Istanbul Hagia Sofia Excursion Reviews

Gorgeous! Great tour guide (Umit).

Provider: Independent Operator

This is a must see in Istanbul. Incredible Mosque/Church and has amazing history.

Provider: MSC Cruises

Part of out 2 day tour. Breathtaking!

Provider: Norwegian Cruise Line

Impossibly long lines and almost an hour wait no matter how you plan to see this. A great deal of walking!!! Guide needed to make what you are seeing meaningful but ship horribly overpriced and there are great guides on the internet...check trip advisor. Taxi drivers will rip you off up and down with every trick in the book. they are merciless. Do not get in a cab.

Provider: Independent Operator

Enormous church with both remains of christian and Islamic ornaments. A museum nowadays.

Provider: Costa Cruises

We did this on our own and it is an amazing city. The Grand Bazaar - Like the West Edmonton Mall of Canada - not fussy about it. Istanbul is easy enough to get around in on your own, all the books said this and it is true. We did it on our own with a taxi driver and it was great.

Provider: Independent Operator

This is a very interesting building as it has been a christian church and then a mosque and finally a museum.

Provider: MSC Cruises

Hagia Sofia was beautiful. The bus took us on a short city tour first.Tour guide was very good.We walked from Hagia Sofia to the Blue Mosque.

Provider: Cunard Line

Onto Hagia Sophia monastery which was also nice, but not as nice as Blue Mosque.

Provider: Princess Cruises

Breathtaking!

Provider: Independent Operator

Another excellent private tour with Semih Kazak (guidesemih@hotmail.com) through Istanbul city, blue mosque, lunch at the pudding shop which was great, and grand bazaar. Don't spend too much time in the bazaar as it can be overwhelming. Spend the most time in the mosques and walking the city. It is beautiful. Don't miss the Turkish rug demonstrations.

Provider: Independent Operator

Enjoyed walking around here and the guide made it very interesting - able to hear well on the headsets. I would have enjoyed this more had I not been so hot, having said that well worth a visit. If you go the 1st landing I would imagine some great photographs. If you were prepared to walk from the ship it would only take about 40 mins to reach on foot. Other passengers took the tram which was very cheap.

Provider: Thomson Cruises

Provider: Independent Operator

Hagia Sophia was built in 532 AD which, IMO, was more elegant and well-decorated than Blue Mosque. It used to be a Christian Church but now it's a museum with Muslim calligraphy.

Provider: Independent Operator

Very impressive but this was our kids' least favorite stop in Istanbul. Amazing history. I would recommend a good guide for this place. Also, having a private guide allows you to skip the very long lines to get in. This is my review from above: Istanbul - We all loved it! We did a Context Tour and this time, the guide was excellent. She met us at the ship and we took the tram into Old Town. I am glad we had her because it was not as straight forward finding the tram from the ship. It wasn't difficult but we would have wasted time without her getting us there. We did have Lira with us that we ordered from our local bank. So glad we did this. We need it for the tram and all entrances, but the Turkish Bath House took or credit card. Here, we did Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Underground Cistern, lunch at an art school/handicraft center called Caferaga Medresesi (great!), Grand Bazaar and my girls and I did a bath at the oldest Turkish Bath House called Cemberlitas Hamami, built in the 1500's. You can get the shortest option, which takes about 1 1/2 hours but you need to tell them you are on a cruise and have limited time. This was an experience we will always remember. It was recommended to us in a "port talk" that was given before each port of call on the Spirit.

Provider: Norwegian Cruise Line

Photo op. Interesting lighting inside, very typical of the historic Mosques in the area.

Provider: Celebrity Cruises

By chance, or perhaps by design; we were paired with a superb guide for a two-day excursion. She had been a tour guide in Turkey for over twenty five years and spoke English with ease. She gave us a thumbnail of the tour agenda at the beginning of each day and remained with us throughout the times spent at each venue. All the locations typically attended by visitors were included on this tour for one price. St. Sophia is a great example of Mosque architecture and Islamic culture - very photogenic.

Provider: Celebrity Cruises

Plain simple church...but lovely to see

Provider: Princess Cruises

This is also a beautiful place and with the right guide is very interesting as well.

Provider: Princess Cruises