Hüseyin Avni
I discovered 1001 İstanbul only by mere coincidence through a friend during Covid. 1001 İstanbul is specialised in organising sight seeing tours across İstanbul. As someone who does not like crowds, I was fascinated by the idea of travelling İstanbul during a period where millions avoided the crowds and the city felt like my own personal belonging.
The quietness of İstiklal Avenue during Covid
I met Hüseyin Avni who is one of the tour guides of 1001 İsranbul during that period. I had a chance to travel the whole city from Sultanahmet to Balat, from Kadıköy to Yeniköy with him and was very impressed by his warm, sympathetic and humorous approach along with a deep knowledge of the city’s history and daily culture. He, especially has a deep interest in the Byzantine past of the city and is keen on taking his ‘guests’ to secret corners in neighbourhoods most locals are not aware of. I discovered interesting street food restaurants and local patisseries, secret churches and synagogues, mosques converted from Byzantine churches only due to Hüseyin Avni.
He has hundreds of stories to tell about each neighbourhood of the city from its past to its present. After you hear his stories, you will amazed to see how any neighbourhood you visit was shaped by thousands of years of history.
Most tourist guides have no patience with guests whereas he has a warm and humorous way of dealing with even the most challenging guests in his groups.
Although his walking tours in İstanbul are in Turkish, I would recommend you to join them to discover the secret corners of the covered bazaar, to taste local tastes, to experience the night life, to have a glimpse of the richness and eccentricities of our amazing city! He has a wide range of interesting tours to choose from such as the local tastes of the city to the history of love in İstanbul!
I am sure that you can ask for private tours in French and also in English by Hüseyin Avni. Don’t miss to meet him!
Visit 1001 İstanbul at https://1001istanbul.com/
