This tour covers almost all of the city's highlights to enjoy the city including the Museum of Archaeology in a day. You will begin your day with a drive over the Golden Horn towards the Old City. Your first stop will be the ancient Hippodrome. For over 1,000 years this was the center of Byzantium life. Mosque of Sultan Ahmed I, otherwise known as The Blue Mosque, is renowned for its architectural harmony, proportion and elegance, is unique as it is the only original mosque in the world with six minarets. Next you’ll visit St. Sophia Museum which originated as a church in 360 AD under Constantine. Hagia Sophia was converted into a Mosque when the city was conquered by the Ottomans in 1453 by Sultan Fatih Sultan Mehmet. Next you will take a journey through history in the corridors’ of the Museum of Archaeology, where you can trace the footprints of Anatolian civilizations to thousands of years back. Hundreds of invaluable historical artifacts including the Code of Hamurabi, Alexander the Greats’ Sarcophagus and Kadesh Treaty are all on exhibit within these walls. The highlight of the tour will be Topkapi Palace (Harem section excluded). Topkapi Palace is a great walled complex hugging the shores of the Bosporus and Golden Horn and it was once the residence of the Ottoman Sultans. Mehmet II built the palace-city, home for three centuries of Sultans, in the mid-1400s as a summer palace. Following the Palace visit, you will have the chance to taste some of the best examples of Turkish cuisine before you continue to the next visit. And finally you will visit one of the most colorful sites of Istanbul; the Grand Bazaar. The Bazaar is composed of two sections; the covered part and the modern part. The covered part is a whole quarter on its own and is surrounded by a wall which can be entered through eleven gates. The maze of streets and lanes are one of the greatest sights in the city, where various trades such as carpets, jewelry, leather goods, silver; varieties of souvenirs, textile, antiques, and home textile are segregated into particular sections of the bazaar. During your time in the Grand Bazaar, you will be taken for a presentation on the unique art of Turkish carpets and given additional time to shop.