Eskinazi Private Tours

We (2 couples) spent 3 days in Istanbul with Umit Yildirim, our tour guide from Eskinazi Tourism Ltd. I had reviewed several tour companies and selecting Eskinazi and Umit was the best decision I made. Not only was Umit fluent in English, he was extremely knowledgeable with the history of Turkey and the sites. Umit presented the information in such a way that we became well educated with this ancient history. We spent 7-8 hours each day touring all the important sites as well as the city of Istanbul both on the European and Asian sides in a luxury Mercedes van. He took us to classic Ottoman and Turkish restaurants for lunches--not tourist spots. The tour was capped off on the 3rd day with a 2 hour Bosphorus Cruise in a Private Yacht. We all are still raving about this tour. Do yourself a favor and look no further than Eskinazi.

We contacted Eskinazi Private Tours having searched extensively through the internet. We had several conversations by email with Sofia agreeing what we considered to be a very acceptable price when comparing it to our cruise provider’s offerings in Istanbul. Being both in our middle-70s but travelling with our daughter and grandson (19) we were keen to avoid over stretching ourselves while keeping it interesting for the younger group members. We limited ourselves to visiting Topkapi palace, Hagia Sophia and the Grand Bazaar with a late addition of the Underground Cistern.

Our guide Nahit met us from the ship at the agreed time of 9am with a driver, who took us to the Underground Cistern. Nahit led us to the entrance avoiding the line queuing. The cistern was really well-worth a visit, we were all glad we made the late addition to the programme. Moving on, we moved towards the exit of the Hagia Sofia, where Nahit persuaded the staff to let us ‘oldies’ avoid the line for the entrance while the youngsters queued with Nahit while he found someone he knew (he seems to know everyone in Istanbul) to take them towards the front of the line while we waited inside. It was a short wait before Nahit explained the history of the building in its’ several guises and several religions. After our visit, Nahit took us to yet another of his contacts where we could use ‘the facilities’ and see the other wares offered, in a house where the owner had resisted the temptation to sell to Hilton hotels (the neighbouring properties have indeed now been converted into a Hilton branded property).

We moved on to visit Topkapi and to see the artefacts collected by a succession of Sultans and featured in the film of the same name (1964). Nahit then took us to a restaurant which gave us a welcome break for lunch before setting off via an Iznic tile designer (8th generation personified in our demonstration!) to the Grand Bazaar. It would be fair to say that we were all flagging a bit but we persevered to visit a Turkish delight creator recommended by one of my wife’s students, who was delighted to see us. The Grand Bazaar reminded us of our visits to the Souks of Riyadh where we lived for two years.

All in all, a tremendous day and credit to Nahit who used all of his skills as guide and influence to take us readily avoiding queues and his charm to get us through the day.

Our family of four hired Eskinazi for 3 days of private tours and airport transportation while visiting Istanbul in August of 2018. Umit was responsive and professional and answered all our questions prior to the trip and was even better once we arrived. He is a wealth of information and knows the history of the city and gave great insight from the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic perspectives. Having a great private tour guide always makes a trip better and Eskinazi did not disappoint.

The quality of the service of Eskinazi Tourism Ltd. and his guide Umit Yildirim reached the highest standards. This includes puntuality, security during the tours, professionalism of the driver, high knowledge of the guide, permanent disposition to adjust to changes during the tour and language management. For all these reasons we highly recommend Eskinazi Tourism Ltd. as the best option for visiting Istanbul.
Thank your making our stay in Istanbul enjoyable!
Raul & Monica (Argentina)

Of all my world travels, this was one of the best city tours I have ever been on. Our guide, Umit, was both highly knowledgably and incredibly engaging. I was amazed at how readily he could answer all of our questions about the history, politics, and culture of Turkey. I was especially impressed with his overview of the Hagia Sophia--I knew it was religiously, historically, and architectural significant, but his narrative overview made the facts come to life and gave me a greater appreciation for the building than I thought was possible. In addition to being knowledgeable, engaging, and well-spoken, Umit was friendly and an absolute joy to be around. I cannot recommend this company, or Umit, enough.

We hired Umit for just a day touring around the main parts of Istanbul (the Hagia Sophia, Basilica Cistern, and Topkapi Palace). He honestly gave one of the best tours that I've ever been on (and I've done a lot of traveling). He not only had a vast knowledge of the sites, but a love for them as well, which was demonstrated by him sharing not only the main facts and events of a place, but also delving into the stories. This in turn provided a much greater sense in us of the awe that each of the sites (particularly the Hagia Sophia) deserves. Umit was also professional, respectful, and as our tour was in the year of COVID, he took all the necessary health precautions (social distancing, always wearing a mask, etc.). He is also just a really enjoyable guy to be with and get to know, and after only a day with him, we consider him a dear friend.
I will without a doubt be going with Eskinazi next time I'm in Istanbul for a tour of some of the other sites I wasn't able to see this time around.

Our tour with Umit was fabulous and made our trip to Istanbul even more special. He was knowledgeable and lovely.

Absolutely wonderful experience. Tailored as we went along to my interests and time constraints. Couldn’t have asked for more and I’ll be using Umit’s services again when back in Istanbul!

Umit was the best tour guide ever! It was a pleasure spending time with him and he is so very knowledgeable.

We had Excellent tours with them. I even recommended my friend just this past month to Eskinazi...

We had an excellent tour, lead by an informed, accommodating, and seasoned guide. We would gladly use this service again!

We had a fantastic tour Guide in awe visit To Istanbul
last September

Excellent service and customer attention. Went out of their way to cater to our requirements. Very pleasant, knowledgeable, and caring.

Very professional services, excellent guide, you will not be dissapointed

Desde el día que decidimos hacer nuestro viaje a turkia contactamos la agencia eskenazi y desde el primer contacto todo fue maravilloso con ellos. Nos organizaron todo el recorrido tal como lo queríamos, la puntualidad en responder nuestras dudas, la eficiencia en todo, nos asesoraron muy bien todo el tiempo, la atención de sus agentes es increíble, desde la recogida en el aeropuerto hasta el último día todo el servicio fue VIP. En fin, solo tengo agradecimientos por que hicieron que nuestro viaje sea una experiencia increíble. Gracias, gracias, gracias!!

Estamos muy satisfechos con Eskinazi Tours. Un servicio de primera, mucha puntualidad y su guía mejor no lo hubiéramos podido tener. Ama le y con mucho conocimiento. Lo recomiendo ampliamente. Gracias Sr Eskinazi y Sr Nahib.