We land at 4 pm— a half-hour past the free tour offered by Turkish Airlines. That sucks, I’ve taken one of those tours before, and they are pretty good. But we’re not out of luck. There is another night layover tour we’ll catch that’s not free. Watching Istanbul go from dusk tonight on a night layover tour— hearing the call to worship as the setting sun hit the mosques’ facade was magic.
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This post is sponsored and/or contains affiliate links, from which I earn a commission at no extra cost to the reader. I appreciate your support and know that all the views expressed are my own.
Night Layover Tour in Istanbul
Have you ever stayed at the airport during a long layover? I have, too. And if I can help it, I will never do it again. Although the mosques, museums, and palaces will be closed, we are determined to enjoy the city as much as possible. The night layover tour I chose is private. It’s personalized and will pick us up at the airport and drop us off at the free hotel Turkish Airlines offers.
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Istanbul Night Layover Tour
Istanbul Night Layover Tour is one of the best options for travelers who arrive late in Istanbul Airport and yet wants to see major tourist attractions of Istanbul with some leisure activities during an overnight layover in Istanbul. If you have a minimum 4-hour long stopover between your flights, it is possible to cover some of the sites and activities are given below schedule.
Need to Know Information
- Contact Layover Tours to arrange the pickup location. Possible locations include the airport, hotel lobby, and cruise port.
- The minimum tour duration is 4 hours.
- The fee includes a tour guide and all transportation, but not museum entrance, food, ferry ride, or tips.
- You can pay in Turkish Liras or American dollars.
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Tour Highlights
Some of the Istanbul city night tour highlights include:
- Blue Mosque
- Byzantine Hippodrome
- Hagia Sophia
- Basica Cistern
- Grand Bazaar
- Spice Market
- Taksim Square
- Istiklal street
- The Asian side of Istanbul
- Kadikoy Food Market
- Bosphorus Ferry Ride
Optional Activities
Turkish Bath Experience is based on the same principles as a steam bath, but the focus is on water rather than steam. The average cost is about $20.
Have you been to one of the ultimate night activities, like eating your way through Raohe Night Market in Taiwan?
Comments
OMG these photos are everything. Take me there!
Thank you for sharing this! We are stationed in Germany right now and Istanbul is just a quick plane ride away from us! I love these pictures. It makes me want to check it out!
Wow, it must be good to tour around Istanbul for free. Lol. It would be so nice to see this city during the night time.
I have heard so many good things about the spice market. Did you like it?
Way to take advantage of a layover! It looks like you had a great night!
Lady you must be reading my mind. I was just talking about Istanbul with my colleague about it’s beauty and there you are writing about how fab it is.
I’ve heard that before. I am so surprised how it hasn’t made it to the top of a lot more bucket lists and conversations with friends and colleagues. lol
What a way to make something positive out of something negative and no fun!! Pictures are amazing!
Layovers can really suck but they can also be pretty good depending on timing, budget and destination. I’ve always wanted to visit Istanbul. I see from the pictures that is really nice and its worth the visit. Glad that you manage well your layover!
XO
Candace
I have Istanbul on my top travel destination. these tours sound awesome and like a great way to get to know the city.
I think its great that they have these tours available for people with nightly layovers. It sure beats sitting around in an airport.
You made a great time of your long layover. I have never had any long layovers but I chose once to arrive at midnight and stay at the airport until 6am for the train
Yeah, I’ve done that a couple times. I hate it. But I enjoy rerouting my trip through another city. Adding to the experiences. Several times my layover trip surpassed expectations. I’ve done them for 1 or 2 days all the way up until 8 when we flew to Seattle, stopped for a week to explore San Francisco and Napa.
I have never heard of these tours. thank you for introducing. This is so great for those of us who travel and do not want to sit around an airport. However, sometimes it takes forever to get out of immigration, so does that affect the tour?
Yes it will with a group tour, but most tour guides know this. Turkey is a prime example that’s why we applied for our visa online beforehand and it didn’t take long at all. With a private tour, they’ll wait for you. And in our case, the tour guide took us to our hotel and then started the tour, so we had a full 6 hours to explore Turkey before he returned us to our hotel for the night.
Wow. that’s so cool they have these kinds of tours. Good thing they have those tours as you wait for your next flight.
IKR, its a great service many airports are choosing now to encourage travel and travel dollars into their respective cities.