Explore the ancient cistern with a professional tour guide with skip the ticket line without waiting. The cistern has an unusual history that attracts travelers across the globe to experience it in real. Who would not want to walk on raised wooden platforms to feel water dripping from the arched ceilings giving the essence of historical architecture? If you have a passion for photography, you will love the medusa-head column bases.
From the operator’s live schedule on Viator, checked Oct 6.
You will meet with our guide at the meeting point and continue to the museum. The guide will explain the history of the place and the tour will end at the museum.
Reviews collected by Viator and Tripadvisor
Excurgo comparison of 3,624 Viator tours, recalculated daily.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Basilica Cistern Skip-the-Line Ticket with Guided Tour lasts about 20 min–30 min. The itinerary has 1 stop.
Prices start at $67 per person for this Istanbul experience, booked through Viator with the price shown before checkout. There is 1 booking option, so the final price depends on the option you choose.
According to the operator’s current schedule, it runs every day, with 20 departures a day between 9:00 AM and 4:45 PM.
Yes. Cancel at least 1 day before the start for a full refund. Later cancellations are non-refundable.
The meeting point is At the Busforus (Red Double-decker Bus) Stop across the Hagia Sophia in Sultanahmet Square. D marked bus stop sign. Hotel pickup is not part of this experience.
The experience is available in EN.
It is a small-group experience with a maximum of 40 participants.
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Wheelchair accessible
Yes, bookings are confirmed instantly.
Travellers rate it 4.0 out of 5 across 319 reviews on Viator and Tripadvisor; it is run by Istanbul E-pass.
Reviews collected by Viator and Tripadvisor
We were left at the entrance and by the time we got down to cistern floor level the guide could not be found.We did not get a guided tour at all and may as well have bought tickets on the door.We would ask for a refund of all but the entrance fee
For me a bit disappointing for what it is. Especially for the high entrance fee. The guide was good and explained everything very well in this short tour.
Way way too many in our group to be effective. Only bonus really was “skipping the line” though had to wait quite a while amnyway for tickets. Also no Mike on guide who stopped along wall near small crt with music playing so who knows what he said. Cisterns beautiful and worth it.
The visit was really good. The tour was a good option as you skipped the large line waiting to get in. Downside was the meeting point instructions were unclear and took ages to,find the right place. The tour guide spoke good English however he spoke too fast and could not understand or hear what he was saying. If you don’t want to,queue then book a tour.
The starting point was hard to find. The address provided was an approximate location within a public area. It wasn't until I called that I found out that the location was at a bus stop sign.
Meeting location was easy to find. The entrance line was bypassed and the guide gave a very informative, 15 minute discussion about the history of the cistern before allowing the group to explore on their own. Highly recommend!
Booking through Viator was seamless. Once we arrived, our guide gave a solid 15-minute explanation of the history and details of the cistern, which was the perfect amount of time to get the context. After that, you're free to explore at your own pace. It's an incredibly cool underground space, and most of the visit is just walking around and taking pictures.
The electronic reservation is not sufficient for entry to the Cistern, because it requires a paper ticket, and it is not indicated who is supposed to provide it or when. There are no instructions regarding this, and we only managed to get in thanks to the diligence of an operator from another company. (after an hour)
The Cistern visit is a must do; the value of this ticket is that we didn't have to wait in the LONG line and the ticket cost was included. The brief speech from the guide was good and he did wait for a couple of us and was very polite.
Great way to skip the line! Short but informative tour leaving as much time as needed to explore the cistern.
| Tour | Duration | Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basilica Cistern Skip-the-Line Ticket with Guided Tour | 20 min–30 min | 4.0 (319) | $67 | |
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