Ottoman Splendors Group Tour - Immersive Experience

Tour Overview

Experience the majesty of Istanbul’s Ottoman past on our Ottoman Splendors Group Tour. This captivating half day tour transports you back to the time of powerful Sultans, and their luxurious main residence, Topkapi Palace. Your Expert TE Guide will usher you into this incredible world allowing you to immerse yourself in the everyday life in this center of the Ottoman world for over 400 years. You will see incredible collections like the Imperial Treasury, the Kitchen with its fine Chinese celadon ceramics and also visit the forbidden spaces of the palace, the inner Harem, where only the Sultan could enter. As your TE Guide regales you with fascinating stories of this secret world and its inhabitants you can almost smell the exotic perfumes and see the rich colors. Your visit will also take you to the ancient Church of the Holy Peace, Hagia Eirene, which stands above a more ancient temple. As you stroll Gülhane Park, the Palace Gardens, and listen to stories of palace life so many years ago, you will leave with a deeper understanding of the splendors of the Ottoman Empire’s past.

Tour Description

The absolute essential Ottoman Splendors Group Tour!

Get ready to be immersed in the splendors of Istanbul’s Ottoman past on our Ottoman Splendors Group Tour, with an expert TE Guide! We aim to make your tours as easy and seamless as possible with hotel pick up, drop off and all entry tickets included, so all you need to bring is your curiosity and love of other cultures and their history. Your driver will be waiting for you at your hotel ready to whisk you off to your half day adventure visiting some of the most important, impressive and beautiful sites in the city, while learning the history and hearing the little known stories that only an expert local guide can share.

Topkapi Palace, home to the Ottoman Sultans and their courts for over four hundred years!

There is no better place in Istanbul to feel as if you’ve truly entered the fascinating world of the Sultans than Topkapi Palace. The palace was their home from the fifteenth century to 1924 when it opened as a museum shortly after the birth of the Republic of Turkey. This splendid palace with its elaborate decorations, plus the incredible narrative of your TE Guide, will transport you back to another time.  

This vast palace with its four courtyards is home to many important collections. Your expert TE Guide will take you to the best of them like the Imperial Treasury, will its impressive collection of jewels, valuable objects and armory collection. When exploring the Palace Kitchens one can almost imagine the bustle of chefs and servants preparing for an important banquet of the Sultan, and here you can admire one of the most important collections of Chinese ceramics. You will also see the forbidden section of the palace, open only to the Sultan himself, the Harem. As you tour these beautiful appartments your expert TE Guide will make the rooms come to life as they recount stories from the lives of its inhabitants. From the incredible colored tiles of the Baghdad Kiosk, to the spectacular views over the Bosphorus, Topkapi Palace is just not to be missed! 

Hagia Eirene, the Holy Peace.

Topkapi Palaces’s outer courtyard is also home to a true gem of early Christianity. Hagia Eirene, the Church of the Holy Peace. Built one the site of a pagan temple, Hagia Eirene was the first church built by the emperor Constantine the Great in the fourth century. Hagia Eirene, was second in size only after Hagia Sofia and unlike Hagia Sofia, it was never converted into a mosques. Your TE Guide will share its unique story. 

Gülhane Park, House of the Roses. 

The story of Gülhane Park is connected to the palace. In the age of the Sultans, it was the outer gardens of the Topkapi Palace. In 1912 is became public and today it is one of Istanbul’s largest and most popular public parks. Here, as your journey into Istanbul’s Ottoman past comes to an end, enjoy the beauty of the park along with the locals, exploring exquisite landscaped gardens, passing lively cafes, and enjoying the glorious views of the Bosphorus.