Exploring Istanbul

A large number of our guests spend time in Istanbul before or after their tour, and so many of them ask us to recommend places to stay, restaurants to eat in, sites to see, and local guides to bring the city to life, that we thought it was high time for us to use our extensive knowledge and contacts to design the definitive tour of this bustling and exotic city.

The key, as with all our trips, was to find the best possible expert guide, and Jim Crow was the man we wanted. The many years he has spent leading archaeological projects in Istanbul have given him an unparalleled knowledge of the city throughout its history: from its roots as a small Greek town on the Bosphorus to the teeming and opulent capital city that it became under the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires.

See such world-famous sites as Topkapi Palace, Haghia Sofia and the Blue Mosque through expert eyes, and compare them with some seldom-visited wonders that only the true connoisseurs of the city ever visit. Try some of the best food that Istanbul has to offer, from the long-established cornerstones of Istanbul-cuisine to traditional local eateries that have raised the simplest of local dishes to a culinary art form. Join us and explore this vibrant city that has been shaped and moulded by some of the key cultures of the western and eastern worlds for over 2000 years.