Not seen on Best of Istanbul tour? Dinners?

I'm not sure how many people on the forum have taken the Best of Istanbul tour, so I'll give this a shot from my 2022 tour.

Reviewing the 2024 Best of Istanbul tour Itinerary - where it explicitly states that a meal is together, it's included in the price. In the daily descriptions where the itinerary is "silent" (doesn't explicitly state) or says "free time for lunch" or "dinner on your own" then those meals were not included in my tour.

Day 1 - dinner together (i.e., included in tour)
Day 2 - itinerary is "silent" on lunch and dinner (neither is included)
Day 3 - "free time for lunch" and "silent" on dinner (neither is included)
Day 4 - "progressive lunch", "silent" on dinner (not included) (see my note below regarding Day 4 lunch)
Day 5 - lunch together on Asia side, dinner on your own (itinerary is explicit)
Day 6 - afternoon is free (lunch not included) and final dinner together
Day 7 - tour ends after breakfast

My 2022 expense records match with this interpretation of the itinerary, although obviously every tour may be different.

On Day 4, the day of the "progressive lunch", I don't have lunch expenses. So whatever we had as lunch together was enough for my lunch.

Regarding activities not covered on the Best of Istanbul tour, I included some suggestions in my:

Trip Report: 3 weeks to fall in love with Turkey and my
Post Trip Report "So You're Going on the Best of Turkey or Best of Istanbul Tour" report.

Some of those activities were:
Dolmabahçe Palace, a Turkish Dance Evening, Galata Tower at sunset
Enjoy a walk along the Bosphorus
Sit at the Old Town end of the Galata Bridge; have a fish sandwich and people watch

Details are in the reports.

The Best of Istanbul tour was terrific. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did!

Please be aware that the reports are 2 years old, so costs have changed, the exchange rate has dramatically changed, information about ATMs has changed, and a VISA is no longer required for US citizens.

You'll want to confirm any details from the reports, but hopefully you might get some ideas.

My wife and I took the Istanbul tour in October of 2023. It was fabulous and very comprehensive and was similar to CW Social's report. We had a fabulous guide,a local woman and she adjusted the itinerary order sometimes to make the most effective use of our time . Everything on the itinerary listed was included as well a a few additions. Plus she arranged some free time activities for those who wanted them,such as the Dervishs

As far as meals are concerned, we too had a progressive lunch as well and our guide arranged an optional special dinner for those who wanted to participate (we all paid for this dinner individually). For the non included mealtimes she suggested places and tour members traded information.

We stayed another 2 nights after the tour. We used that time to walk around, hang out , people watch,and generally take it all in. Other than another peak inside the Hagia Sofia close to closing,and a revisit to the Grand Bazaar, we didn't feel the need to go do more specific sightseeing. So much was included. It was very immersive.Some folks feel the need to check off more sights but we like to just mill around and see what happens. That's our additional sightseeing.

CWSocial's reports are very good and I certainly read them before signing up.Shout out here to her!

Thank you CW Social and MA Traveler for your suggestions and thoughts!!

In 2012 in Istanbul, we ate at the restaurant at the Ottoman Imperial Hotel . It was great, as was our stay at the hotel, and a friend who went last year raved about both the hotel and the restaurant-I think she said the restaurant now has a Michelin star.