Day 01
Explore Sultanahmet, Hagia Sophia, Topkapı Palace and Grand Bazaar
- Meet your guide at Hippodrome Park and the ruins to begin your tour.
- Visit the Hagia Sophia Cathedral, which was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul. It was secularized in 1935 and reopened as a museum.
- See Topkapı Palace, one of the primary residences of the Ottoman sultans for almost 400 years. The Ottoman Empire was ruled from Topkapı Palace for 380 years, and it is now a museum.
- Tour the Blue Mosque, called Sultanahmet Camii in Turkish, a historic mosque in Istanbul. It was named after the blue tiles that decorate the interior walls.
- Make your way to Sultanahmet Square. It used to be a circus and formerly served as the sports and social centre of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today, a few fragments of the original Byzantine-era Hippodrome still remain.
- Head to the Basilica Cistern, built in the 6th century, the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that still lie beneath the city.
- Continue to the Grand Bazaar, one of the world's largest covered markets, with more than 4,000 shops. It is renowned for its jewellery, pottery, spice, leather, and carpet shops.
That will end your tour.
