Hello RS fans!
My mother (88), her friend(88), and her friend's daughter(65) and myself (55) will be traveling to Istanbul in the fall. Both older ladies are in fairly good health but will use a cane and will need to sit and rest at times. We mostly have 3 hour tours set up for the major sites with private guides- so the ladies can sit down when needed. We would like to go to the Spice Market and Grand Bazaar, but I don't quite know how to plan it. I think we would like to be accompanied to these attractions by a guide who speaks Turkish and can guide us through—being flexible for sitting down to a tea or rest, maybe even lunch, and without expectations of specific purchases or any kind of hard sell. I have been to Istanbul before and I remember the merchants being quite aggressive. There is a tour guide I found through "Tours by locals" but some of the comments are that she brings people to certain merchants with a high-sell attitude. Does anyone have any experience being an older person at these sites? Any recommendations on how to find such a guide?
Thank you so much in advance!!