Tours of individual toursit sites in Istanbul and Athens?

I didn't see any guides outside these locations, but there may have been. During our week in Athens we took a guided bus tour outside the city to the sights each day. I would not choose to drive.

You won't need a guide for the Acropolis, you just walk around it. Take a guide book with you and read the history as you visit.

If she's still working Teresa Mitsopolou comes highly recommended.

www.greecetravel.com/archaeology/mitsopoulou

If she's retired perhaps she can recommend someone else to you.

Thanks for your help, guys. On a trip to China there were lots of guides outside of every tourist site. Some times we used one, sometimes not. I was hoping the same opportunity might exist in Greece and Turkey so that I could decide as I go rather that have to do the whole day kind of thing. I guess I'll have to find another way when I get there. Thanks again. :-)

Actually, you WILL find guides outside the attractions in Istanbul as well as at Ephesus, but it'll be up to you to make sure they're licensed and not just someone trying to make a fast buck, which is what so many try to do in Turkey in whatever way they can.

In Turkey, licensed guides wear an official badge around their neck--one of the things on the badge is what languages they conduct tours in. You will find a small herd of them outside the main gate at Ephesus--chat with a few and decide which you want to hire. You hire them by the hour--you can rent one for an hour, do a stroll through the site with the guide, and then continue back up through the site on your own at a more leisurely pace.

I can't say that I've ever noticed official guides at Topkapi or the Blue Mosque. You don't need them at Topkapi, because the audioguide in English is pretty good. At the Blue Mosque, you will likely find helpful "guides" to show you around--the "around" that they are particularly anxious to steer you to is their cousin's rug shop! Harmless but pesky...