Istanbul Tour Studio

Istanbul Tour Studio

Private Experiences, Tours, Events and beyond

Istanbul Tour Studio is a boutique travel agency that creates perfectly designed experiences across Turkey. We offer fully customized and turnkey travel options for you to enjoy unforgettable journeys.

We provide a range of services to leisure and corporate travelers, as well as discerning bon-vivants and adventurists. You can click on this link to learn more about our services.

Our team passionately and carefully takes care of your Turkey trip at each step: We offer made-to-order travel planning, daily tours, multiple-day private itineraries, luxury transportation, airport welcoming, along with VIP and celebrity hosting.

Our Philosophy

At Istanbul Tour Studio our philosophy is that true luxury is knowledge: having the insider access on where to go, what to do, who to see and talk to. While we like to delve deep into the cultural heritage of our country, we are also after what is new and next. Thus, we constantly renew ourselves as well as our itineraries to offer you the best of the two worlds: the authentic and the trendy. We are proud to be curious learners and enjoy sharing our hidden gems with like-minded travellers. We make sure that our tours are inspiring, engaging and festive.

Meet Istanbul Tour Studio

Sinan Sokmen

Sinan Sökmen
Founder and CEO

Sinan, the founder of ITS, was born into a family dedicated to hospitality and it is no surprise that he became a travel consultant. In time, travel has become not only a vocation but an endless passion. All his studies and journeys made him a true global citizen, appreciating differences in cultures. He has extensive experience with VIP guests from all over the globe. Sinan is a real foodie and an adventurist; there is nothing he would shy away from trying. He loves photography and shooting videos. He is now into the fresh ideas that virtual reality introduces to his business. Sinan speaks English and Spanish.

Alican Kutlay

Alican Kutlay
Travel Designer

Alican is an archaeologist and a historian specializing in late antique and medieval past of Istanbul. He received his BA and MA degrees with honors from Koç University and currently continuing his doctoral studies at Istanbul University. He was born in Izmir, but lived in Istanbul most of his life. He has a Turkish psychedelic music vlog and knows about coffee as much as a barista. He loves his football team Goztepe and his cat Timur! As an expert and a big fan of Istanbul, one of Alican’s dreams is to host Wes Anderson in our city.

Yasemin Hanedar

Yasemin Hanedar
Professional Tour Guide

Yasemin was born in Germany to a family of Turkish origin. She studied interior design in Italy. She loves everything Mediterranean, foremost the dolce vita! Like all of us, she fell in love with travelling and became a professional guide. She travelled to more than 40 countries and worked in international cruise ships for longer than she wants to remember:) She now enjoys the company of her large family in their shared family apartment in Istanbul. Yasemin loves movies and music and has an adopted stray cat. She speaks English and Italian.

Esin Kara

Esin Kara
Professional Tour Guide

Esin has more than 20 years of experience in hospitality. On top of her university degree in Tour Guiding, she attended numerous educational programs around the globe, one even in Havana, Cuba. She loves cooking and all things related to food. Dance is her way of savouring life. Cuban Salsa, Flamenco, Bollywood and Zeybek are among her favorites. She has a deep interest in symbolisms of Eastern cultures and religions, along with a passion for vintage items. She loves details and diving deep beneath the surfaces; believes this is the only way we can leave behind our misconceptions and have genuine experiences.

Orcun Kiral

Orçun Kıral
Coordinator

Orçun has a double major in history and sociology from Yeditepe University and a master’s degree in history from Fatih Sultan Mehmet University. His focus is on the Ottoman Empire’s glorious era, particularly on the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror. He is very much into the culinary delights Istanbul has to offer. He also loves coffee and in search for the best coffee in town, he keeps discovering new venues. He is a passionate fan of Göztepe football club and Christopher Nolan’s movies. Last but not least, J. R. R. Tolkien’s books occupy the most precious shelf on his library.

Ozge Dural

Özge Dural
Travel Designer

Özge was born in an ancient Greek town by the Aegean Sea, hence her interest in archeology started at an early age. While she loves travelling and summers, she tries to avoid tourist hot-spots and enjoys exploring off the beaten paths. She researches different aspects of destinations, tries to uncover their inner souls and loves sharing her findings with fellow travelers. She always knows where all the good wineries are! Her passion lies with fantastic and sci-fi literature, movies and games. Other than local roman clarinet tunes, she loves to listen to flamenco guitar, classical music and Turkish pop-star Tarkan.

Betul Basak

Betül Başak
Professional Tour Guide

An art historian and archaeologist by education, Betül is a world traveler. Her heart is where the sun is, so her travels took her to numerous countries where there is plenty of sunshine. She also spent a year travelling in the US, a period that she describes as a turning point in her life. She enjoys long walks in nature, exploring historical sites, cycling and practicing yoga. Betul is also a singer and has just published an album named ‘Encounters.’ A stroll along the Bosphorus, a ferry ride to the Asian side and a delicious Turkish breakfast is her favourite morning in Istanbul.

Duygu Doguc

Duygu Doğuç
Professional Tour Guide

Duygu was 22 years old when she started touring Anatolia as a guide and since that day never stopped loving her profession. She walks 10km almost everyday and loves taking breaks at local coffee shops, listening to the stories of old frequenters. She is into all kinds of performance arts and plans her travels according to events and festivals. She can start a day listening to Maria Callas and end it with Hey You from Pink Floyd. Contemporary art is her newly found passion and she is currently doing a masters degree in art history. She speaks English, is learning Greek and is a proud mom of 12 years old son.

Emre Goksu

Emre Göksu
Assistant

Politics and football is his favourite pastime, Emre is a regular at Istanbul’s soccer stadiums. He is also an outdoors person who loves camping and playing his guitar by the campfire. Emre is studying business administration and running operations for Istanbul Tour Studio. He is a fan of the series Supernatural and imagines being on a never-ending road trip like the main characters Dean and Sam. For Emre, a fun night in Istanbul starts in Kadıköy and ends in Besiktas. He finds his peace in quiet teahouses of Beyazıt, slowly sipping a cup of Turkish tea.

Award Winning Travel Company. Rated Excellent on TripAdvisor

The tours and the services of Istanbul Tour Studio are rated "Excellent" by the former guests on TripAdvisor: the world’s largest travel site. Istanbul Tour Studio was also awarded two years in-a-row for designing and organizing the best family offsite activity for YPO Istanbul Chapter.


CORPORATE REFERENCES

  • FAIRMONT QUASAR ISTANBUL
  • SOHO HOUSE ISTANBUL
  • RITZ CARLTON ISTANBUL
  • YPO ISTANBUL CHAPTER
  • LOUIS VUITTON
  • MAERSK
  • LEICA
  • SAMSUNG
  • ISTANBUL FASHION WEEK
  • JLL
  • AMERICAN HASTANESI
  • BLUEORCHARD
  • FINN
  • KEARNEY
  • PEAK GAMES
  • LAPPART PR
  • BKM
  • TRENDYOL
  • PRIVEEPR
  • AYTUL AYKE STUDIO

Wide Range of Interests

We offer special tours on different areas of interest such as photography, food, art, shopping, history, sailing, outdoors and of course the must-sees.

Meaningful Encounters

We love to open doors for you. Our extensive network of colorful characters, ranging from leading chefs to fashion designers, wine makers to artists, historians to famous journalists and so on let you capture the true soul of the lands you travel.

Free independent Travelers Prefer Us

Our company is FIT (Free Independent Traveler) friendly. We cater for the needs and interests of independent travelers who do not want to be part of traditional guided tours and who are looking for unique local experiences.

Don't Leave Anything to Chance

We always guarantee to be at the right place at the right time. We unlock the secrets of Turkey just for you. When you tour with us you don't have to leave anything to chance.

Guided Tours in Multiple Languages

We provide private guided tours in English, German, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese, French, Russian, Japanese, and Chinese.

Innovative Customer Service

Our team is always available at your service. You can contact us via phone call, mail, or Zoom. For inquiries after office-hours we also have an emergency number. We commit to a reply within 36 hours. Our online booking system is user-friendly and highly efficient. It only takes five minutes to book your tour and you can pay online with a credit card.