. Locomotiveman Tom

Mausie777

Hi. That $Price$ is reasonable. You will have a wonderful time. Compare your 'Guided Daytrip' with those from UrbanAdventures or CulinaryBackstreets...two walking daytrips that we really liked. Locomotiveman Tom[/quote

 

Thank you all for your responses, much appreciated, after all the researches we have decided to go with a private guide that our hotel has recommended.:):)

It a good price but get ready for some hiking. It's probably 2.5 km from the Grand Bazar to the Topkapi Palace. Consider asking your guide to get tickets to the Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace in advance. They can get crowded. I hope you have a plan to get from the dock to the Sultanahmet Area. It's not walking distance.

It a good price but get ready for some hiking. It's probably 2.5 km from the Grand Bazar to the Topkapi Palace. Consider asking your guide to get tickets to the Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace in advance. They can get crowded. I hope you have a plan to get from the dock to the Sultanahmet Area. It's not walking distance.

It's actually under 2 km on Google maps (just a bit over a mile). And most of the sites you'll want to see are in between the two -- Haghia Sophia, Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, Cistern, etc.

Also, it most certainly IS walking distance from the port to Sultanahmet. It took me about 45 minutes to walk from the Blue Mosque to the port entrance a few years ago.

It's actually under 2 km on Google maps (just a bit over a mile). And most of the sites you'll want to see are in between the two -- Haghia Sophia, Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, Cistern, etc.

 

Also, it most certainly IS walking distance from the port to Sultanahmet. It took me about 45 minutes to walk from the Blue Mosque to the port entrance a few years ago.

I actually make Topkapi to Grand Bazaar even less than that :).

About a 15 minute walk. But I guess it depends exactly where at each - they're both big places.

If this year's reports are accurate, everyone now has to exit the port via the new cruise terminal, at the far (eastern) end of the quays - around 2 miles from the Blue Mosque.

According to Google that's still the 45 minutes that you mention, but you won't see me on the way - I'll be on the tram with the Rockdoc ;).

JB :)

 

If this year's reports are accurate, everyone now has to exit the port via the new cruise terminal, at the far (eastern) end of the quays - around 2 miles from the Blue Mosque.

According to Google that's still the 45 minutes that you mention, but you won't see me on the way - I'll be on the tram with the Rockdoc ;).

 

JB :)

The tram is good too. ;)

It a good price but get ready for some hiking. It's probably 2.5 km from the Grand Bazar to the Topkapi Palace. Consider asking your guide to get tickets to the Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace in advance. They can get crowded. I hope you have a plan to get from the dock to the Sultanahmet Area. It's not walking distance.

Thank you all for the great advice.. our guide is picking us up from our hotel as we are staying pre-cruise for 3 days, good to know about the distances though, preparing for it by daily evening walks at home :):) just hoping it won't be to hot.

We used a guide in Istanbul and he met us near the ship and just helped us to use the public transportation system to get from the ship to the Grand Bazaar, then we just walked around to the other sights (Topkapi, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, etc). We rested occasionally, but we had asked a LOT of our guide and while he originally said it couldn't be done, he made it happen. Word of warning: if you are there on Friday, Blue Mosque is closed until early afternoon, and thus it is crowded then and everything else is crowded earlier.