Full-Day Private Small-Group Tour of Sultanahmet Area. - We were three couples on a private tour of the Sultanahment area in old Istanbul (Europe side). We saw all of the principle highlights here, even though is was an extremely busy day. The tourist season is still going strong in Istanbul in early October, although it was also a national celebration day that likely attracted even more people. The lines for Hagia Sophia were very long most of the day, but we managed a few minutes inside. We thoroughly covered the Blue Mosque palace and saw the other main sites. Our guide, Emel, found us a nice restaurant with typical local dishes. It was reasonable cost and good food. This is a tour with a ride from the ship and lots of walking to and fro, so be prepared. Emel was full of information and also worked to optimize the touring experience and consider individual requests that could be met. I always recommend an early start for tours to maximize the time available and hopefully avoid some or most crowds. The traffic was crazy in the afternoon, but Emel had a good Plan B, to get us on the trams which sail by most of the traffic and delivered us back to the port in time.