Istanbul, the historical peninsula
Tour Code DAT 01
Highlights
- Istanbul and the historical peninsula
- You will have complete freedom to choose and decide where you want go and what you want to see.
Contact us and build your own day trip, combine different sites and areas, add pre & post tour arrangements to your trip, shorten or extend your chosen
program. Design your own tailor made trip, a unique experience, developed according to your most personal travel desires.
-
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec
-
Day trip
-
A (easy)
-
N.A.
Itinerary
-
DAY 1
IstanbulMeet at your hotel’s lobby (after breakfast at around 09:00/09:30 am) with Demavend Travels tour leader for a fascinating trip through Istanbul’s historical peninsula, known as Sultanahmet.Istanbul, formerly known as Constantinople, was the hub of the Ottoman Empire and many of the grand buildings of this period are present today. You could easily spend a week in this city and still not have seen all the sites.Advisable sites and options for the dayThe blue mosque (Sultan Ahmed) was built between 1609 and 1616. The design is the culmination of two centuries of both ottoman mosque and byzantine church development. It incorporates some byzantine elements of the neighbouring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period.The Hagia Sophia, considered to be one of the world’s most important monuments, a masterpiece and example of great architectural beauty. The marvel complex anchors the old city of Istanbul and has served for centuries as an orthodox patriarchal basilica, later as a mosque and as museum.The Topkapi palace was the primary residence of the ottoman sultans for approximately 400 years of their 624 year reign. As well as a royal residence, the palace was a setting for state occasions and royal entertainments. The palace is among the monuments contained within the "historic areas of Istanbul", which became a UNESCO world heritage site in 1985.Istanbul archaeology museum consists of three museums and houses over one million objects that represent almost all of the eras and civilizations in world history. The facade of the building was inspired by the Alexander sarcophagus and sarcophagus of the mourning women, both housed inside the museum. The museum consist also the sarcophagus of the crying women, parts of statues from the temple of Zeus found at Bergama, busts of Alexander the great and Zeus and fragments from the temple of Athena at Assos.The hippodrome square, once a circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. The surviving monuments of the Spina (the middle barrier of the racecourse) are the two obelisks (obelisk of Thutmose III & walled obelisk) and the serpentine column, now sit in holes in a landscaped garden.The basilica cistern is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul. Ancient texts indicated that the basilica contained gardens, surrounded by a colonnade and facing the Hagia Sophia. Historical texts claim that 7,000 slaves were involved in the construction of the cistern.The covered bazaar (Kapali Carsi) is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 3,000 shops which attract between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily.The spice bazaar (or Egyptian bazaar) is the second largest covered shopping complex after the grand bazaar. It has a total of 85 shops selling spices, Turkish delight and other sweets, jewellery, souvenirs, and dried fruits and nuts. The bazaar was (and still is) the centre for spice trade in Istanbul.Meals: - / - / -
Inclusions
- Demavend Travel English speaking tour leader: from 09:00/09:30 - 18:00:18:30 h)
- All international and domestic flights
- Travel insurance
- All kind of extra transports & transfers other than stated in the itinerary / arrival/departure transfers
- All kind of entrance fees for historical and natural sites
- All kind of optional activities
- Meals other than stated the itinerary
- All kind of soft and alcoholic drinks, bottled water, tea & coffee
- All kind of personal expenses
- Overnight accommodations, extra nights & single supplements / accommodation upgrades
- Personal equipment
- Tips