Balat: Tours & Tickets

The tour itself was adequate in its duration, organization and quality of transporation (buses, boat and drivers).We enjoyed it. However, there was an incident on the boat that I would like to mention. During the cruise, a guy working on the boat came out and handed to all the travellers some simple cheese toast sandwiches and orange juice. He never asked if we wanted them or not but just handed them to us promptly without saying anything. We all assumed that was a courtesy of the tour operator. Then 20-30 minutes later, he comes back to collect money. When I complained that he was supposed to say the sandwiches were actually for sale and give us choice if we wanted to purchase them or not, not just trick us into unwantedly buying something that wasn’t even worth the money he was asking for, there was no apology, no explanation, no shame whatsoever. He was just impatiently insisting on the money. It’s not even about the money but about principle and we all felt we were extortioned.

Volkan was a great guide, very knowledgeable, passionate about the history of Turkey and Istanbul. We enjoyed talking to him about not just the history but the current situations and politics of the day. He was attentive but knew when to give us some time and was great at taking photos! He also added some local insights for us as we specifically asked for a few recommendations and they turned out great.

Hey - what's happening probably sums up most of the experience. Traffic impacted on start time. Pick up from hotel 13h for 14h tour that didn't start until 1430 and then rush to boat trip which must have been curtailed. Little atmosphere on boat cruise and problems with P.A system too loud, crackling or not working. Staff being more proactive would have been positive.

Professional and very experienced guide. Also, very service-oriented and flexible, i.e. taking into account our interests and those of our two children. Overall, very good overview and introduction given to this impressing city. Much thanks.

Our guide Caner was very knowledgeable and tailored the tour to our needs and interests. It was fantastic to have a fast pass service to visit the monuments, no need to stay in the long lines to enter. This is worth every penny.