Best of Istanbul Tour

Shawn_D

24 Apr, 2023

The tour was to include a cable car and a cruise, but on the morning of, the tour operator acted like he had no idea what I was talking about. I contacted La Vacanza Travel and the tour operator in charge via my cellphone. I was advised that I could cancel the tour and receive a refund. I asked to be dropped off back to my hotel but since other passengers had to be picked up, I had to wait. I was also given the option of being dropped off at the first site the Haifa Sofia mosque. I chose to do that. It turned out this was a walking all day tour as mentioned. Later, the tour operator agreed to only refund 50 percent of my money for literally taking me down the street to where they were going anyway. La Vacanza Travel did not back me up after all the years of business I have done with this company. If I could give this a zero review I would. Moreover the mosques are all free to enter on your own. Tour operator indicated that cable car was either closed or delayed as La Vacanza Travel advised he said it was closed. However that was not the case as I went there on my own. Too many mistakes and the customer has to pay the price. I do not recommend not only this tour but also La Vacanza Travel. I will be cancelling my account

Dean_Y

27 Feb, 2020

The tour covered all the highlights Our guide was not extremely fluent in English but was able to understand him. The lunch was quite nice

Amanda_H

28 Jun, 2019

One of the worst tours I've ever been on. The bus drivers were aggressive, angry and crashed the bus into a poll, the morning pickup route had me sit on the bus for 2.5 hours before being dropped off in another bus lot to change buses, the tour guide left me and another girl and we were lost for 1 hour outside the Hagia Sophia, then he blamed us for getting lost. The tour did not say it was a walking tour, so we walked for about 6 hours - the guide refused to give us a bathroom break or allow us to buy water, despite the warm temperatures. The guide gave the other tourists attitude when they asked questions, and the last bus driver dropped me off 10 blocks from my hotel without any instruction as how to get back, and my phone had died, so I was lost at the end of a disastrous 12 hour day. Worst tour ever!

Elizabeth P

21 Nov, 2017

Was a wonderful experience! Would go again! Be prepared for some walking : Our guide was awesome and full of great information :

Sarah B

21 Sep, 2017

We had such a good time on this tour. There were four of us and our guide was a dream. He was incredibly knowledgeable about Turkish and Mediterranean history and was really eager to share his knowledge. He was also jolly and interested in our cultures and we felt a great affinity with him by the end of the tour. Talking with him candidly about some of the cultural factors and differences between our countries and his made us feel like the exchange of information was meaningful and important. I believe we all walked away from the experience with a deeper understanding of our respective cultures. The day was jam-packed but paced well and even though I had a bum leg I was able to maintain the pace. Ugur, our guide is a person I plan to stay in touch with.