Epheseus Shuttle Istanbul tour or DIY

Hi everyone,

I know everyone says that Istanbul is pretty easy to do DIY, but I was wondering if it was worth it to do a guided tour? I was considering using Epheseus Shuttle and trying to turn a group tour into a private excursion.

The tour costs $75 USD and in includes the Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, St. Sophia, Grand Bazaar. It also includes the price of admission to those areas, which is know is not a lot to begin with. There's time at the Grand Bazaar too.

Does this tour miss anything important?

I'm interested in paying for a guided tour because I'm very excited to go to Istanbul and I want to learn as much as possible. Also I'm driving with my mom, and while she doesn't have mobility issues, she can get tired if we walk large distances.

$75USD per pax?

Per pax

Hi everyone,

 

I know everyone says that Istanbul is pretty easy to do DIY, but I was wondering if it was worth it to do a guided tour? I was considering using Epheseus Shuttle and trying to turn a group tour into a private excursion.

 

The tour costs $75 USD and in includes the Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, St. Sophia, Grand Bazaar. It also includes the price of admission to those areas, which is know is not a lot to begin with. There's time at the Grand Bazaar too.

 

Does this tour miss anything important?

 

I'm interested in paying for a guided tour because I'm very excited to go to Istanbul and I want to learn as much as possible. Also I'm driving with my mom, and while she doesn't have mobility issues, she can get tired if we walk large distances.

Normally, I would advise against a tour, since you can purchase audio-guides for Topkapi and St. Sophia.

You would miss the Basilica Cistern, and the Spice Bazaar.

The Grand Bazaar is located some distance from the other sites. We walked it, but you might not want to do that.

Does your tour include the Harem in Topkapi? If not, you will miss the best part of Topkapi.

The only admission to pay would be for Topkapi and St. Sophia. When we did them the admission was 25 TL for St. Sophia and 25 TL and another 15 TL for the Harem. Audio-guides cost 10 TL.

Tour is not a bad price. You didn't say how many would be on the tour.

I would rather DTY, but if you have transport from the ship and to Grand Bazaar, that is not a bad deal.

I would do a search on the tour provider. I seem to recall a couple of posts from people who used an Ephesus-based tour provider for a tour of Istanbul and they were not really thrilled with the tour as compared with the quality of the tour at Ephesus (from those who did both).

Frankly, I've had more variety in terms of guide knowledge in Turkey than in most other places. I would suggest if the guided component is important to you that you try to find a well-reviewed individual guide.

Transportation by car around Istanbul isn't such a boon as you may think. Vehicular traffic gets tied in knots at certain times, and public transportation is better at getting you from the ship to Sultanahmet and back quickly. Once in the old town, I'm not sure a car could get you from, say, Haghia Sophia to Topkapi any faster than you could walk it....

The only admission to pay would be for Topkapi and St. Sophia. When we did them the admission was 25 TL for St. Sophia and 25 TL and another 15 TL for the Harem. Audio-guides cost 10 TL.

 

Tour is not a bad price. You didn't say how many would be on the tour.

I would rather DTY, but if you have transport from the ship and to Grand Bazaar, that is not a bad deal.

I started to consider the tour because the prices seemed to be on the reasonable side.

We could set it up so we have up a maximum of 20ppl on the tour and just open it up to ppl on our cruise. I don't think we'll get anywhere near 20ppl but I guess that's not a given.

I think I could also negotiate with them to add more things onto the tour while keeping the prices on a reasonable level. I will clarify if the Harem is included or not.

I also want to ask if its possible to see everything listed, Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace (including Harem), St. Sophia, Grand Bazaar, Basilica Cistern, and the Spice Bazaar if you are with a cruise that comes in on 9am and leaves at 7pm DIY? Or is that too ambitious?

I would do a search on the tour provider. I seem to recall a couple of posts from people who used an Ephesus-based tour provider for a tour of Istanbul and they were not really thrilled with the tour as compared with the quality of the tour at Ephesus (from those who did both).

 

Frankly, I've had more variety in terms of guide knowledge in Turkey than in most other places. I would suggest if the guided component is important to you that you try to find a well-reviewed individual guide.

 

Transportation by car around Istanbul isn't such a boon as you may think. Vehicular traffic gets tied in knots at certain times, and public transportation is better at getting you from the ship to Sultanahmet and back quickly. Once in the old town, I'm not sure a car could get you from, say, Haghia Sophia to Topkapi any faster than you could walk it....

Thanks for touching on this this aspect. I guess there are reasons why the majority of people seem to do this port DIY as opposed to Epheseus. Thanks for touching on the difference on tour guides and the transportation issues.

I thought you were talking about a small private tour (like 6 people in a minivan with the personal attention of a guide for the entire day). In that case, $75 would have been a good price. A bus tour with 20 people, not so much. And would you have to put the group together yourself by advertising on your roll call? That would be kind of a nightmare to me. :eek:

We get the rate of $75 USD per pax regardless of the number of people who join the tour. I was thinking of trying to aim for at least 6 ppl and leave it at that. I'm setting up the Kusadasi tour for Epheseus shuttle on my Roll Call, so I think Epheseus will be grateful if I do some advertising for this tour. Again the Istanbul tour is not that popular to begin with, so I don't think we'll get up to 20ppl, more like 10-12. Even if we ended up having 20 ppl on the tour, as long as the narration was good, I would be ok, as I can walk pretty fast. Also this trip is a big step up for me, I'm used to student trips and getting the best out of Sandeman Free Tours.

But the more I hear from people, I am leaning against setting this tour up and might consider setting up a private guided tour from a well viewed tour guide.

I started to consider the tour because the prices seemed to be on the reasonable side.

 

We could set it up so we have up a maximum of 20ppl on the tour and just open it up to ppl on our cruise. I don't think we'll get anywhere near 20ppl but I guess that's not a given.

 

I think I could also negotiate with them to add more things onto the tour while keeping the prices on a reasonable level. I will clarify if the Harem is included or not.

 

I also want to ask if its possible to see everything listed, Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace (including Harem), St. Sophia, Grand Bazaar, Basilica Cistern, and the Spice Bazaar if you are with a cruise that comes in on 9am and leaves at 7pm DIY? Or is that too ambitious?

 

 

We did Hagia Sophia, Basilica Cistern and Topkapi with Harem in one day. The Hippodrome takes very little time (it is the equivalent of Rome's Circus Maximus). The Blue Mosque takes about an hour considering you have to wait in line 20-30 minutes to get inside.

 

In my opinion Hagia Sophia was the top item we saw, with Topkapi second.

You might be able to get it all done in that time, but you won't spend three hours in Topkapi like we did.

Be sure to check which day of the week you will be in Istanbul. The Grand Bazaar is closed on Sunday, Hagia Sophia is closed on Monday, and the Topkapı Palace is closed on Tuesday. And even if they are open, check the opening hours for the date you will be there (they don't stay open very late in the low season).

So I spoke to the operator again. Basically for $85 USD they will include the Hippodrome, Rustem Pasa mosque (Blue Mosque is only open for 2 hrs on Friday and tours usually don't take people because you usually have to wait 1 hr to get in), Topkapi Palace plus Harem, St. Sophia, Grand Bazaar, Underground Cistern. She said that she could include the Underground Cistern or the Spice Market, we don't have enough time for both. If we opted to go to the Spice Market the cost would be $75. It will still be for a max of 20 people (although I don't think we will fill it).

It's unusual for them to ask the same price per person no matter what the size of the group. So of course you should try to keep the group as small as possible!

One possibility for the Spice Market: you could ask them to drop you off there at the end of the tour. You can walk through the market and hop on the tram back to the ship. This is something you could decide at the last minute depending on how you're feeling, and what time your tour finishes. If you still have an hour or so until all-aboard time, that's enough for a quick visit (just don't get carried away shopping :)).

I personally would DIY. Here's why.

Istanbul is a friendly city…. easy to get around and so many interesting things.

Sometimes when you take a "tour" you are shuffled from point A to point B to point C……… missing what's in between. THAT is why we love to take the tram and walk the historic area….. It is compact and easily walkable. The store fronts contain amazing foods, crafts and other goodies that make them fun just to look at (I have many wonderful pictures of them) let alone duck in to shop !!

As for what you will miss….. Basilica Cistern is not on your list and a MUST visit in our book. I will say that you are trying to cram in a lot for one day - especially if you are taking a cab or bus that can get stuck in traffic for long periods of time.

We are going back again in May (our 3rd visit) and can't wait to stroll the streets of this amazing city DIY.

We think there is just no right or wrong...but simply a matter of personal preference. If the OP thinks they would prefer a tour, then go for it! Personally, we love exploring Istanbul on our own (whether on a cruise or just staying in a local hotel) but understand that not everyone is comfortable walking (or riding) anywhere without a guide. Either way (on your own or with a tour) it is a wonderful city to visit.

As to whether you will miss anything.....of course. It is a large city (and region) and worthy of many visits or a long land-based visit. Cruisers will not be able to see "everything" on one or two port days.

Hank

Honestly I don't know if I want to see Istanbul on my own or DIY. That's pretty much why I started this thread. Originally I was leaning towards DIY. Now I'm really not so sure. Thank you everyone for all of your comment and suggestions, I've definitely learned a lot and I have a lot to think about.

The more people you have with you the slower your progress will be and/or the more compromises you will have to make. If you go on your own, you can set your own pace. There are lots of guides available to help you: Rick Steves' Istanbul guide, toms port guides (google them), you tube, and past threads here.

However, if you are hesitant to go on your own, then keep your group small and remember that you are the one in charge, not the tour guide.

We would be interested in hearing more about a tour of Istanbul. We are staying two days after we Port on June 1 and would like to see as much as possible in that short amount of time. Please feel free to email me if you are putting together a group. shwaters1@gmailcom Thanks!!