Topkapi Palace Skip the Line Ticket with Audio Guide

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. Enter through the Imperial Gate with your skip-the-line ticket and explore the 15th-century seat of the Ottoman sultans at your own pace. Your audio guide covers the four courtyards, the Imperial Treasury with the emerald-set Topkapi Dagger and the Spoonmaker's Diamond, the Sacred Relics chambers, the imperial kitchens, and the terrace pavilions overlooking the Bosphorus. Harem access is included, so you can add the tiled courtyards, the Imperial Hall and the sultan's private apartments whenever you choose.

   2 hAdmission included

2. Step inside the oldest church in Istanbul, standing in Topkapi Palace's First Courtyard. Built in the 4th century and rebuilt by Justinian after the Nika riots, Hagia Irene was never converted into a mosque, so its bare brick walls, vast dome and the rare iconoclastic mosaic cross above the apse survive as they were. Entry is included with your ticket and the acoustics inside are extraordinary.

   30 minAdmission included

3. Harem entry is included in your ticket, so there is no second queue and no extra fee at the door. Wander the private world of the sultan's household: the Courtyard of the Eunuchs, the Courtyard of the Favourites, corridors sheathed in blue and turquoise Iznik tiles, the domed Imperial Hall where the sultan received his family, and the Privy Chamber of Murad III with its painted ceilings and golden grilles.

   45 minAdmission included

Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

Ratings come from 4 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Know before you go

How it compares in Istanbul

• Its from-price is 15% above the median of the 118 attraction tickets we list in Istanbul.
• It is longer than most of them.
• By number of reviews it ranks 20 of 118.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Istanbul

Istanbul straddles Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus, with Byzantine and Ottoman monuments, busy bazaars and ferries crossing between continents.

The historic peninsula holds the greatest landmarks. Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the Hippodrome face each other in Sultanahmet, the Basilica Cistern lies beneath the streets, and Topkapı Palace spreads across the hill above the Golden Horn. A short walk away, the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar have traded for centuries, and Süleymaniye Mosque, built by the great Ottoman architect Sinan, crowns one of the city's seven hills.

Top-ranked sights in Istanbul: Dolmabahce Palace (Dolmabahce Sarayi), Bosphorus, Bosphorus Bridge (Bogazici Koprusu).

See all 3649 experiences in Istanbul