Private tours in Istanbul

[chuly]

Can you recommend private tour operators in Istanbul?

Thanks in advance!:)

[Jack1]

We used Levent Solmaz for 3 days while there last july. He is great.

[Monterey Girl]

We used EKOL Travel in Istanbul and Athens in OCT 2007. The cost includes a driver AND a guide. They do NOT require a credit card to guarentee your reservation. Do a search on this board about them. I am sure you will only find glowing reports. They have a web site.

MG :)

[kate21]

In October 2007 we used Nejat Incedogan **********@yahoo.com] for a 1 day private tour of Ephesus and surrounding area. We outlined what we wanted to do for the day and he delivered as promised. He was amazing and exactly as described previously by other reviewers. There was a last minute crunch when our cruiseline changed our Kusadasi arrival date by one day so I immediately emailed Nejat. What a relief when he phoned me direct that same day to say 'not to worry' and that he was available for the next day. Our tour with Nejat was one of the 'not to be forgotten' highlights of our trip.

[alcman]

We also used Levent Solmaz in October in Istanbul and he was wonderful. The cost was very reasonable and he arranged an tsayed with us for evening entertainment. Had a great time with him and highky recommend him.

Jerry

[bunnyette]

I arranged for a tour of 12 people with CTC Turkey/Danya tours. Absolutely fantastic. Only $50pp! Included transport, wonderful young tour guide and all entrance fees. He got us into Hagia Sophia on a day it was supposedly closed except to those on cruise ship tours.

 

They have an office in the US and were great to deal with. They have a website. They will do private tours from 2 - however many you want. The best part about this tour was no lockdown in a carpet store:eek:

[teach2travel]

We used Ekol Travel this past July, and were VERY pleased with them. We had a driver and tour guide for the entire day, and one of the things I liked was that we were taken to places where the locals go (restaurant)

My son and I agree that it was our favorite city!

[joandbun]

Yes - I second the recommendationof Nejat Incedogan. We used his services in Kusadasi in 05 & on the success of that we booked him for Istanbul in 06. We ended up switching cruises to west med for 06, but the rest of the party had an excellent time with him. Very knowelgable & very personable.

jo

[chuly]

Thank You All!!!!!:)

[ChansonDeLaMer]

We used Kagan Kosagan. We found him on CC, and he was extremely good. He is an intelligent, highly educated man with a great personality. His car broke down on the way to pick us up, and instead of cancelling, he hired a Mercedes van and driver at no extra charge to us.

 

After picking us up at our hotel, we went to the quiet area of the Suleyman Mosque where we sat together and chatted at least an hour while he "taught" us about Istanbul, Islam, and other topics in which we were interested. He tailored our tour to our interests. It was a fantastic day. His suggestions for restaurants, Turkish bath, etc. all turned out well.

 

Kagan also works in Ephesus. His wife is also a highly regarded tour guide.

[itsjb1]

We also used Kagan Kosagan in July 2007. He was very pleasant and very well informed. We had a great day with him

[jefarl]

Can you recommend private tour operators in Istanbul?

Thanks in advance!:)

If you are Jewish and want a great guide to include the Jewish sites and history of our people PLUS all the regular non-jewish sites in Istanbul or other areas of Turkey, I would highly recommend Hayim Algazi. His email is haymi@hayimalgazi.com and his web site is

http://www.hayimalgazi.com/index.asp

[AZqueen]

We used EKOL Travel in Istanbul and Athens in OCT 2007. The cost includes a driver AND a guide. They do NOT require a credit card to guarentee your reservation. Do a search on this board about them. I am sure you will only find glowing reports. They have a web site.

MG :)

We used Ekol for Istanbul and Kusadasi and both guides were wonderful. Ali, who we had for Kusadasi, was the most amazing guide we had. His knowledge and expertise went above and beyond. There were six of us on our private tour and he took very good care of us.

[chuly]

Thank you! Your advice is much appreciated.:)

[Birdsailing]

When we were in Istanbul in September, we had a ship's tour, and it was OK. Too much time in the shopping areas for our taste. Istanbul was an amazing city, and we did manage to see a lot, but when you're planning a tour, you really have to take traffic into consideration. Istanbul will just about come to a standstill sometimes, and there you sit in a bus. I think if I had it to do over again, I would arrange a private tour with someone who utilized the water taxis, or some sort of water transport, as much as possible. Has anyone done it this way?

[YAC]

WE used Meander Travel. Naz was our guide and she was VERY thorough and took us around town. "What I'm showing you in one day is what I usually do in 3 days!" Our trip included: Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, Haga Sofia, Underground Cistern, Topaki Palace, Grand Bazaar & the Spice Bazaar. Our cruisemates only covered 2 places of interest with the ship's tours! Meander is based out of Kusadasi and Attinc, a second generation owner was there to greet us. He is very reputable and honorable. I booked the trip 1 year before the cruise and he had a "special" at the time of booking (50% less than the new cost). He honored the original price cuz he said "it was not ethical to change the price, despite the price going up 50%)! Mehmet was our guide in Kusadasi. Both trips were in very good AC vans as well!:D

[NAS-KARR]

We used EKOL in ISTANBUL & KUSADASI.We CUSTOMIZED both tours to our liking and our time schedule. Both came out great and we were most happy with them and the fee. Good luck.

 

 

CIAO,