Istanbul Jewish Heritage Tour

Our Istanbul day tour visits Jewish Heritage Sites and Taksim including visits of Galata Tower, Ortakoy, Taksim Square then the Balik Pazari or Fish Market.

 Tour Programme:

Jewish Heritage Sites & Taksim

Meeting at the hotel reception at 08:30am
Visit the Askenazi Synagogue, and then cross over the Golden horn to Balat, which has been the core of Jewish presence in Istanbul for over five centuries. We then continue to Neve Shalom Synagogue. Visit the old neighborhood and the Ahrida Synagogue. It is the oldest and most beautiful synagogue in Istanbul and was built in the 15th c. Later we will visit the Galata Tower and the old neighborhood of Galata and where you can get a nice view of Old Istanbul and the Zulfaris Museum, with historic and ethnographic sections, celebrating over 500 years of friendship between Turks and Jews. We will end the tour in Ortakoy, where the Sephardic Jews were welcomed to Turkey by the Ottoman Sultan (nice cafes and small restaurants). Visit to Taksim, the 1.2 km pedestrian street leading from Taksim Square down to Tunel is packed with an arbitrary scattering of music and bookstores, movie theaters and cultural centers, cafes, restaurants and bars, commercial banks and offices, shopping outlets and bazaars, consulates and embassies, churches, historical arcades and passageways. Take a stroll through this famous ‘Flower Passage’, built in the mid nineteenth century, which comes vibrantly alive every evening, resonating under the melodies of live Turkish music. Should you follow Cicek Pasaji around to the left, it exits into the Balik Pazari or Fish Market, a wild passageway pinned with small fast-food eateries, fresh fish and vegetable market stalls, a sprinkling of other arbitrary shops and thronging with passers.

*Prior notice and copies of passports are needed for this tour.

 What is Included:

• Professional and experienced licensed guide during the tours
• Lunch included
• Entry fees to the sites and museums
• Parking fees

 Excluded:
Drinks, tips to guide and driver, personal expenses and optional tours.

This itinerary is subject to change and may be reversed without prior notice according to weather, museum closing days, daily events or other unforeseen circumstances outside the control of Custom Travel Services.

Contact us at info@customturkeytours.com for a detailed personalised quotation according to seasonal rates and child discount.