An afternoon tour with Topkapi Palace - Harem section is excluded - (Closed on Tuesdays); built in 1468 on one of the seven hills of Istanbul by Mehmet the Conqueror, the seat of the Ottoman sultans for 400 years and a huge complex  serving as a museum today facing superb views of the Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn.

The palace houses the treasures of the Sultans including the extravagant Treasury with its magnificent jewels, and the priceless Chinese porcelain, one of the best collections in the world, weapons, calligraphy section, and more. A short ride on to Suleymaniye Mosque, masterpiece of Sinan, the chief architect of the Ottoman Empire, built in the name of the Sultan Suleyman, the Magnificent, during the 16th. century, considered as the best amongst the imperial mosques.

-If required, Suleymaniye Mosque can be replaced with Yerebatan Underground Cistern.  The cistern, with its atmospherically lit rows of 336 columns, was built in 532 with a capacity to store 80.000 cubic metres of water. It has excellent acoustics, and, with its fabulous atmosphere, has been used by famous singers, and for film sets. Please note that the Cisterm is very old and damp, appropriate footwear is advisable as the floor can be slippery