Istanbul Guided Tour Hagia Sophia, Topkapi, Cistern with Tickets
Description
All tickets are included on this efficiently organized tour. Benefit from priority admission to museums, allowing you to skip the lines and make the most of your time. Explore the major highlights of historical Istanbul on a guided tour that takes you to the must-see attractions. With an expert guide, step inside the magnificent Hagia Sophia and gain insights into its rich history. Visit the Basilica Cistern where you can marvel at the unique upside-down Medusa heads. Stroll through the impressive Topkapi Palace and learn about the Ottomans. Benefit from convenient pickup at Galata Port or meeting point in Sultanahmet.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Meet your expert guide and join your small-group walking tour in the heart of Istanbul's old town Sultanahmet to visit the Basilica Cistern, Hagia Sophia, and Topkapi Palace.
Make the most of your time in Istanbul with a skip-the-line entry to the Basilica Cistern. Explore the famous Basilica Cistern and travel back in time on a tour led by a local guide. See the underground pillars and learn about Byzantine architecture. Walk on the wooden walkways over the water until the famous upside-down Medusa head.
Visit the Hagia Sophia with pre-reserved tickets and witness the most significant site of the Greek Orthodox religion in Istanbul and learn how it was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople. Explore the stunning monument with elements of a mosque and a church standing next to each other. Admire the basilica’s stunning dome and minarets, and countless mosaics, paintings, and Roman columns. Learn how the impressive İznik tiles were added over time in the Mosque, how the stunning Virgin Mary mosaic was made, and why the Ottomans chose to bury their sultans in the courtyard.
Continue your journey to Topkapi Palace, and enter the museum with priority admission. Here you can explore the palace grounds, courtyards, and several exhibitions on a guided tour. Marvel at its opulence and mystery as you learn about this period in Istanbul’s history. Later on, choose to visit the Harem at your leisure. Tour includes admission tickets for the Harem
At the end of our guided tour, choose to visit the Harem, at your own leisure with your included tickets.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Topkapi Palace is a vast complex with multiple sections open for visit. During our tour, we’ll visit the most magnificent masterpieces. However, if you wish to explore all sections at your leisure, we recommend allocating the afternoon to explore the rest of the Palace grounds.
- Tickets are timed and expire within 5 to 10 minutes.
- Please be advised that it is not possible to join the tour after it has commenced.
- Women are required to wear a headscarf when entering the mosque.
- Both men and women should wear clothing that covers their shoulders and knees. Shorts, sleeveless tops, and other revealing attire are not permitted inside.
- Do not bring signs, symbols, banners, flags, documents, drawings, or any materials representing political, ideological, or religious beliefs inside the Hagia Sophia.
- Tips/gratuities (for your guide) are always appreciated.
- Please note that the 'Starting from Galata Port' option is available only for cruise guests.
- Please note that children under 7 are not permitted on this tour.
- Please note that skip-the-line access is available for adults only. Children under the age of 7 do not benefit from this access.
Reviews(214)
Great 4.5 hour walking tour. Wear comfortable shoes. In the summer it is hot so be prepared with water. Our tour guide, Eli, is adorable, comedic and knowledgeable. She is also accommodating by allowing tonstop in shaded areas or purchase water,
Tour guide was attentive and knowledgeable. We really appreciated the tour guides willingness to let us join another tour group so as not to repeat a previous tour.
Mert was the best tour guide we have ever had! He was so knowledgeable about the locations, their history, the architecture, the cultural impact, and had interesting facts galore. His english was incredible. Our tour ended up being a group of 3 (which then turned into a group of 2) and he tailored the experience to us and our interests. We had such an incredible time, I recommend this tour to anyone looking to visit Istanbul.
Kahn was amazing explaining about everything
Very good, well planned. Our guide Mert was great navigating the crowds to make the most of our visit. Despite the big crowds we had a good experience skipping the lines for entry. He was very knowledgeable gave us a lot of information.
The tour guide was great and extremely knowledgeable. The tour is well worth the money. The sisturn was very cool.
This was a great tour. Elif was funny, personable and told us so much about the history of Istanbul. I highly recommend.
Our tour guide Elif was professional, knowledgeable, and full of patience for our many questions. We had a delightful time, exploring Istanbul history.
We had a wonderful walking tour, made truly exceptional by our guide, Ismail Mert. He is extremely knowledgeable, engaging, and passionate about the history and culture of the city. His explanations were clear and insightful, and he made the tour enjoyable for both adults and children. Highly recommended—Ismail is a very, very good guide and made our experience memorable.
Although a bit pricier than other tours, this was definitely worth it. Emre, our guide was incredibly knowledgeable and entertaining in his leadership and discussion about the many places we visited. We never had to wait in a line to obtain entrance into the sites, and at the last site (Topkapi Palace) he took us to several of the places inside and then left us to explore for as much time as we wanted on our own. (He spent an extra hour with us and was a fantastic guide.) I highly recommend this tour, especially if you are only in Istanbul for a few days.
