ITINERARY

• Arrive at Ataturk airport and meet our driver at the exit gate. He will be holding a board that your name is written. Transfer to your small boutique hotel in Sultanahmet area. Spend the rest of the time at leisure. Overnight at a hotel in Sultanahmet.
• Your guide will meet you after breakfast for a tour of the Ottoman Istanbul. A short walk takes you to the Blue Mosque which was completed in 1616. Our next stop will be the Topkapi Palace, more than just a palace, it is an assemblage of museums containing collections amassed by the Sultans for almost five centuries. Our visit also takes you to the famous Harem where the Imperial Family resided. We then stop at Divan Yolu for lunch at a local restaurant. Next, we walk through the old cobbled streets down to Rustem Pasha Mosque and then the Spice Market, where Genoese and Venetian goods were sold at a time when there was no Suez Canal, and all the spices from the East were also brought here after being loaded on vessels in Egypt. Overnight at a hotel in Sultanahmet.
• Our second day in Istanbul takes us to a number of Byzantine Relics. We first stroll to the great square which was once the Byzantine Hippodrome. Now it is a great park like area surrounded by the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and the Underground Cistern, commonly called the Basilica Cistern. The Hippodrome exhibits the Walled Column, The Serpent Column and the Egyptian Obelisque from the Byzantine times and the German Fountain is located in the North end of the Hippodrome. Next, we visit the Hagia Sophia, the most important Byzantine building in the world. After lunch at a local restaurant, we take a short drive to The Chora Church to see the climax of Byzantine Mosaic Art. We end the tour with a visit to the Grand Bazaar. Overnight at a hotel in Sultanahmet.
• We check out in the morning and take the bags with us on our vehicle. On our last day in Istanbul, we check out after a leisurely breakfast and take a short drive to the shores of the Bosphorus to visit the Dolmabahce Palace. Overlooking the Bosphorus, its beauty is incomparable with 14 tons of pure gold used for its interior decoration, its priceless paintings, furniture, and a rich collection of Bohemian crystal in addition to its famous Harem section. Then we get on board at Eminonu for the leisurely cruise of the Bosphorus to the still unspoiled village of Sariyer.In the late afternoon, we are transferred to Istanbul Airport for the flight back home or somewhere else in Turkey.