Istanbul Off the Beaten Path Tour: Local Life, Hidden History & Buryan Lunch
The Istanbul most visitors walk straight past. Working neighbourhoods, small mosques, hidden courtyards and a buryan lunch that is worth the walk on its own.
4.9 from 1,172+ reviews 3 hours
Duration
3 hours
Start time
10:00
Group size
Daily departures, maximum 12 people
Languages
English
Transport
Walking
Walking
Three hours, nearly all of it walking, with a short tram ride at the start and another back at the end. The route runs through Fatih on ordinary pavement and some cobbles, with a few short slopes between the mosque, the aqueduct and the market. You sit down for lunch in the middle. Shoes come off at the mosques, so wear something easy.
Tour highlights
What you will see and do
The 16th century Şehzade Mosque, built by Sinan for a prince who died at twenty
The Valens Aqueduct, 1,600 years old, still standing over the traffic it never imagined
Vefa Bozacısı, where boza has been made and poured in the same room for over a century
A glass of boza, and what your guide will tell you it is good for
The Pantokrator church, built in 1119 by a Hungarian princess and later a mosque
Kadınlar Pazarı, the market where eastern and southeastern Turkey shops in Istanbul
Buryan lunch: lamb lowered into a pit oven and baked for five to six hours
This tour is right for you if
You have already done the headline sights, or you are not interested in them
You like neighbourhoods, markets and everyday life more than monuments
You want to eat something you have not heard of
Not for you if this is your first day in Istanbul and you have not been inside Hagia Sophia yet.
About this tour
This walk starts at the German Fountain in Sultanahmet and then leaves the tourist city behind on the tram. First the Şehzade Mosque, built by Sinan for a prince who died at twenty, and usually empty. Five minutes further on, the Valens Aqueduct, 1,600 years old, carrying nothing now but still standing over the traffic.
There is a stop at Vefa Bozacısı, where boza has been poured in the same room for a century, and your guide will tell you what it is supposed to cure. Then the Pantokrator church, raised in 1119 by a Hungarian princess and later turned into a mosque.
Lunch is at Kadınlar Pazarı in Fatih, the market where eastern and southeastern Turkey does its shopping in Istanbul. Buryan is lamb lowered into a pit oven and baked for five or six hours, and your guide orders for the table. Vegetarian food is available. Three hours, a tram back to Sultanahmet at the end, and you pay for lunch on the day.
The plan
How the day runs
Meet away from the crowds
We start where the tour buses do not go.
Working neighbourhoods
Craftsmen, small mosques, courtyards and the layers of the city that are still in use.
Buryan lunch
Slow cooked lamb from a pit oven, a southeastern dish Istanbul adopted and made its own.
Hidden history
The corners with the better stories, told properly.
The order can change with the weather, the traffic and how busy a site is on the day. Your guide will tell you.
What is included
Included
English speaking local guide
Tram fares both ways
Not included
Lunch, roughly 10 to 15 USD per person
Anything you buy at the market
Tips for the guide, from around 10 euro or USD per person
Where we meet
Meeting point
A clean sheet with the sign to look for and the steps, one page per meeting point. Choose Save as PDF in the dialog to keep it on your phone.
My Local Guide Istanbul
Istanbul Off the Beaten Path Tour: Local Life, Hidden History & Buryan Lunch
If anything goes wrong, message or call +90 534 200 55 65. mylocalguideistanbul.com
The German Fountain (Alman Çeşmesi)
Please meet your guide at the German Fountain, Alman Çeşmesi in Turkish, on the old Hippodrome in Sultanahmet. Before the tour, your guide will send you their photo via WhatsApp using the number provided in your booking. If you do not already use WhatsApp, please download it before the tour.
Take the tram to Sultanahmet and walk onto the Hippodrome, the long square between the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. Atmeydanı Caddesi, 34122 Fatih.
The fountain is the octagonal pavilion with the green dome at the Hagia Sophia end of the square. Wait by its steps.
If you cannot see your guide, message or call +90 534 200 55 65 on WhatsApp.
The tour finishes in the old city near the Blue Mosque.
Before you book
What happens next, and what if plans change
Worth two minutes before you book, so nothing on the day is a surprise.
After you book
A confirmation straight awayThe booking system emails it the moment you pay. It has the date, the meeting point and a map link.
A message from SalihA day or two before, to check the number of people, anything you cannot eat and where you are staying.
On the dayYour guide is at the meeting point ten minutes early. If you are running late, message the number on your confirmation and we wait.
Changing or cancelling
Cancel free of charge up to 24 hours before the start time and you are refunded in full. Inside 24 hours we cannot refund. Tell us as early as you can and we will move your date rather than lose you.
If the weather turns
Tours run in rain and in heat. If conditions make a tour unsafe we cancel it ourselves and refund you in full, or move you to another date, whichever you prefer.
Minimum numbers
Scheduled group tours need a minimum of three people to run. If the number is not met we offer you another date or a full refund, and we tell you at least 24 hours before.
Hidden gems of IstanbulSalih was very knowledgeable and even though the weather was atrocious, it was snowing and raining, he took us to the hidden gems of Istanbul and kept us engaged and warm. We really recommend him!
Be surprisedFirstly my guide Salih Batkin was really a great, calm, knowledgable, friendly person. Easy to talk to and answer questions. We went to off the beaten track mosques, neighbourhoods and past authentic butcher shops and restaurants. Tasted 2 authentic brewed drinks you don't see in the main area. I think this is a really good tour to see Istanbul life in the suburb. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
A glimpse of the non touristy IstanbulWe travelled by tram toward the university district, and started our tour of non touristy parts of Istanbul to see some lesser known but equally historically important mosques, a Women's market, the aqueducts, a small significant shop to try some boza and ended at a magnificent viewpoint. Denker was a knowledgeable and engaging guide. Great to get out of the hub-bub to where people who aren't servicing tourists live and work.
