Istanbul Private Museums

We will begin our day with a public boat ride on the Bosphorus, which departs at 10:35am, the narrow strait that separates Europe from Asia. During our cruise for hour and a half, we will pass by ornate Ottoman palaces including the 19th century Dolmabahce and Ciragan Palaces. We will also see the 15th century Rumelian Fortress from our boat, built by the Ottomans to take over the control of the Bosphorus. We will disembark the boat on European side. We will have a short walk to the Museum of Sadberk Hanim. It is not only the first private museum of Turkey, but also one of the most beautiful museums of Istanbul. Built as a wooden mansion in the 19th century, the building is a private museum today, dedicated by Koc family. It houses a great collection of both archaeological finds and objects of art from different periods in its three floor additional building, as well as the Ottoman artifacts including some textiles, silver, and ceramics in the main mansion museum. After lunch at a local restaurant nearby, we will drive back to town to visit the Pera Museum. Originally built as a hotel in the 19th century in the Old Pera – Beyoglu area, Pera museum is now a beautiful modern museum. It has three major sections contains a collection of orientalist painting, Anatolian weights and measures, Kutahya tiles and ceramics. We will also visit the temporary exhibition, whichever is on display in the special hall at the time of our visit. End of the tour and return to hotel.