Your private tour guide will meet you at your hotel reception at 08.45 AM, and you will walk or catch public transportation to the Old City together. Your private Istanbul Old City walk is a full-day walk covering the city's main highlights, such as the Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern, Topkapi Palace, and the Grand Bazaar. You will start your tour with a visit to the Topkapi Palace, which was the home and seat of the government of the Ottomans for nearly 400 years. It's the heart of the great Ottoman Empire, ruled by the monarch who lived in Topkapi's Harem section with a vast family and servants. You will then visit the Blue Mosque, the second largest mosque in Istanbul and built during Sultan Ahmet's regime. It is known for its 16th-century blue Iznik tiles and six minarets. Please note that the Blue Mosque is partly open to visitors due to the restoration works. We will then continue to the Basilica Cistern (Underground cistern), the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul. Your tour will end with a visit to the Grand Bazaar, built in the second half of the 15th century and is the largest covered bazaar in the world, with more than 4000 shops.