Istanbul: what we operate for agencies and groups

The list of Istanbul monuments is the same in every guidebook. What changes the outcome of a programme is the order and the grouping by zone, which is how we build it:

• Arrival day. No long visit. Transfer, hotel check-in and a walk through Sultanahmet: the Hippodrome, the exteriors of Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, all on foot and without tickets.
• Historic peninsula. Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern and Topkapı Palace are a few minutes on foot from each other. It is the only day on which the clock depends on third parties: capacity limits, security checks and prayer times. With a licensed guide the block is done in the morning and the afternoon stays free or goes to the Grand Bazaar.
• Bosphorus, bazaars and Galata. The Bosphorus boat leaves from Eminönü in the morning, next to the Spice Bazaar, so both visits fit in one outing. In the afternoon, the Galata Bridge on foot, the tower and İstiklal Avenue.
• Asian shore. Üsküdar and Kadıköy by ferry, on the fourth day and not the second: it is a day of neighbourhoods, market and waterfront that works once the monumental city is known, and the one with the fewest fixed times.
• Departure day. Sized to the flight time: with an afternoon departure, Süleymaniye and the Balat and Fener districts fit; with an early departure, only the transfer.

Each block also exists as a full-day tour of around eight hours with a licensed guide, reusable in layovers, short stays or the agency's own programmes.

Istanbul takes between two and four nights depending on the format, and in longer itineraries it is split between arrival and departure. This is how it sits in the published programmes (the cards are under Programmes that pass through here):

• City break. Istanbul in 5 days gives all four nights to the city: historic peninsula, Bosphorus and bazaars, Asian shore and a flexible last day; the three-day, two-night package is the short version.
• Istanbul plus one region by air. Istanbul and Cappadocia in 7 days spends three nights in Istanbul on arrival and one more on return; the seven-day programmes to Southeast Anatolia and to Kars and Eastern Anatolia follow the same pattern with two nights at the start and one at the end.
• Road itineraries or several flights. The 10-day road itinerary opens with two nights and closes with two more, so the historic peninsula is visited on the penultimate day; the 15-day grand journey has two nights at the start and one at the end.

The rule we apply when building any of them: the first day in Istanbul carries no ticketed visit, and the Sultanahmet block is placed on a day that is neither a Tuesday nor the first day of a bayram, because Topkapı is closed on those days.

The services quoted separately, stand-alone or inside the agency's own programme, are the same ones that hold the itineraries together:

• Full-day tours with a licensed guide, around eight hours each: classic Istanbul, the Bosphorus and Galata, and the Asian shore through Üsküdar and Kadıköy. The meeting point is on each product page and on the voucher; pickup at selected central hotels is a supplement.
• Ticketed shows: the sema ceremony at the Hodjapasha Culture Center (Sirkeci) and the Bosphorus dinner cruise from Kabataş, daily, with a transfer from central hotels as a supplement.
• Airport transfers at IST and SAW, arrival and departure, with the vehicle assigned by number of passengers.
• Licensed guide by full or half day, in Spanish or English, for a single visit or to accompany the whole itinerary.
• Entrance tickets to museums, palaces and sites, stand-alone or included in the programme. At Hagia Sophia, foreign-visitor tickets are issued through the monument operator's agency portal; the amount is set by the site and can change.

The description of each service, how they combine and the net-quoting note are on ground services in Turkey.

Istanbul has two airports, one on each shore, and the difference between them is an hour and a half of transfer. It is the first thing we check before accepting an air series.

• Istanbul Airport (IST), on the European side, north of the city. The country's main intercontinental connecting airport. By public transport, the M11 line reaches Gayrettepe in about half an hour; to Taksim the realistic count is fifty to fifty-five minutes, and to Sultanahmet, with two or three changes, around seventy-five. A private transfer is the fastest option without traffic and the most variable with it.
• Sabiha Gökçen (SAW), on the Asian side, in Pendik, with much of the domestic traffic. The M4 line reaches Kadıköy in about fifty-two minutes; the European shore takes around an hour and a half via Marmaray, and Sultanahmet two to three hours by public transport.

The operational consequence: if the international flight lands at one airport and the domestic flight leaves from the other, the transfer crosses the whole city and can take half a day. That is why, when quoting an itinerary with domestic flights, we ask for the flight number and the airport before fixing the hotel and the order of visits. Domestic routes, the weight-based baggage allowance and what happens when an airline moves a schedule are in the guide to domestic flights in Turkey.

We book hotels in Istanbul in the category the agency specifies (3-star, 4-star, 5-star, boutique or luxury), and the zone is decided with the itinerary in front of us, not afterwards. Specific names are proposed in the quote, with the dates.

• Sultanahmet leaves the historic-peninsula visits within walking distance of the hotel. It is the natural zone for short stays and for the Hagia Sophia and Topkapı day.
• Karaköy, Beyoğlu and the Taksim area are closer to the restaurants and nightlife and require a short tram or vehicle ride for the historic part. They work well for four-night stays and private programmes.
• Layovers and domestic-flight connections: if arrival is through SAW, a hotel on the Asian shore or near the M4 line avoids crossing the city twice.

One rule we apply in every format: no hotel change in the middle of an Istanbul stay.

Istanbul is operated twelve months a year. What changes with the season is the time of each visit and the queue: spring and autumn are the most comfortable months for walking the city; in July and August outdoor visits are moved earlier; and the year-end behaves like high season in the hotels.

The closures that upset a programme, checked against the official sources when fixing each file:

• Topkapı Palace: closed on Tuesdays and on the first day of each bayram. The Sultanahmet block is not scheduled on those days.
• Ministry of Culture museums and sites: weekly closure on Mondays as a general rule, and opening at 13:00 on the first day of a bayram; Dolmabahçe also closes on Mondays.
• Grand Bazaar: closed on Sundays and on the first holiday day; the Spice Bazaar opens seven days a week except during bayram.
• Hagia Sophia and working mosques: no weekly rest day, but they close to visitors during the five daily prayers and, on Friday at midday, for a longer period. The foreign-visitor route runs through the upper galleries; the ground floor is for worship.

The two bayram holidays follow the lunar calendar and move about eleven days earlier every year; roads saturate on the eve and the first day, and domestic flights sell out weeks ahead. The dates for the travel year, the official bridge days and the full closures table are in the Turkey operating calendar.

Groups. Istanbul is the destination where timing coordination weighs most: timed-entry tickets reserved in advance, one licensed guide per coach, a vehicle assigned by number of passengers and a luggage-loading time agreed with the hotel. Closed groups and series are quoted within 72 business hours; the full format is on groups in Turkey.

MICE and incentives. The city holds the country's largest hotel supply and the on-site services an incentive needs: airport transfers for the whole group, a dinner show or sema ceremony as an evening activity, and guided visit days between working sessions. What we coordinate and what a request for proposal needs is on MICE and incentives in Turkey.

Luxury and private. Licensed guide and vehicle only for the passengers, five-star or boutique hotels in the zone that best serves the programme and a pace set by the client. The approach is on luxury travel in Turkey for advisors.

Layovers. For passengers connecting through IST or SAW we operate the Istanbul layover tour with airport pickup and a return margin; what really fits in 8, 12 or 24 hours is in the layover article.