Cultural Heritage: Istanbul

This course is an eligible training activity under Erasmus+ Key Action 1 (School Education Mobility) — the course fee, travel and subsistence fall within the eligible cost categories. Whether it is covered depends on your own project's approved grant agreement and your National Agency's rules; we provide all the invoices, attendance records and certificates your National Agency requires for reporting.

B1 is enough — you do not need to be fluent. Trainers speak slowly and plainly, every session is built around doing something rather than sitting and listening, and groups are mixed by nationality so people help each other out. A rough test: if you could follow a staff meeting held in English and ask a question in it, you will be fine here.

Absolutely — group bookings of 3+ from one school receive priority placement, and we can schedule a dedicated session for groups of 12 or more.

This course runs only in İstanbul — the daily programme is built around that city, so it is not offered in our other centres.

Tuition, all course materials, both certificates (attendance + Europass Mobility) and the trainer-led field days across the host city — the site visits are the course itself, not an add-on. Admission tickets are not part of the group programme: it is built around sites that are free to enter, and ticketed sites are studied from the outside. If you would like to go inside one, tell us beforehand — we buy the ticket in advance so you do not have to queue or book, and you pay us what it cost; we try to leave room in the programme for that. Flights, accommodation and travel insurance are booked separately — we send a vetted hotel list.

You can move to any later session free of charge. Cancellations made 30+ days before the start date receive a full refund; a reduced refund applies closer to the date — see our full Cancellation & Refund Policy for the exact schedule.

This mobility supports the Erasmus+ Key Action 1 School Education objective of "promoting knowledge about shared European heritage and diversity", and the horizontal priority on participation in democratic life, common values and civic engagement, which highlights participants' understanding of "European social, cultural and historical heritage". Through structured sessions and three trainer-led field days across Istanbul's Byzantine, Ottoman and contemporary districts — the imperial core at Sultanahmet, the Karaköy waterfront and the multi-ethnic neighbourhoods of Fener and Balat — participants gain first-hand material to bring intercultural dialogue and Europe's layered cultural identity into their own classroom. Frame it in your own project's terms — your National Agency's current call will confirm exactly how it applies.

Each field day stays within a compact area — Sultanahmet and Gülhane on Day 2, with a short uphill walk to the Grand Bazaar in Beyazıt; Karaköy and Galata on Day 3; Fener and Balat on Day 4 — so walking within a single day is short, though Istanbul's cobblestones and gentle hills mean comfortable, flat-soled shoes are worth bringing. Moving between districts on different days is by a short tram or transfer, not on foot. The group programme works at sites that are free to enter and studies ticketed ones from the outside; the one site with a dress code on Day 2 is the Sultanahmet (Blue) Mosque, an active mosque, so modest dress is required — shoulders and knees covered, and a headscarf for women — and shoes are removed at the door. It closes to visitors around each prayer time, so the day's route is built around them. The pace and stops can be adjusted to your group's needs, so please let us know in advance if any participants have mobility considerations.