Best Small-Group Tours

Small-group tours cost less because the guide's day is shared, not because the guide is less qualified. The same licensed guides who lead our private tours lead these groups. What you give up is control over the pace and the route; what you gain is a lower price and, for solo travellers, company. This page lists the group departures next to a few private tours on the same route, so you can compare the two formats side by side.

The group tours, from cheapest to most complete

• The Hagia Sophia (Ticket Included), Blue Mosque & Grand Bazaar Group Tour, from $120 per person, is the cheapest group tour and includes museum tickets, pick-up and drop-off at central hotels and help at the ticket queues. It runs six hours.
• The Topkapi, Hagia Irene & Grand Bazaar Group Tour, from $170 per person, covers the palace side of the old city with the Topkapi ticket included. There is no return transfer at the end.
• The Istanbul Full-Day Old City Tour with Tickets & Lunch, from $220 per person, joins the two halves into eight hours and adds lunch.

The morning and afternoon tours are designed to fit together, so two days of half-day groups cover the same sights as the full day, with a free afternoon in between.

When private is better value

For one or two travellers, the group tours are cheaper. From three or four people, compare carefully. A private tour such as the Private Istanbul Heritage Tour from $200 per person costs more per head, but the Best of Istanbul private guided tour is priced per group, from $199 for about seven hours of guiding a day, so for a family of four it can cost less than four group places. A private tour also starts when you want, skips the stops you are not interested in, and lets small children set the pace.

Private is also the better choice if someone in your party walks slowly or needs frequent rests. A group moves at the speed of its average member, and the timetable is fixed.

Who a small group suits

• Solo travellers, who pay the full price of a private guide alone.
• Couples on a budget who want tickets and pick-up handled.
• Travellers who enjoy meeting others on the road.

It suits people less well if they want to spend an hour in one room of Topkapi or skip the Grand Bazaar altogether.

Beyond Istanbul

Outside the city, the Small Group 9 Days Turkey Tour covers Istanbul, Cappadocia, Ephesus and Pamukkale with domestic flights, four-star hotels with breakfast and dinner, and lunches on full-day tours. In Istanbul itself, the street food tour of local neighbourhoods from $90 per person is also run in a small group; it is listed with our food tours.

Practical tips

Group tours in the old city are busiest from April to October. The morning departure reaches Hagia Sophia before the late-morning peak, which is the main reason to choose it over the afternoon. Wear shoes for stone paving; the old city route is short on the map but slow on foot.

For a longer stay, combine a group day in the old city with a private or group day from our day tours list, such as Bursa or the Princes' Islands. Before the palace day, our Topkapi Palace guide explains the Harem ticket and the order of the courtyards.