Layover Tour in Istanbul

A stopover in Istanbul is usually measured in hours, yet both airports are a long way from the old city, and its sights fill a day. No guided layover tour in Istanbul sits in this category today. What does is a short list of packages of ten to fourteen days that start in the city and fly or drive off to the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts. They suit a stay of days, not a connection.

Each opens with a greeting at the airport and a drive to a hotel for the night. The next day is a guided circuit of the old city, listed from 9:00 to 15:00 or 16:00. It takes in Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar, plus Topkapı Palace and the Hippodrome in some programmes and the Basilica Cistern in one. Entrance fees are extra, though in some the guide holds skip-the-line tickets. Some programmes give the next morning, about four hours, to the Spice Bazaar and a Bosphorus cruise past Dolmabahçe Palace and Rumeli Fortress, with bags left in the hotel lobby until the flight south. The rest leave at 6:00 for Gallipoli and sleep in Çanakkale.

Practical. Match the arrival airport in the itinerary to your ticket. Sabiha Gökçen (SAW) is on the Asian side of the city and Istanbul Airport (IST) on the European, and the programmes name both. Istanbul averages 9C by day and 4C at night in January, and 28 to 30C by day and 20C at night in July. Most packages are free to cancel until 24 hours before the start. The operators ask for your international flight details when you book and for printed tickets and the tour voucher on the day. Entry depends on your passport, so confirm it first.