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We're a duo of full-time licensed tour guides in Istanbul, Hakan & Emre, both with many years of experience in guiding and interesting background stories. Hakan is a born & raised Istanbulian, he grew up in urban Istanbul in a traditional family that owns a bakery. Spending his entire life in Istanbul, Hakan had the privilage to become a student in the most historical school in Turkey, Istanbul University. Having the opportunity to spend his student years in the only school located in the Old City of Istanbul, he learned the area like the back of his hand. After graduating from collage, he got his first job as a journalist. Fascinated with his hometown's history and the tourism sector, he went to his second university, and became a licensed tour guide. He's been working since 2019. Emre on the other hand, has his roots going back over a century in Istanbul. He spent his childhood in central Istanbul, and found himself abroad for his highschool studies. Later came back to Istanbul, and decided to learn the world's hardest language: Chinese. Spent 4 years in China, mastering the language and even participating in a band that performed in bars and festivals. Came back to his hometown Istanbul to finally realize his teenage dream of becoming a tour guide, did his masters in guiding and got his license. He's been guiding tourists in multiple languages since 2018.
The tour was very well organised. More than just the monuments and what we saw, he gave a very good explanation of history of the city and the economic landscape. He is quite entertaining and a genuinely nice person to talk to. Also took us to a cafe which gave us a local flavour. This tour has laid the foundation of our stay in Istanbul for the next three days.
great tour! Emre showed us different places with photos and such to help us picture ourselves! He also had some great anecdotes and gave us some recommendations! High recommend him if you're looking for a tour!
Hakan was very knowledgeable , we enjoyed the tour. I believe he gave the right amount of information for everyone to enjoy and not get bored. There was a perfect balance during the tour and also he has an enjoyable character and always willing to reply to any questions. Thank you so much!
Hakan was an amazing Guide. He raelly had a well balanced tour in length, information, breaks, walking pace etc. It was easy to follow him, we enjoyed the history and great information he provided to the group. He was available for any questions, and also has a great PDF for various sightseeing, food tours and others to provide by the end of the tour.
