Excellent Private Tour of Istanbul - My husband and I spent two days with Safiye, exploring the sights, neighborhoods, markets, and food in this amazing city on two continents. She was helpful prior to our stay, answering questions about lodging and currency. She purchased our tickets to sights in advance to avoid the long lines and planned our days to address our interests and make efficient use of our time. She is a wealth of knowledge about the history and culure of Istanbul and the places you visit. But the tour is not a dry recitation of facts. Safiye is engaging and quick to perceive what will interest her audience. She helped us to enjoy local foods and shared information about her own family to help us understand the cultural practices of the people. Istanbul is a very crowded city with excellent public transportation and much to see. It would have been a struggle to navigate the city on our own. Instead, with Safiye's help and gracious hospitality, our visit to Itanbul is a highlight among our travels.

Don't miss exploring Istanbul with Safiye! - Istanbul would not have been half as magical without Safiye as my guide! A solo traveler on my first trip to Turkey, I booked two days of private tours with her: Day 1 to see the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and Topkapi Palace (which could have been a full day by itself); and on Day 2, the Grand Bazaar and Spice Market. Safiye was absolutely wonderful! She made everything so easy for me--meeting me at my hotel, and stopping to let me rest when my health issues slowed me down a bit. Safiye is very fluent in English and I was enthralled listening to her tell me the history of all the places we visited. But more than that, she is so personable and fun to spend time with. She introduced me to simit with cream cheese (yum!), taught me how to use the tram and wear a hijab, took me to a delicious local cafe for shish kabob, and translated for me. I felt like I truly experienced Turkish culture. Choosing Safiye as my guide was the best decision I made! Don't hesitate to book her for your adventure!

Amazing Guide for Those with Children (& Others)! - Safiye was a fantastic tour guide and I would highly recommend her to anyone interested in a private tour of the sights in Istanbul. She’s was not only extremely knowledgeable but was also patient & flexible with our 5 month old infant on the tour. Safiye took us to the main attractions (Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia & the cistern). We were able to skip the lines & buy tickets directly, which was a great convenience with a baby. She provided all the background to make the buildings feel alive - and put them into the context of Türkiye’s history. It really provided a much better experience than a group tour or audio guide. We ended at a wonderful bakery for baklava & Turkish coffee. She also provided the perfect lunch recommendation for Galeyan - which ended up being the best meal we had in Istanbul. More importantly, Safiye was so kind and sweet to our little boy. She rearranged the plan to accommodate him, helped us calm him down in the cistern, and generally fawned over him! Her patience and warmth towards him made the tour so much less stressful and more enjoyable. Thank you, Safiye! All the best.

A superb tour of local flair - Safiye is such a good tour guide. We did a food tour with her in Kadiköy. It was super fun and the food introduced to us was of a wide range and very tasty. Safiye found for us the right mix of tastings which we were able to enjoy and not feel bloated. What I really appreciated were her interpersonal skills where we felt it was an easy exchange of knowledge and experience, rather than being lectured to. Safiye really engages with you to make the tour educational and fun. We were really glad to have her explain the life and cuisine of Istanbul.

Easily the Best Way to Visit Istanbul - The only way to experience Istanbul is with Safiye! We spent two days together on a unique cultural/food/walking tour that included the major sites and a fabulous quaint hidden market tour. Her knowledge of Istanbul and each site we visited was stellar. Thanks to her, I can't wait to return for a more in-depth tour. She respected my wishes for subjects of interest (or not) and introduced me to the best hidden, local spot for lunch, the kind of place the local merchants know about. Safiye (or Sophie) is easy to converse with and has a terrific command of English. We laughed often and, when we parted, we parted as friends eager for a return visit. Do yourself a favor and schedule your tour with Safiye well in advance as she is one of the very best!

Perfect introduction to Istanbul - We rarely go on organised tours, but with 6 full days planned for our first visit to Istanbul we thought an ‘introduction to Istanbul’ tour would be a good idea. And it was!! Far better than we expected, in 3 hours Safiye taught us so much about the city - not only its layout and how to get around, and places ‘off the regular tourist map’ to visit, but also of its history and culture. And her recommendations for the best food in the bazaar and elsewhere were perfect - in our 6 days we ate at all and they were fabulous! A truly knowledgeable, warm and genuine person, during our time in Istanbul we regularly said to each other ‘thank you to Safiye, or we wouldn’t have known!’ We couldn’t recommend this tour, and Safiye herself, highly enough. A true 10/10!

Personal experience Istanbul - We travel… A lot! On our travels we always use a private guide, so we have a lot of experience in a lot of areas around the world. Safie was THE BEST EVER! Safie was with us for three days in Istanbul, then we toured more of Turkey and Greece and came back to Istanbul 11 days later. We had Safie guide us for another three days. We missed her while we were gone and looked forward to seeing her again. She’s an extraordinary person and extremely knowledgeable. her local knowledge of Istanbul really enhanced our experience. she knew how to get to places when to go to avoid the crowds, and she knew how to pivot and change plans on the fly, specially when our weather changed. she knew all the history behind every place we visited. We took the metro with her we took the subway, we took the ferry, and we also had a private driver. It was great to experience all modes of transportation with Safie. Safie did not discuss details as reading a script with a monologue like some guides do. She spoke personally from the heart. She was not only the best guide we’ve ever had but she became a part of our lives. We consider Safie a friend. We will definitely stay in touch and we look forward to going back to Istanbul.

Best tour guide ever!!! - We are very happy we chose Safie to be our guide. She is absolutely amazing and great with kids. As our first time in Istanbul we thought it would be harder with 4 kids but she made it so easy and showed us how beautiful it is. You will NOT find another amazing tour guide like Safie she is the best. 10 stars if possible! We found a lifetime friend with her. Thank you Safie.

Excellent - Very good guide, kind, responsible, always punctual, the day I return to Turkey I would not hesitate to hire her again

Guided tour - Safiye was an amazing guide. We were able to do a lot more with the time we had. She is able to prepare a tour guide date and we could followed or twisted a little. I feel that doing a solo was and advance because I was able to see more of Istanbul in a very short time. We walked a lot but it was worth it!!! She took me to a local restaurant with the best meatball. :-) Thank you Safiye wish you well. And see you soon!!!