Istanbul Tours > Istanbul Literary Tour

Start Time: 08:30 (From your hotel)

Tour Program

From Agatha Christie to Ernest Hemingway, from Pierre Loti to Paul Theoroux, Elif Safak and never forgetting Istanbul's own Nobel Laureate for Literatre, Orhan Pamuk - Istanbul has been inspiring writers for centuries. This special tour (offered on a private basis only) takes in:

- Pierre Loti hill, for the same beautiful views which inspired the French novelist of the same name

- The Museum of Divan Literature and learn the history of Turkish as a literary language

- The train station at Sirkeci, where the Orient Express terminated

- Morning tea at the very grand Pera Palace Hotel, where Agatha Christie frequently stayed and wrote much of Murder on the Orient Express. Hemingway stayed here too, possibly during his time as a reporter, when covering the downfall of the Ottoman Empire in 1922.

- A stroll around Nisantasi, the fashionable neighbourhood where Orhan Pamuk grew up

- A stroll along Istiklak Street, a part of Istanbul that Europeans settled during the 19th century, as the fading Ottoman Empire began a program of rapproachment with France, Germany, and the other powers to its west. Today, this period is represented by a wonderful mix of neoclassical architecture and Art Nouveau, Parisian-style covered passages, and a vibrant street life of cafes, shops, and fine restaurants.

-A wander through Balat and old Beyoglu, inspiration to Pamuk for its history of accommodating religious and ethnic minorities, and one of Safak's favourite settings for the self-conscious Istanbul intelligentsia.

- A walk around Cihangir, where Pamuk now writes

- A trip to Robinson Crusoe bookstore, the most wonderful of foreign language book exporiums, with sufficient browse time included

Tour includes private transport and English speaking guide, lunch, morning tea, and Annotated Bibliography!

Inclusions:

- Hotel pick up and drop off

- English speaking guide

- Transportation

- Lunch

- Morning tea

- Annotated bibliography

- Admission fees

Literary Tour of Istanbul visiting Sirkeci | Pera | Istiklal Street | Cihangir | Nisantasi