Duygu was an incredible guide who gave us a wonderful and very in-depth two day tour of Istanbul! She customized the tour to our interests, and coordinated it to minimize our time standing in line for entries. She promptly met us at our hotel lobby each day, and spoke perfect English while fully explaining the sites we visited as well as the culture of the region. She was always so warm and friendly, it was a pleasure to spend each day with her. She also set up our airport transfers, which was very helpful. We highly recommend her and this amazing tour!

Our guide, Ugur, created an exceptional experience for us as we explored some of Istanbul's highlights in a very efficient and exciting way. This allowed us to really maximize our limited time in the city. He was extremely knowledgeable, personable, and adapted the experience to suit our pace and interests. He created opportunities for us to meet and engage with other locals along the way (e.g., a ceramics demonstration, negotiating with shopkeepers at the Grand Bazaar). He was engaged in answering any questions we asked of him, including those related to Istanbul's rich history, as well as our curiosity about what it is like to live in modern-day Istanbul. We can't say enough about how enjoyable our time was and can't wait to visit again someday!

What an amazing day with our wonderful Guide Hamide. Our tour was tailored to what we wanted to see and do. These are the places we chose to visit. Topkapi, Hagia Sophia, blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern, Grand Bazaar. Hamide is an exceptional tour guide. Explaining the history in so much detail and we learned so much from her. We highly recommend her to anyone and will for sure recommend her to friends and family who will want to visit Istanbul. Thank you again for adding to our Anniversary trip. We loved it. The day felt like we spent it with a friend and not a stranger.

The guide Hamide adapted the tour to suit the pace and taste of an old couple. Took me on a slow walk from Spice Market to Grand Bazaar ; showing me all the street food, local sights and telling great stories. It’s a great way to learn the local way of life

We had an amazing time with our guide. Very personalized and knowledgeable about all parts of Turkish history

Our two days with Semih were an absolutely unforgettable and amazing experience. Semih is extremely knowledgeable and a very enjoyable guy. His insights into the different sites and attractions made the visits much more rewarding than visiting them alone or in a larger group. Apart from the benefits of skipping all the lines and having tickets ready beforehand, it was also nice to have a local to show us the hidden gems. We cannot recommend Semih enough. Book him for your next trip and you will not regret!

What a perfectly arranged day Semih planned for us. For us, it was important not to be inundated with too much historical data, but to experience it in a relaxed and fun atmosphere. Semih hit the nail on the head. He led us past the queues and to two very nice places to rest & view that we would never have found by ourselves. Thank you very much, it was a perfect afternoon and we can absolutely recommend Semih without reservation.

We had such a good experience, Semih spent time getting to know our exact requirements and tailored his commentary around what was important for us to know and see. I would totally recommend Semih as a guide, his knowledge and enthusiasm for the wonderful historical sites were second to none.

We just recently visited Istanbul for the first time and chose Duygu Gumusay as our personal guide for two days. She had lots of experience and had very good reviews. Duygu was pleasant and made us feel very comfortable and customized our tour to fit our preferences. With just two of us, she was flexible and great at circumventing the large tour groups from the cruise ships. We visited the top attractions Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia Mosque, Blue Mosque, Hippodrome, Grand Bazaar, Dolmabahce Palace, Istiklal Street, Galata Tower, the Spice Market and a Bosphorus cruise. Duygu also took us to very nice high quality ceramics and carpet shops we would not have found on our own. We had lunch at nice restaurants and she recommended a variety of local dishes for our tasting. She made suggestions for our third and last day in Istanbul, which turned out great. We highly recommend Duygu as a tour guide.

We had the good fortune to have two wonderful guides this trip. We had our second day tour with Duygu due to our scheduling needs. We love that she is knowledgeable, attentive to guest needs and clearly enjoys her work. The two of us always use private guides - usually with a personal recommendation. This time we used Tours By Locals and were very happy with both guides.

Communication with both the office that booked us and the guide we were fortunate to receive was easy and very clear. Our guide, Selcut, was so knowledgable and catered to our special mobility needs. He made the historic information come to life and gave such a great insite to culture and life of today's Istanbul residents. I can't recommend this tour enough!

We did the two day tour. I cannot recommend this highly enough as our guide Selcuk was friendly and very knowledgeable and showed and told us things along the way we would not have seen or learnt otherwise including to restaurants we would not have even seen let alone visited. Fabulous tour and well worth it.

A lot of walking involved even though we had van pick up and drop off. Did not like our guide. Wish we could have seen all the sites offered, but not enough time as all sites were extremely busy.

It has been many years since I was last in Istanbul and I was looking forward to revisiting. I was a little apprehensive about taking a full day solo tour, just me and the guide, but I need not have worried. Emre is such a nice good-humoured person and so knowledgeable and experienced. He picked me up at the hotel and checked what kind of tour I would like, he tailored everything very much to my wishes, covering some of the main attractions and some hidden corners. He has an amazing knowledge of his subject and makes it all very interesting. I really enjoyed the whole day in beautiful Istanbul and would definitely recommend Emre as a guide. Teşekkürler Emre!

Our wonderful tour guide and now friend, Hamide, showed us her beautiful city by walking, metro, boat and tram. We spent a great day with her seeing all the sites on our list and also toured Dolmabahce Palace which we did not count on seeing. She made it very easy to go places and see things and learn about life here which we never expected to do. Our day was spectacular!

Bayram was our guide and he was great!! He was very accommodating, my husband is with a cane and we could not walk fast due to this and he was very patient. We got to see most of the things that were on the tour. I would definitely recommend this tour with Bayram!!

We did a 2 day tour with private guide. Ugur was fab - totally flexible about what we saw and adjusted the itinerary to suit us. My husband and I were travelling with my parents who are in their 80's and so we had to make sure we covered as much ground as possible without knackering our my parents! We asked to book the 2 days of tour with a day rest in-between & the operator were absolutely fine with this. Ugur had amazing knowledge and kept us well informed. I don't think there was a question he couldn't answer. He planned a local (non-touristy) place for us to visit for lunch each day and it was nice to take advantage of his local knowledge. All entrance fees & lunch were payable as you go - either cash or card was fine. The most expensive place to visit was Topkapi Palace at 750 Turkish lire (about £25pp) but there's lots to see - everywhere else is less costly and some are free to enter (mosque for example). We used the tram (Ugur helped us get a pre-loaded tram ticket we could share). Doing the private tour was well worth the money, particularly sharing the cost between 4 of us. We would never had learnt & seen what we did. Highly recommended.

A private tour, for two of us. We managed to see all the important highlights. Travel by tram between sights was efficient. We could have had a little more commentary in the Basilica Cistern (which we asked to visit instead of another mosque since the Palace was closed on Tuesdays). No pressure and a reasonable amount of time in the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market. Much better and less expensive than the excursion offered by the cruise line!

5star guide and tour! Can was perfect, a great guide, he provided invaluable information on the historic context and great guidance to the most practical ways of enjoying the tour. I made the most of my 1 day in Istanbul!

We enjoyed a fun and informative full day tour of the highlights of Istanbul with our guide Duygu Gumusay. We learned about the history and modern culture of Türkiye and my wife especially enjoyed the "girl talk" with Duygu. Also, don't miss the Cistern. We met at the cruise ship terminal and utilized the local transit system which was fast and efficient. We highly recommend Duygu for your travels to Türkiye.