Meet Our Tour Guides in Istanbul and Across Türkiye
Every guide on this roster is licensed, named and photographed, with a page of their own you can read first.
Four Guides to Start With
Every guide on the roster has a page of their own. These four are the ones most guests meet first.
Ömer Çelik
Lead guide
He studied Tourist Guidance at Erzincan University.
He is often the first guide new guests are matched with in Istanbul.
Binnur Eren Kurtoğlu
Food and neighbourhoods
she studied Tourist Guiding at Cappadocia University, then earned her license in 2022.
Before she was licensed she spent years as a group leader across Türkiye, learning the rhythm of a day from the inside.
Buket Kıcır
History and art
She formalized this passion at Balıkesir University, undertaking rigorous training in tourism and classical archaeology.
She pairs the scholarship with an easy, unhurried way of walking a neighbourhood.
Deniz Karagözoğlu
Istanbul, newly
BA in Tour Guiding (Anadolu University); currently continuing his studies in Tourism Management.
He guided in Fethiye for years before moving to Istanbul to guide here full time.
There are 56 guides on the roster in total. Search all of them by region and language, or read on: the roster also sorts into master guides, local guides and the newest names.
Most Agencies Keep Their Guides Anonymous
You book a private day, and you meet whoever is taking you when they walk into the hotel lobby. For most companies the guide stays a first name on a confirmation email, though that person decides whether the day works.
Ours are published: name, face, background and the languages they work in. That commits us to something: a guide whose work is attached to their name in public is one you can look up, ask for, and hold us to.
A Licence Is the Floor, Not the Selling Point
Every guide holds a TUREB professional tour guide licence issued by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. It is where the conversation starts, not where it ends.
You See Who Before You Decide
Names, faces and specialisms are published before you ask. You choose a person, not a logo and a promise to assign someone suitable.
Matched to the Day You Want
The aim is the right personality in front of the right guest, by interest, style, language and even mood.
Guides From Across Türkiye
They come from Istanbul, Cappadocia, Ephesus, Antalya, Bodrum, Ankara and beyond, not only from the city you land in.
Languages on the Record
Between them they speak English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Italian, Portuguese and Urdu, and each profile says which.
A Record, Not a Ranking
The roster is a running record of the people we work with, not a list of the country’s best guides.
Master Guides
Postgraduate work, published writing, decades of practice. Ask for one of these four when you want the argument behind the monument, not only the tour of it.
Ahmet Faik Özbilge
Istanbul, in depth
At just 22, while still at university, he earned his professional guiding license in French and later in English.
He grew up on the Anatolian side of the Bosphorus and has guided Istanbul ever since.
Ebru Gökteke
Byzantine art
She pursued graduate work in the History of Religions at Marmara University.
Christian iconography and Greek Orthodox heritage are her subject, so she leads the churches and the mosaics.
Dr. Selda Özhan
Bodrum and archaeology
With 20 years of experience, including leading for National Geographic.
She has conducted underwater surveys and excavation work herself, so the history she describes is history she has dug.
Enis Aköz
French, and five generations deep
Born in Istanbul in 1958 and descended from a family that has lived in the city for five generations.
For over twenty years he has designed and led private tours across Istanbul and Anatolia.
Local Guides
These three live in the places they guide, rather than being sent out from Istanbul for the day.
Özgür Varol
Ephesus
A nationally licensed guide from Selçuk.
He comes from Selçuk, the town beside Ephesus, so the site is close to home.
Selim Özyürek
Cappadocia
Having studied tourism at Mersin University and lived for several years in Germany.
He was raised among Cappadocia’s fairy chimneys and valleys, and still lives there.
Said Balcı
Cappadocia
Born in Istanbul in 1997 but originally hailing from Trabzon, Said has been guiding travelers professionally since 2019.
He is Cappadocia’s second local name on the roster, so a day there does not have to wait on one guide’s calendar.
The Newest Names
Four guides who joined the roster most recently. New to the roster is not new to guiding.
Betül Başak
Archaeology
She holds a BA in Classical Archaeology from Ege University and an MA in Art History from Istanbul Technical University.
She worked on excavations before she guided, so a site is somewhere she has read from the ground up.
Albert Eli
Jewish heritage
he later refined into professional expertise while studying at Gelisim University.
He works from deep roots in Istanbul’s Jewish heritage, in several languages.
Dr. İsmail Gündüz
Ephesus
His insatiable thirst for knowledge led him to earn both a Master of Science and a prestigious PhD in Tourism Management.
He guides Ephesus and the Seven Churches of Revelation with a doctorate behind the stories.
Elif Ünal
Cappadocia, archaeology
She studied Tourism Guiding at Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University between 2009 and 2013.
She is midway through a second degree, this one in archaeology, alongside her guiding.
How We Found These Guides
Finding them was never a straightforward recruitment process. The whole story is told guide by guide, in the order their profiles went up.
Met by Chance
On rooftops, in cafés, at archaeological sites, outside cruise terminals, even in the middle of someone else’s tour.
Introduced by Guides We Trust
One good guide introduced the next, and the network grew from there.
Scouted by the Founder
Fethi Karataş finds guides himself, and pays the people whose eye he trusts to find them for him.
Published Once Trusted
The profiles began in late 2024, as a way to put the guides we already trusted in public.
Not Only Historians
Archaeologists, art historians, musicians, translators, photographers and writers, beside lifelong tourism professionals.
Four Years to Thirty
Some have been guiding for four years; others for more than thirty.
Licensed guides, TÜRSAB member #7651Guiding Istanbul since 2011145 Google reviews rated 5.0560 TripAdvisor reviews rated 4.856 guides across TürkiyeCan You Ask for a Guide by Name?
Yes, and it is the reason these pages exist. Read the profiles, pick a name, and say it when you write to us. If that guide is free on your dates, they are yours; if not, we will tell you so rather than quietly send somebody else.
What you cannot do is arrange the day with the guide privately, and that is not a house preference. Betül Başak sets out the reason on her own page: As required under Turkish tourism regulations, licensed guides are booked through licensed travel agencies rather than directly. So the dates, the changes and the questions all run through us, and on the day itself the guide is yours.
If your dates are close, say so: short-notice days are more often possible than people expect.
Where Our Guides Work
| Region | Who guides there | Where to look |
|---|---|---|
| Istanbul | Specialisms from Byzantine art to food | The Istanbul guides |
| Ephesus and the Aegean | Guides who work the site, one of them from Selçuk beside it | Ephesus guides |
| Cappadocia | Local guides, one of them raised among its fairy chimneys | Cappadocia guides |
| The rest of Türkiye | Every other region on the roster, guide by guide | Search the roster |
Where to Go From Here
Depending on how settled your days already are, one of these is the next useful step.
Questions People Ask Before They Choose
How many guides does The Other Tour work with?
There are 56 licensed guides on the roster, working in Istanbul and across Türkiye. The full list is searchable by region and language, and every guide has a page of their own. Some have been guiding for four years; others for more than thirty.
Can I choose my own guide?
Yes. Read the profiles and name the guide you want when you write to us. If they are free on your dates you will have them; if not, we will say so and offer the closest match rather than substituting quietly. Booking runs through The Other Tour, because licensed guides in Türkiye are booked through licensed agencies rather than directly.
Are all of your guides licensed?
Yes. Every guide holds a TUREB professional tour guide licence issued by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and carries the card. To verify any guide yourself, ours or anybody else’s, the way to check a guiding licence is set out step by step.
Do your guides work outside Istanbul?
Yes. Guides on the roster come from Istanbul, Cappadocia, Ephesus, Antalya, Bodrum, Ankara and beyond. Ephesus and the Aegean and Cappadocia each have their own pages of guides. Name the region and we will say who is there.
What languages do your guides work in?
Between them, English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Italian, Portuguese and Urdu, and every profile lists the languages that guide works in. If the language you need is not listed, ask: we will tell you honestly rather than promise and improvise.
Tell Us Who You Want, or Let Us Suggest
Send your dates and what you hope to see. If there is a guide you already want, name them. If not, describe the day and we will suggest who it suits.
