Best Walking Tours of Istanbul Turkey 2023

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Greetings, Internet Stranger! I’m Stella Jane, and welcome to the best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey. Istanbul is a fascinating city with tons of amazing food, intriguing history, and more historic buildings than you can shake a stick at.

Plus, it’s an amazing shopping city! There are tons of great deals to be had here. But where to get started?

That’s where this list of the best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey comes in. I’ll show you all my favorite tours that I took when I was in Istanbul, and yes, I took all of these tours myself. We’ll experience everything this city has to offer, and then you can decide which of the best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey is for you!

Best Walking Tours of Istanbul Turkey

1) All Day Tour

As I mentioned earlier, there is so much to see and do in Istanbul that it can feel overwhelmimg. That’s why I recommend booking this amazing experience. This tour will take you to all the major attractions in Istanbul, and I do mean all of them.

Want to see the Hagia Sophia? The Blue Mosque? The Grand Bazaar? All these and more will be available to us, so let’s not delay.

Check rates and availability right here!

We’re going to start at the Hagia Sophia. Hagia Sophia means Holy Wisdom, and this used to be the most important church in the Eastern Orthodox faith. (This was in the days when Istanbul was Constantinople, now it’s Istanbul, not Constantinople.)

When the Ottoman Turks captured the city, they converted it to a mosque. Then it was eventually turned into a museum. Now it’s a mosque again, but it’s still open to visitors like us!

This is not the original Hagia Sophia building. The original building was wooden, and it promptly got burned down. Why did people in the old days build things out of wood? Smokey the Bear would not approve.

Hagia Sophia 2.0 was rebuilt by the Emperor Theodosius. He was better at planning, so he constructed the building out of marble. However, this church got knocked down in a riot. Yikes! I don’t think I’d like to meet rioters strong enough to knock down a marble building.

There are still some ruins from the second church, which you can see in my photo above. The Hagia Sophia we will actually be visiting is the third version of the church.

When the Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque, several changes were added. Arabic writing was placed on the walls of the mosque. (Arabic is the language of Islam, but people in Turkey speak Turkish, not Arabic.)

Also, any images of human beings were removed from the walls. In Islam, you can’t put images of human beings inside a house of worship. My guide told me that you can’t destroy an image of a prophet once one has been made, so the images of Jesus were covered up, not destroyed. (In Islam, Jesus, like Moses and Abraham, is considered to be a prophet.)

You’ll also have an opportunity to walk through this amazing door that used to be reserved only for the Emperor of Byzantium. If you’ve ever wanted to pretend to be the Emperor of Byzantium for a day, now is your chance!

You can also climb up to the second floor for a fantastic glimpse of these chandeliers. My guide said that mosques have circular chandeliers because the shape gets people to pray together as a group.

And there are cats in the Hagia Sophia! They are truly extraordinary creatures! So well behaved and fuzzy. I am always happy to see cats everywhere I go.

The Prophet Muhammad loved cats, which is one reason you often see cats in Muslim countries like Turkey and Morocco.

Once you’re done at the Hagia Sophia, get ready to see all the rest of the most famous attractions in Istanbul. We’ve got the Topkapi Palace, the Grand Bazaar, and even the Blue Mosque eagerly waiting for you.

If we weren’t on this fantastic tour, we wouldn’t be able to see all these amazing sights in one day. But lucky for us, we are on the tour!

And even luckier, we get to eat some delicious lunch before we continue.

Our lunch stop was an adorable restaurant that I never would have been able to find on my own. Again, that’s why having a local guide is so great.

She suggested that I try the Iskender kebab, which was a Turkish dish that I had never even heard of before. It’s the same as doner kebab, only it’s covered in melted butter and tomato sauce. I never would have thought to combine those two sauces, but it turns out that they are delicious together. Thanks, Turkey!

Once we’re all fed, before we get to the really famous sights, we’re heading to the Hippodrome. The Hippodrome dates back to Constantinople because it was where every Byzantine who was any Byzantine would come for horse racing.

Apparently horse racing was insanely popular for reasons that I do not understand. And two different groups of horse enthusiasts, the Blues and the Greens, also got involved in politics. Somehow, this conflict almost led to the overthrow of the Emperor Justinian.

Unfortunately for the Blues and Greens, Justinian was foxier than they were, and he and his lovely wife Theodosia had tens of thousands of the rebels killed. Yikes! Remind me to never be a rebel in Byzantium.

Next up is the Blue Mosque, which was constructed by the Sultan Ahmet. He wanted his mosque to be the most important, so he put six minarets on it. However, this made a bunch of folks mad at him because only the mosque in Mecca was supposed to be important enough for six minarets.

Can you guess what the clever Ahmet did? He had a seventh minaret added to the mosque in Mecca. He was a real sharp cookie, that sultan.

The Blue Mosque is an active house of worship, so be sure to follow the rules. Wear modest clothes and be prepared to remove your shoes indoors. Also, you need a scarf for your hair if you are female, like I am. You can get one at the mosque if you don’t have one on your own.

My guide taught me many interesting facts about mosques, and here is one of my favorites. Many mosques have images of tulips and roses. Tulips symbolize Allah and roses symbolize Muhammad. (Remember that images of people are not permitted in Muslim religious buildings.)

This is another reason that I love taking guided tours! I never would have understood the symbolism on my own.

Are you ready to shop until you drop? Then let’s hit up the Grand Bazaar. My guide told me that the three most important buildings in any Muslim city are supposed to be the mosque, the palace, and the bazaar, in that order. But the Ottoman Turks were so into shopping that they built the bazaar before the palace. My kind of people!

The Grand Bazaar sells any and everything, and I got my souvenir pair of earrings from Istanbul here. However, my favorite purchase was a crazy affordable Turkish lamp. I got a great deal because I was on the tour, and they even rewired it so it would work in an American home. (I got some yummy tea while I waited.) A great deal for all!

I think my favorite part of the tour was Topkapi Palace, second only to the Hagia Sophia. Yes, this was the palace that had to wait to get built until the Grand Bazaar was done.

There are a series of courtyards in the palace. In the first courtyard, beggars were allowed to come looking for food. But there was security that prevented them from going further into the palace.

More cats! Are you not entertained?

On the tour, you’ll get some time to explore the palace on your own, as you would expect on one of the best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey. If you want to pay a tiny fee, you can go see where the sultan’s harem lived. I never can resist the chance to see a harem, so in I went.

The ladies of the harem were guarded by Black men who had been castrated, so that there was doubly no chance of one of them getting away with impregnating one of the ladies and passing it off as one of the sultan’s. I feel like castrating a man would really be sufficient here, but maybe that is why I am not a sultan.

These guards don’t seem that interested in seducing ladies.

Neither did this one. And that was it for the fantastic tour!

24 Hour Tip

I hope I’ve convinced you that this was one of the best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey. And I hope you’ll be able to experience it on your own!

Check rates and availability of the tour right here!

2) Istanbul Food Tour

Food tours are just about the best kind of walking tour that there is in the world. If you go out to lunch by yourself, you can usually only try one or two dishes. On a walking food tour, you can experience more like six, seven, or eight dishes, in small and pleasant portions.

Plus, you’ll have a local guide who can show you the best places to eat, places you would never be able to find on your own. That’s why I’m excited to take you on this amazing food tour of Istanbul, which is definitely one of the best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey.

Just click here to check rates and availability for the tour!

I think it’s the best bang for your buck in Istanbul, food-wise. That’s why it’s one of the best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey.

This Istanbul Food Tour will commence in the Kadikoy neighborhood, which is on the Asian side of the city. If you’re on the European side for your hotel, like I was, this just means you’ll get a great ferry ride before the tour.

Be sure to come hungry! That way you’ll be guaranteed a great time.

Since we’re getting this food tour kicked off in the morning, how about some breakfast? I was pretty excited to try a breakfast all full of amazing cheese, olives, and fresh vegetables, because the typical breakfast back home in New York City is a bagel with cream cheese and salmon on top.

And it can’t be a proper breakfast or a proper one of the best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey without eggs, can it? This is menemen, which consists of eggs, but also peppers, tomatoes, and tons of flavor. I could eat this for breakfast every morning and be quite happy.

Before I went to Istanbul, I had no idea that there were so many Turkish foods that are kind of like pizza. The goodies that you can see in my photo above are called pide. On this tour, the chefs let us roll some out with your own hands.

Did I do a great job? No. But did I do a good job? Also no.

My pide was topped with pastrami because I did not get the vegetarian option. However, there was a vegetarian option available for one of the other women on the tour. She did not go hungry, I promise you!

There were plenty of veggie options on this tour, but Turkey really is a meat lovers paradise, if you do happen to be an omnivore.

Here we have another dish I had never tried before coming to Istanbul. These are manti, which are like Turkish dumplings. I didn’t even know that dumplings could be a Turkish food!

These manti were stuffed with meat and smothered in a tangy sauce. Delicious and nutritious! (I actually have no idea if these are healthy or not. I was just going for the rhyme.)

Of course, the number one thing you need to try on a Turkish food tour or any of the best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey is some Turkish coffee. That’s just science.

Turkish coffee is incredibly strong. And on top of that, our guide said you can tell someone’s fortune with the grounds. I didn’t have enough coffee grounds in my coffee to tell my fortune, so maybe I don’t have a fortune. Maybe I am a ghost! BOO!

Here is yet another one of the Turkish pizza foods that are not actually pizza! This is called lahmacun, and it’s a flagrantly skinny crust schmeared with spicy ground meat. You can usually expect the meat on a lahmacun to be lamb.

I think this was my favorite dish on the tour because it was full of flavor and fun to eat. You actually roll it up so it’s like a pizza roll and then just nom it all down. Delicious!

This is the most well known example of Turkish cuisine in many parts of the world: the legendary doner kebap. It’s made with meat cooked on a rotisserie, and at this particular spot, the meat is made with lots of love.

Our guide said not to put sauce or ketchup or extra spice or anything on the meat because it’s already perfectly seasoned. I couldn’t agree more! Getting to eat here made this one of the best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey

This is the last savory course on the tour, and it’s a soup called beyran. Like the dumplings, it is both meaty and a little bit sour. I have spent some time traveling in Romania because my family comes from there, and to me it was reminiscent of Romanian soups called ciorba. Delicious!

You might look at my photo above and think we are getting baklava for dessert. I adore baklava, but what we actually got was even cooler. It’s katmer, which I had never heard of before, a pastry that’s kind of like baklava except it’s stuffed with cheese.

That’s just fine by all right thinking peoples. Cheese makes everything better. That’s just science.

24 Hour Tip

Those are all of the secrets of the food tour I can share for now.

I hope that you agree this is one of the best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey, and you are intrigued to try the food for yourself!

Just click here to check rates and availability for the tour!

3) Galata Tower Tour

Galata isn’t just a tower, it’s a whole neighborhood! And I think the best way to see it is on one of the best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey. If you’re looking for amazing views, this neighborhood will provide the most fantastic views of the entire city.

The Galata Tower is the best spot from which to get these views, but there’s always an awful line to get in.

That’s why I suggest you book a skip the line tour of Galata Tower to save time and learn more.

Check rates and availability right here!

Then once you get inside, you’ll really be able to appreciate Istanbul’s beauty. The views alone make this one of the best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey

One of the reasons to visit the Galata Tower is that it’s so incredibly old. In fact, the original tower that was built at this location was built all the way back in 528. Amazing!

However, the current Galata Tower is not that old. That’s because the 528 lighthouse was made from wood, and we all know what happens to tall wooden structures, don’t we?

The current tower is made from stone and it was constructed by the Genoese in the 14th century. I could explain why the Genoese were in Istanbul in the first place.

The name of the tower was originally Christ Tower, but of course the Ottoman Turks changed the name when they took over because they practiced a different religion.

Here are some things the Galata Tower has been used for: a prison, an observatory, and an epicenter for earthquakes. It’s tough to be the Galata Tower, sometimes!

The best thing about the Galata Tower is the spectacular views. But they also have a little helicopter simulation room that will let you pretend that you are flying around the city. It’s probably the only chance you’ll get to go around Istanbul by helicopter, so why not give it a chance?

I hope I’ve convinced you that this is one of the best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey, and I haven’t even told you all the things you’ll see on the tour!

Check rates and availability right here!

Best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey

Where to Stay?

I’m from New York City, which is one of the most ludicrously overpriced cities in the world. So for me, one of the best things about traveling is that I can sometimes afford to stay in better quality hotels than I could afford back home. And I truly lucked out by finding a great deal at the stunning Pera Palace Hotel for my time with the best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey. (You can find a similar deal by clicking here.)

The Pera Palace Hotel is indulgent in every way. There are amenities like a welcome drink and yummy welcome macarons. (Every hotel should have welcome cookies.) An amazing breakfast spread is included with the price of the hotel room every morning.

Plus you actually get to stay in the same hotel where Agatha Christie stayed when she was writing Murder on the Orient Express. For a mystery junkie like me, it doesn’t get better than this.

If you’d like to find a fabulous deal on this hotel, click here.

And if you’d rather explore great deals on tons of other hotels in Istanbul, click here!

This search engine will help you find the perfect place to stay during your time with the best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey. With tons of amazing options to choose from, I’m sure you’ll find something that’s just right for you.

best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey

Tools For Travel

• A portable cell charger so that your phone won’t die a miserable death during your best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey
• The best international travel adapter because if you’re American like I am, you’ll need one to be able to plug in electronics during your best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey
• I always get good advice from Lonely Planet’s guide to Istanbul. They divide the guide into sections by region, which is very helpful.
• The most reliable travel umbrella that is small enough to fit in my purse, but strong enough to stand up to powerful winds on our best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey
• These great TSA approved clear toiletries bags, so I can always keep spare toothpaste and travel sized toiletries in any carry-on.
• My book Get Lost, that I wrote myself with all my best travel tips. This book will show you how travel can take you on a journey of self-discovery.

That’s the best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey

What do you think are the best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey? Are you ready to start booking your hotel in Istanbul right now? Please email me at stellajane@aroundtheworldin24hours.com and let me know!

Note: If you want to know how I put my travel itineraries together, just click here. Keep in mind that while each article is about how to spend 24 hours in a place, that doesn’t mean you should ONLY spend 24 hours with the best walking tours of Istanbul Turkey.

Why not go for 24 hours in Istanbul? Enjoy the best guided tour in Istanbul. Experience 24 hours in Athens. Follow me on the best Athens Greece attractions. Let’s get going on the best tours Athens Greece.