The tour did not include hotel pick-up which was not convenient when you cannot speak the language but once we found each other, the guide Muriel did an excellent job of showing us the spice Bazaar, a Mosque, and the Grand Bazaar. However, since was only a half day SHOPPING tour, the Mosque visit took too much time away from our limited shopping experience. Muriel spoke excellent English and tried to get us the areas of our interest, but the Bazaars are huge and takes more time than is available. Muriel directed us to authentic Turkish cuisine for lunch that was excellent.

Prepare to be hassled and completely ripped off!! They are shameless and will completely rip you off. They also sexualise women. Would not advise being a solo woman traveller. And be careful buying tea from the spice bazzar. I had to throw all mine out when I got home as I found bugs all through it! Literally money thrown in the rubbish!

Poorly organised, poorly informed, poorly managed tour - would not recommend. We joined this tour mid-way (as half day tour). We were informed we would be taken to the sights as promised on the leaflet - which did not happen. We felt we were spare parts on the tour as the group was divided into Spanish speaking vs English speaking (with my family from the UK being the smaller of the group). We were often rushed along and told to walk (only after what felt like the Spanish group being spoken to in more depth, whilst standing, about the different venues we stopped off along the way). This needs to be reconsidered for future groups. The tour guide repeatedly did this during the afternoon tour. One venue on our programme was closed (we were not told this until we reached what we were told our final venue) and then it was explained to us that the Grand Bazaar was closed so we were taken to a fur shop/ fashion shop ? Why wasn't this replaced with a more appropriate venue in the city? I mean who needs a fur coat when it's so hot? Also didn't help that when we got there the tour guide then realised he had spent the majority of his time talking to the Spanish group that he realised we weren't spoken to during this final part. We sent a note to the agency and their response was to not take any accountability -and said we were told at the time of booking. This is simply not true and also contradicts why the tour guide informed us when he boarded the bus of the stops we would be making - at no point was this explained. We paid over 200 euros for this. Overall the experience was below standard. Do not book with them.

No experience. I was not able to enter the palace. I did not receive my money . Next day was Monday off and on Tuesday i had to fly back home

Emel and Omut were excellent guides to the Hippadrome, Blue Mosque, Haghia Sophia, Grand Bazar and the Topkapi Palace. Their knowledge was amazing and they made sure we saw the maximum of everything available. We couldn't recommend them any more and we are going on the Bosphorus boat trip this afternoon with a trip to the highest point in the cable car to take stunning pictures.

Freezing cold at the table and we had to sit there in our coats all evening, even though it suppose to be a festive evening. Food was tasteless and the hot dinner wash cold. Shows was invisible for us because of the tabeling. Fireworks was absolutely not even close to what was advertised. Plan Tours say that our evening was as we could expect - I don't know how they can claim this though ! Take a normal evening cruise with out a show and eat from a local Bufe instead. This will save you money and give you the same experience

My family and I enjoyed every second of the tour. Murat was our tour guide and he was very patient and extremely knowledgeable. My favorite part of the tour was visiting the palace and learning about the Sultans. Murat did a great job explaining things and allows us to ask as many questions as possible. It felt like Murat was our local friend showing us around. that’s how great the dude was at his job. Food was also great. If I get to come visit Turkey again, I would definitely do the tour once again. #moneywellspent

it was good for take picture. because the location is near the sea and . the architecture of the building was good . the atmosphere of the historical building.

A must visit in istanbul. the palace is beautiful. tour picked me up from hotel. after the palace we also went to highest point on asia side. guide was very informative about lots of information and various landmarks. had a great time

The tour was really nice. We went to the blue mosque , ayasophia , topkapai , and grand bazar. Lunch was included in the tour fees . the tour guy Bulut speaks english and Spanish. We really enjoyed it. Bulut explained everything that we wanted to know . The group was also nice which have multi nationalities .

The Tour guide was out of this word with his way of presenting the historical event in the whole tour

The bus picked me up from the hotel and I enjoyed a cup of sahlep while we waited for the rest of the group. The palace and grounds were very pretty and it was interesting to listen to the commentary. I recommend this tour if you have time while staying in Istanbul.

As far as the guide Murat is concerned I have no problem. He was friendly and knowledgeable and his commentary/narrative was excellent. However the arrangements were dreadful. The booking said to confirm the booking and advise the hotel you’re staying in no less than 48 hours in advance so that pickup can be arranged. The office said pickup at 8am at my hotel, which I thought strange as attractions open at 9am but what the hell - they’re the experts. So I’m waiting in my hotel lobby at 8am - nothing. I wait till 8.50 (above and beyond I’d say) when I asked the hotel concierge to call. Plan Tours say they didn’t know which hotel. WTF?? Why would I call UK to Istanbul to confirm and not tell them which hotel? It was worse than that, because the meeting point in front of the Blue Mosque was around 2 minutes walk from my hotel so if the office had said that I wouldn’t have needed the pickup anyway. So I decided to give the review 2 stars. That breaks down into giving the guide Murat 5 stars and the company 1 star because missing arrangements for a client in a strange city is frankly unforgivable and I won’t be using the company again. If you do use them my recommendation is to get your hotel concierge to re-confirm the arrangements for pickup etc the night before.

A very large place, please come in the morning and a comfortable shoe. Each building is very beautiful with very delicate carvings. Each corner is very beautiful in the photo. Added to the very peaceful sea view. For me Good location

Let me begin by stating that experiencing Ephesus and the other surrounding historical sites, e.g. the Church (House) of the Virgin Mary, are absolutely worth the effort. If you have only one day to spare away from Istanbul, take the short flight to Izmir and see one of the true wonders of the ancient world. Having said that, be very critical of the travel agency you pick to get you to Ephesus. We selected Plan Tours and, in hindsight, we should have gone with another company. Keep in mind that the company that arranges your intra-Turkish air will most likely not be the tour agency that actually conducts the tour of Ephesus, which in our case was a good thing. Plan Tours picked us up at 5:15 AM and then unbeknownst to us took us to the wrong airport. NOTE: check your travel docs because there are two airports in Istanbul (IST and SAW), and they are, at minimum, an hour apart. We discovered after we attempted to check-in at the gate for our 8:00 AM flight that the driver had taken us to the wrong airport. We tried in vain for almost an hour to get anyone at Plan Tours to answer their phone. The only reply was a voicemail stating that someone would be in the office at 7:30 AM, a mere 30 minutes before our flight. To salvage our trip we acted quickly and booked another regional flight to Izmir at additional cost in hopes making it to Izmir to meet up with the Ephesus tour. We arrived 45 minutes behind schedule. Castle Tours in Izmir did an amazing job of picking us up at the airport and linking us with our tour group, which was already underway. We missed seeing the Temple of Artemis, but we did make it to the city of Ephesus, which was extraordinary. The rest of the day played out as planned. After returning to home to Germany, we engaged Plan Tours about a refund for the plane tickets lost due to the logistical mistake as well as the the plane tickets purchased to offset being sent to the wrong airport. In the end, we had to engage Viator to get Plan Tours to refund 20% of the cost. As we explained to both Viator and Plan Tours, if we hadn't taken the initiative and bought the new airfare to offset being taken to the wrong airport, we would be seeking a full refund for the entire trip. In the end, please heed our warnings and check your itineraries to ensure logistical details, like airport codes, are correct and think about how you might anticipate and/or offset logistical snafu's,, like non-responsive emergency contacts.