From Hagia Sophia to the ferry to Asia, with the closing times and tickets planned for you.
Hagia Sophia at 9 am, as its visitor entrance opens
About 3 km, downhill after lunch
What you want to see, and your weekday
On the city ferry to Kadıköy, in Asia
There is no fixed itinerary. Tell us what you care about, and the route is built around it. Hagia Sophia to the ferry is one way to spend the day, and any stop can change.
The sights you care about, the ones you can skip, and who is coming.
Around what you asked for, your weekday and your all-aboard or flight time. A written plan comes back within a day.
Tickets can be arranged with your day, and a car can collect you from your hotel and take you back.
In your hotel lobby or at the Galataport gate, with the day already timed.
The Old City sits on a hill and the ferries leave from its foot, so the day climbs before lunch and runs downhill after it. Topkapı Palace, which one-day guests ask us for nearly as often as Hagia Sophia, can take the Cistern’s place on any day but Tuesday.
Visitors from abroad have their own entrance and see Hagia Sophia from the upper gallery, while the ground floor is kept for prayer. The gallery is quietest at opening time.
Open to visitors every day from 9 am; the separate visitor entrance and its ticket date from 15 January 2024.
Walk on: 0.5 km, about 7 minutes, level
Across the square, the Blue Mosque takes its name from the İznik tiles inside, and entry is free. Beside it, the Hippodrome still keeps the Egyptian obelisk of Constantinople’s chariot track.
Open 8:30 am to 7 pm in summer and to 5 pm in winter; last entry half an hour before closing.
Walk on: 0.5 km, about 7 minutes, level
Down the steps, the Basilica Cistern keeps its forest of columns in half-light, with the two Medusa heads at the far end. The door takes a card or an İstanbulkart, never cash, and we sort that before you reach it.
Open every day from 9 am to 10 pm; tickets at the museum counter or online from Passo.
Walk on: 0.9 km, about 12 minutes, gently uphill
Lunch first, at a lokanta where the day’s dishes wait behind glass and you point at what you want. Then the Grand Bazaar’s covered streets at your pace, with a shop only when you ask for one.
Open 8:30 am to 7 pm and closed on Sundays and religious holidays; about 3,600 shops.
Walk on: 0.8 km, about 11 minutes, downhill
The market streets fall about 40 metres from the Grand Bazaar to the Spice Bazaar, through the wholesale lanes where the city does its own shopping. Your guide times it around the midday crush.
Open every day from 8 am to 7:30 pm, busiest at weekends between noon and 6 pm.
Walk on: 0.5 km, about 6 minutes, down to the water
From the Eminönü pier the city ferry crosses to Kadıköy on the Asian side, with the Old City’s domes behind you. Your car can meet you on the far side, or the ferry brings you back.
A ferry leaves Eminönü for Kadıköy every 20 minutes through the day, and the crossing takes 20 minutes.
Crossing: 20 minutes to Asia
Several Old City sites close on fixed days, and your one day falls on a weekday you cannot move. So we plan the day around them.
Guests with one day ask us three things again and again: how many hours it needs, how they will get between the stops, and whether they will be back in time. All three are ours to solve.
Sunday at the Grand Bazaar, Tuesday at Topkapı, Friday morning at the Blue Mosque. We plan around yours.
The Blue Mosque closes twice a day for prayer, at times that shift through the year. Your visit falls between them.
Hagia Sophia needs a ticket; the Cistern takes cards, not cash. We know which door wants what.
The climbing is done by lunch, and a car can take the longer legs.
On a ship or flight day, the plan starts from your all-aboard or boarding time and works backwards.
Menus and ferry boards are in Turkish first. Your guide reads and orders for you.
Ask for any of them by name when you write, or see all our guides.
Cruise and layover days
Our match for cruise and stopover travellers who have one shot at the city.
He guides in English and Spanish.
Two continents
Give him a full day and he links the historic peninsula, the Bosphorus and the Asian side.
London-born, he guides in native English.
Full days on foot
A long-distance runner, he keeps the stamina for full days on foot through Sultanahmet.
He guides in English and has been licensed since 2007.
Licensed guides, TÜRSAB member #7651Guiding Istanbul since 2011145 Google reviews rated 5.0560 TripAdvisor reviews rated 4.8One day is enough for Istanbul’s Old City: Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern and the Grand Bazaar lie within about 3 km of each other on foot. The Bosphorus palaces and the Asian side’s neighbourhoods need a second day.
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday or Saturday, when every stop on Istanbul’s classic Old City route is open, Topkapı Palace included. On Sundays the Grand Bazaar is closed, on Tuesdays Topkapı Palace, and on Fridays the Blue Mosque lets visitors in only from 2:30 pm.
About 3 km between Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern, the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Bazaar and the Eminönü ferry pier. The Grand Bazaar sits about 50 metres above the Golden Horn, so walked in that order, the day’s climbing is done by lunch.
The Blue Mosque in Istanbul closes to visitors from 30 minutes before the noon and afternoon calls to prayer until 15 minutes after each prayer ends, under its own visitor rules. By Diyanet’s timetable, the noon closing starts between 12:23 and 12:53 pm through the year, and the afternoon one between 2:52 pm in late autumn and 4:43 pm in July. On Fridays, visits start at 2:30 pm.
Yes. Ships dock at Galataport in Istanbul’s Karaköy, and the T1 tram from Tophane or Fındıklı reaches Sultanahmet in minutes. With The Other Tour, a licensed guide meets you at the Galataport gate and plans the day backwards from your all-aboard time.
Yes, with enough hours clear of the airport. Around six hours is the working minimum for Istanbul’s Old City core, and most one-day guests who write to The Other Tour have about eight hours in the city.
Yes, for visitors from abroad. Hagia Sophia’s gallery has had its own ticketed entrance since 15 January 2024, and the Basilica Cistern sells tickets at its counter and online from Passo, paid by card or İstanbulkart, not cash. In Istanbul with The Other Tour, the tickets can be arranged with your day.
Tell us your date, your hotel or ship, who is coming and what you want to see. There is nothing to buy in advance. We reply within a day with a plan for your weekday and the name of the guide who would lead it.
