Things to Do in Istanbul

Discover Istanbul with the no 1 Free Tour in English!

Looking to explore Istanbul in an authentic, fun, and stress-free way? This is the tour you’ve been waiting for! At Free Tour Istanbul, we’ll take you on an unforgettable journey through the best-kept secrets of this magical city.

Why Choose Us?

🌟 Passionate Local Guides:
Our guides don’t just tell stories—they make you feel part of Istanbul’s rich culture from the very first moment.

📍 Unique Stops:
Not your typical tourist tour—we visit hidden gems you won’t find elsewhere.

🎙️ 100% in English:
Fluent Spanish guides make every story clear, engaging, and enjoyable.

⏰ The Perfect Duration:
With over two hours of exploration, you’ll fully immerse yourself in Istanbul’s charms without it feeling too long.

💰 You Decide the Price:
It’s a free tour! Pay at the end what you think the experience is worth.

What Can You Expect?

🔹 Immerse yourself in Istanbul’s most iconic landmarks and hidden gems.
🔹 Learn the fascinating stories of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires—told in a fun, easygoing way.
🔹 Capture unforgettable memories at legendary sites like:

• Hagia Sophia
• Blue Mosque
• Topkapi Palace (free first courtyard)
• Basilica Cistern (Sunken Palace)
• Roman Hippodrome
• German Fountain
• Bosphorus Strait... and much more!

Enjoy fun facts and anecdotes throughout the tour that will make you laugh and learn along the way.

Plan Your Visit with These Tips!

📍 Meeting Point:
We’ll meet at the circular water fountain between the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.

🚗 Plan Ahead:
Not staying in Sultanahmet? Allow extra time for traffic to arrive stress-free.

👥 For Large Groups:
Groups of more than six? Please contact us to arrange a private tour.

Book Your Spot Now

Spots fill up fast—don’t miss your chance to explore Istanbul like never before! Walk through streets brimming with history, colors, and life, and create unforgettable memories (and maybe even new friendships!).

📅 Daily Tour:
10:30 AM and 14:00 PM in Sultanahmet.

🔗 Reserve your spot now on our website/app and get ready for an adventure!

☆☆☆ PLEASE READ THE INFORMATION BELOW BEFORE BOOKING THE TOUR ☆☆☆

"A rollercoaster journey from mosques to crowded markets, it is a fantastic way to see Istanbul" said one of our clients in the past.
We invite you to discover one of the most amazing cities on earth. This gorgeous city has many interesting stories to be told. Listen it's stories while exploring old town in this walking tour.

Discover the Roman Hippodrome, see the famous Blue Mosque,  Haseki Hürrem Baths and iconic Hagia Sophia from outside and awaken your senses at Egyptian Bazaar. Get suprised by the hidden gems, columns and cisterns.  Learn the culture and customs and see Istanbul from a local's eye.

The route;

- The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts
- Hippodrome area
- Obelisk of Theodosius
- Snaked Column
- The Walled Obelisk
- German Fountain
- Blue Mosque
- Haseki Hurrem Baths
- Hagia Sophia
- Basilica Cistern
- Soğukçeşme Street
- Gulhane Park (the garden of Topkapı Palece)
- The street of Historical Restaurants of Hocapasa
- Egyptian Bazaar (Spice Market) - inner visit
- The New Mosque
- Eminönü District with views of Suleymaniye Mosque and Galata Tower.


Are you ready to fall in love with Istanbul?

IMPORTANT NOTES:

RESERVATION IS REQUIRED  because we have a limited space in our tours for a better experience.

Please provide a whatsapp number or a valid e-mail adress that you regularly check.

We designed this tour for solo travelers, couples, small groups and families. Big group reservations(more than 6 people  including kids) are not accepted even in seperate bookings.

No interior visits during the tour except Egyptian Bazaar.

We end up the tour in front of the EGYPTIAN BAZAAR in Eminönü Square.

The route is not baby stroller friendly. Please consider it before booking.

The tour is only in ENGLISH.

Our tours are conducted by professional and licensed tour guides, and it's totally free to book and join the group. Considering that these tours are our guide's full time job to make a living, we recommend rewarding the guide minimum 10 € \ 10 $  per person for her\his job.

​Join us as we fly to a city that became a major religious, cultural, and commercial center of the Roman Empire. Let's discover Ephesus!

Book Istanbul's most comprehensive free walking tour today! 

💎 We cover Istanbul's Old City (Constantinople) in a highly comprehensive tour that covers over a dozen sites including the must-see sites, hidden gems and local hang-out spots. Moreover, we not only cover Istanbul’s past, but also it’s present day situation in a moderate pace that leaves enough room for questions & interaction. This tour has it all. 

Why Book a Tour With Us? 

➕      More Coverage 

We simply cover a bigger area and more topics. Just look at our route map, we cover 4 different neighborhoods and over a dozen places. Plus, we talk about everything from history to modern day Istanbul, daily life and society. 

🎨       Independent & Boutique 

We don't hire people. We are two locals who do our own tours. We're artisans. We're boutique. 

🔥      Full Dedication 

We don't have another occupation. This is all we do, all we think about. We give it our 100%. 

✅      Must-See Sites AND Lesser-Known Sites 

We cover the essentials, but we also cover local hang-out spots hidden in the Old City. 

📚      Online Library Access! 

We provide you with a very comprehensive online library with PDF guides ranging from food to activities & pubs and much more! 

🏝️      No Rush, No Stalling

We don't rush, we don't stall. Moderately paced. We cover a lot of places and topics, but we also give space for interaction, communication and questions. 

IMPORTANT: 

🗓️       Due to high demand and group size limit in season, we need reserved bookings to be able to accommodate our guests in our groups. Please book in advance. 

🙏       This is our main and only occupation, we hope you understand and appreciate our efforts and dedication by contributing a reasonable amount at the end of the tour.

See availability now & reserve your spot before it gets full! 

👇👇👇👇👇 

 Tour details:

Would you like to capture the essence of this city in a fun and informative way in couple of hours? Then this tour is a must-do for you! 

Capital city of both Roman and Ottoman Empires, Istanbul has a lot to tell you about those civilizations. While visiting its Hippodrome and talking about the monumental columns and obelisks on it we will talk about the Roman heritage in the city. Visiting one of the most elegant mosques of Architect Sinan, we will have a chance to see a classic Ottoman Mosque and talk about its past and present. We will also see a traditional Bazaar, a Hamam, learn about the Blue Mosque take amazing photos and finally learn about the amazing history of Hagia Sophia. 

• German fountain 
• Hagia Sophia (from outside)
• Blue Mosque (inside)
• Hippodrome 
• The Walled Obelisk
• Obelisk of Theodosius
• Serpent column
• Sokullu Mehmet Pasha Mosque*
• Arasta Bazaar
• Nakkaş Cistern
• Hurrem Sultan Hamam

 Useful information for the traveler:

-No ticket is needed for any place we will enter.

-I use audio headsets during the tour so you will hear me easily even when we walk and talk.

-When the tour ends you will be able to pay the guru whatever you consider fair. Some will pay €10, others $50. It's up to you!

-The agency for my tours is Eyupsultan Travel A-10425

 Looking forward to meeting you!

This tour is for fun-lovers, night-owls, and tireless travelers who are done with the "essentials" of Istanbul. There are countless tours of the main attractions during the day... but at night? I want to showcase how the historical peninsula of Istanbul transforms in the evening. We'll mostly be around Karakoy and Taksim and you'll see how the nightlife of Istanbul takes shape. Besides showing you some of the oldest bars and restaurants, I really want to explain the alternative scene and what makes Istanbul so "cool." So, I'll be pointing out structures like: Ottoman-buildings which have been converted into libraries and public learning spaces, a self-sustaining soup kitchen run by an activist and survivor of sex-trafficking, or the only unofficial queer club in Taksim. 

I recommend you...

• Prepare your stories and fun facts
• Stay comfortable as there will be a few steep climbs
• Come hungry (~5€, optional, great street food at the end)

I am an avid-traveler myself and I deeply treasure the spontaneous connections created under such colorful circumstances so, this tour has a SOCIAL focus as well. There will be a conversational atmosphere and the opportunity to grab drinks (optional, of course) at our stops. This tour is ideal for a dynamic group or extraverted solo-travelers because sorry, I will try to make all of us become FRRRIEEENDS 

Istanbul is the only city in the world situated on two continents. No Istanbul trip will be complete without seeing the Asian side of the city. This tour will start on the European Side and finish on the Asian Side of Istanbul, namely Üsküdar neighborhood, where you will get to see actual local life rather than the tourist bubble.  We will take the ferry from Eminönü.  Don’t worry about the tickets, I will have my Istanbul card with enough credits for all of us 🙂 



Here are some highlights of the tour: 

EUROPEAN SIDE: 

Ahmed III Fountain
Topkapı Palace (non ticketted parts) 
Hagia Irene (from outside)
Archeology Museum (from outside)
Gulhane Park
Sirkeci Train Station 
A small Bosphorus tour with the ferry. 


ASIAN SIDE:

Ahmed III fountain (Yes, again! :))
Mihrimah Sultan Mosque 
New Mother’s Mosque 
Food streets of Usküdar. 
Bosphorus walk
Dolmabahce and Ciragan Palaces (outside)
Turkish Bath with reasonable prices. 


Useful information for the traveler:

-No ticket is needed for any place we will enter.
-You may want to bring a scarf to enter the mosques. (Mosques lend scarves too)
-When the tour ends you will be able to pay the guru whatever you consider fair. Some will pay €10, others $50. It's up to you! (minimum contribution is €10 per person around the world.)
-The agency for my tours is Eyupsultan Travel A-10425

 Looking forward to meeting you!

Are you interested in discovering Istanbul's most colorful neighborhoods? Explore these historic and charming neighborhoods on this tour of Fenet and Balat!

How do you get the most out of your precious time in Istanbul?

You leave that to us. We, Istanbulian Guides, are a team of professionals. We have guided tens of thousands of people in our years of experience entirely focused on Istanbul and we are both born-and-raised locals of this city. We will deliver the most compact and crucial information you need in only 1.5 hours. 

This is the info you need before deciding where to spend your money and time on: 

✅ What are the must-see sites, their brief history

✅ Visiting hours, ticket prices

✅ How and when to avoid queues

✅ Where to eat good cheap food

✅ Where to get good cheap drinks

✅ Where to buy good cheap things

✅ What activities you shouldn't miss out on

✅ Lesser-known hidden gems of Istanbul

✅ How to avoid scams/tourist traps

✅ How to get around/transportation

✅ Bonus information and resources ++

Warning!

By the end of the tour, you'll learn and have access to so much information about Istanbul that it might take a few hours to digest. Might want to do that over a nice cup of Turkish coffee after lunch. 

We'll meet

In the most central place in Old Town Istanbul, in front of the massive Egyptian Obelisk. Then we'll walk you through the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman history, all the way to modern-day Istanbul.

And btw, we don't do giant groups, and it's the season! So if you're thinking this is it, then Check Availability by clicking the red button and book your place right now!

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See you soon! 😉