Enjoy a 45-minute hosted entry and highlights tour at Topkapi Palace, where your guide gives a short introduction before leading you inside this magnificent royal residence. Please choose one of the available session times listed in the overview and meet your host at least 15 minutes before the tour in front of the Fountain of Sultan Ahmed III. Your host will be waiting with a flag or umbrella featuring the Istanbul Tourist Pass® logo. This is all you need to do for your Topkapi Palace visit.
We both really enjoyed this tour and found the Guide was really knowledgeable and passionate about the history of the palace. Would highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. Awesome 10 out of 10
The tours guide was well versed, i went before with another tour guide,, he was much better and at the same time he made us have a good time, visit the Topkapi palace is a must
Great experience- worth the time and energy. Holy relics had our prophets stuff ( sandals, foot print , beard) and the khulafa rashedeen s swords , Fatima’s garment . These were interesting to see. Topkapi palace is worth visiting The guide told us where everything was so that was helpful.
Everything was good. But after one hour of guidance we were left to ourselves. We have never got an audio guide with a choice of language we were promised by your site
Good: Started on Time, English Speaking Guide Bad: Not worth it. Details: I rarely leave negative reviews, but unfortunately this tour was disappointing. The biggest selling point was "skip the line", but there was no real line to skip. We visited during peak summer season, and there were only a few people waiting to buy tickets and almost no wait at the entrance. If you purchase your ticket directly at the site, you also receive a free audio guide, which is not included with this tour. The guided portion actually slowed the experience down. A significant amount of time was spent outside covering information that felt unrelated or unnecessary, while very little of the commentary added anything beyond what the free audio guide provides. In hindsight, I would recommend visiting on your own. You'll likely move at your own pace, save time, and still learn everything the site has to offer using the complimentary audio guide.
I couldn't arrive on time as it's been several years since I last visited Istanbul and was kind of difficult to reach on time. However, from God's Grace I was lucky to find another guide for the same company who gladly, and generously, made the tour for me and another tourist!
The map provided by Viator was absolutely incorrect and we missed our tour. we used other services through via tour and it was wonderful, but this experience was unfortunate and we paid for a tour we couldn’t go on.
Definitely catered to our needs! Thank you for considering our time and guide us the best way. We had only hours in the city and because of your help we enjoyed visiting the palace. We will come back and again use this as our best tour! Thank you 🤗
Avoid the tour operator Istanbul Tourist Pass. Unclear instruction to redeem tickets, unavailable support, large groups of up to 100 people.
Super quick entry, no stress at all, we were inside Topkapi before we even knew it. Really smooth experience and totally worth it.
I really do not recommend. I took one for Tokapi palace temple. You need to take the tickets to a meeting point. They were saying that an audi…Plus
The tour was good in that it covered a lot of detail of some of the palace. The group was about 16 or so people and it was difficult to always hear the guide in amongst all the other tour groups. Very crowded. After the first three half of the palace we were to conduct our own tour of the second half, which was much more relaxing. Even after downloading the apps prior to the tour we could not get the self guided audio guide to work without wifi or connection. Not sure whether this was our issue or that of the app.
The pass is very handy and flexibele, we changed our itenary a couple of times. It saved us a lot of money and time. Would recommend!
Very friendly and accommodating guide. Didn’t like the fact that the company kept name and contact details of the guide “a secret” right till the last moment. I prefer to know who I am meeting and communicate with them ahead of time. For the information we received and process, the tour was too expensive. Guide left us at the Harem to go on our own while in fact most of the inside of harem is where you need the additional history and narrative.
We couldn’t understand our English-speaking guide very well. His accent was too strong. After an hour of showing the palace layout he left us to explore the palace in detail.
Do not book this tour. Upon arrival at meeting place the tour operator tried to claim that our tour started at 2 not 2:30 (per ticket and per Viator App). They claim an email was sent but it was not. Clearly they could have said join the tour at this time or done something. Staff was rude and clearly this tour is a scam.
The guide was very rushed and could not or would not provide a paper ticket for entry, which meant that palace’s audio tour system, to be used when the quick guided tour had ended, could not be activated. He just refused to help with this. If you buy a ticket yourself from the gate, you get a QR code on the paper ticket which me thus allows you to activate the audio tour on your mobile phone. Also the group was so big that one could not often hear the guide unless you finagled your way thru the group to get very close. If they’d have offered a live audio, it would have been much better. This tour is worth it for maybe $10 over regular admission just to skip the line. But know that you will give up the recorded audio tour.
The tour was very professionally done. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and provide great insight on the history of the palace and the area. Very enjoyable tour.
Of several tours, the tour guide was the least energetic and did not give interesting information. Quick lines and efficient ticketing, however.
Thanks to our guide Hassan, a very knowledgeable guide, the tour is long but very informative, if you want to find out a lot of information a tour with Hassan is a must-do. A friendly guy, takes really good care of the group, willing to answer questions, we did enjoy the tour and do recommend it! The pass is good value for money if you use it to the fullest, see as much as you can each day and it is worth it.
Hi. Our guide, Hassan was great (I hope I can remember the name correctly). He explained a lot to us…was careful not to lose any visitors, kept his flag up so he could be seen easily, was gracious in answering questions and for the time allocated it was super ok. The quality of the headphones was weak…a lot of times they did not work but we gathered close to hear him and we overcame this impediment. These headphones offer a great comfort in a big crowd and they are super important. Also the support on WhatsApp was great. It was difficult for me at the beginning with the app but I became a pro user 😂
We showed up to the meeting location on time but we could not locate our tour guide. After spending 10-15 minutes trying to locate our tour guide and speaking with several other tour guides I called the phone number listed and was told by the gentleman on the line that the tour was at 11:00, not 10:00. I told him we had tickets showing 10:00 but he insisted the tour was not at 10:00. We could not have taken the 11:00 tour since we were boarding a cruise ship at noon. We never got to tour the palace and the tour operator refused a refund, very disappointing. Wait until you get to Istanbul and book a tour thru your hotel if you want a guided tour.
Guide moved too fast from meeting place to palace entry, lost in crowd, separated from group. Could not enter on first attempt. We were turned away at entry turnstiles.
Hi! I’m writing about our experience. Let’s start: is the card usful? NO. Why? Here there is motivation by point: 1. guided tour: the service offered is not a guided tour, is meeting in a point of a city (see point 2) with a “guide” that carries you by foot into a monument and explains two information that you can read on a travel book, no more (a part some exeptions, very few). Then the guide abandons you and let you visit by yourself. It doesn’t make sense. I can read a travel book, and I can walk my self. You could think, maybe you will skip the line, no of course, even that is no. 2. Meeting point: it is necessary an internet connession to find them. So if you don’t want to buy a sim card, is impossibile to find some of that. That’s not fair, you oblige me to do a sim card, that’s not funny. Maybe instead of meeting point in the middle of the street you can meet the clients in front of the ticket office… 3. Monument: seriuosly? I can’t go and visit on my own a monument because it’s not in the hour of the guided tour timetable? For example: galata tower is open from 8 to 22, if you want to see the sunset from there YOU HAVE TO BUY A TICKEY, beacuse the pass, of course, is a NO PASS. So, i have to respect their nonsense timetable to visit principal monuments but if I do a “guided tour”, you carry me by walk, you tell me notions that i can read and then I have to visit by myself. It doesn’t make any sense. 4. Whatsapp support: I try to reach you, to explain my disappointment, you didn’t answer. 5. Transportation: it isn’t even included. I can’t say anymore. This is a freud. Don’t do the card with them. Use the muzeumpass that is not sponsored very well, but has all attractions (only a few are excluded, like basilica cistern 10€, and harem in topkapi 10€ that is also exluded in instanbul card pass of course)
It was a great tour. Guide was knowledgeable. We were able to see the prophet Muhammad (peace be up on him) used sandal, foot print, used sord , prophet Musses stick and automan emperor palace. Nice view of Istanbul.
My husband and I were looking forward to this guided tour to help explain the features and areas of the Topkapi Palace. First, we were never given the exact meeting spot, so we needed to hunt that down. Once within the tour, our guide was very friendly, but unfortunately, her English was hard to understand because she talked very quickly and without pauses. The main complaint however, was that the tour neglected to cover some key areas, and only led us through some basic parts which we could have figured out for ourselves (such as the clock and weapon rooms). I think the tour description should be more specific to alert participants of what is covered and what is not. Lastly, this site included a 'free' audio guide (one of the only site that includes an audio guide) which may have been just as good, or perhaps even better...so paying more to have a guided tour may not be worth it.
Really wonderful tour. Our guide Furqan was perfect. The palace has a very interesting structure, and the view of the Golden Horn is incredible
Tour guide started your early, so he left without us! And we arrived 5 minutes before the start time! No guide? Which we paid s lot for! Trying to get refund, but now they are not responding at all!!! ONLY bad experience with your guided in Istanbul. BAD, BAD, BAD! Do not take this your! Run by very UNPROFESSIONAL people! Even with text trail, with time stamp, they won’t accept responsibility!
It was great to hear about the historical detail of the palace and know more about the people who lived there
The guide was inexperienced which made for a boring experience. Also, we had a trip to the Hagia Sophia cancelled at the last minute with o forewarning. I recommend another travel company.
You don’t skip the line since everyone has to go thru security. Price was way higher thru Viator versus just buying a tour outside the gate. Wait and buy directly from vendor, Viator was a waste.
Oversubscribed and delayed. The tour guide spent 30 minutes haggling over paying customers to skip the tour and join a later one. In the end we ended up being overcrowded and delayed. Furthermore, the large group size meant we were unable to enter many parts of the palace/museum. I would strongly recommend taking a more reputable company.
The guide itself is ok, nice charming boy, but the organization of the whole tour is bit chaotic, no microphone so it was impossible to hear him.
Its probably my problem but i missed the meeting point several times. Google maps sent me to another location. Afterwords i trusted the locals for a wrong meeting point. Last time nobody was able to tell me where the carpet museum (the meeting point) was. Not easy in a croweded city like istambul.
Our tour guide was Furqan, he was knowledgeable and got us through in good time which allowed us time to wonder around on our own afterwards. Another benefit was that we got to skip the queue for the ticketing office, which saved us about 1 hour of standing in the sun. Will do the same in the future. Regards Anique
Tour guide was informative and articulate, tour was perfectly timed. suitable for elderly or children
This is a wonderful perk for the Obed in the rush like I was. I enter the Palace with no difficulties. Make sure you have your ticket in paper or electronically handy to avoid delays. It is crowed in the entrance but lines walk very quickly. I did skip the line and was able to experience the most beautiful place in the world.
Making our way to the palace we were quickly invited to join this group to ‘skip’ the queue and have a guided tour by the organisers. I can’t compare how long we would have to wait otherwise without it but I was pregnant so didn’t mind paying more. The back entrance was taken and this is a very steep walk/climb so would not recommend for elderly or those who struggle to walk uphill. We assumed the guided tour would take us through the whole palace, have time to take photos etc and discuss things in detail. It was good to skip the queue if that’s what you’re happy to pay for but the guided tour was very basic and done in around 30-40mins when the whole palace takes at least 3 hours. We weren’t guided into the the different segments and were given a quick run though of what the different rooms involved. Then our tour guide left to probably escort the next group and we had to see the different areas ourselves. If you’re expecting a detailed guided tour that will stay with you for the duration of the palace then this isn’t it. If you want a quick entry pass through then it’s probably worth paying for. Again not sure how much the average wait is through the normal entry.
Just a guide talking and talking and did not show nothing,had to paid for extras.Nothing for the price that we paid
This was our second guided tour at Topkapi palace. The palace and its history is beautiful. Ozzy, our guide was most certainly the best and the most knowledgeable guide!!! Ozzy made the whole experience really amazing.
The guide Osi was great and very friendly. The tour’s operator was extremely helpful. I enjoyed it so much and would definitely recommend it for everyone. Thank you for making this tour happen for me :)
The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and explained, in detail, the amazing history of the sultans and the palace. We were a fairly small group so everyone had a chance to ask questions, which were dealt with, in great detail, by the tour guide. Overall, this was an excellent experience and great value for money.
The tour guide explained very well about Topkapi palace. Don't miss the Harem section of the topkapi palace. it's the 2nd most interesting part ,after The Holy Relics.
The guide was very well-prepared and knowledgeable. The group was small so everyone had an opportunity to ask questions in relation to personal interests. The skip-the-line option is great, because the line was big and with the guided tour we skipped it and saved a lot of time. The palace was totally worth the visit! The guide informed us about the collections which could be seen at the palace without extra expenses, because the admission is included in the ticket for this activity. To summon it up, the tour is very good and I would recommend it.
Oguz is a good guide; knowledgeable, attentive, kind and efficient. He has a good grasp of history and knows how to put events and places in context. He is passionate about history.
Very expensive The guide was knowledgeable but didn’t cover all the implant parts The meeting point was not clear The company is cooperative
We have booked a tour at 15:30 and when we met with the tour guide, he informed us that it will the short-version tour, because Topkapi closes at 17.00. We had no prior information about it! During booking, we should have been informed and then we would decide if we want the short-version or not! What is more, since it was the short-version, the price should be different!!! Why pay the full amount for a quick tour? Besides that, the tour guide was very polite and friendly and the information he gave was sufficient.
Our tour in Topkapi was detailed and exhaustive, we had lots of historical information and anecdotes by our guide. It is important not to get distracted by sorrounding people as the site is usually very crowded.
My wife and I had a great experience with our guided, English speaking tour. The tour lasts about 90 minutes, after which you can spend as much time in the palace on your own as you’d like. Pro tip 1 - the meeting place for this tour is at the entrance to the carpet museum, right outside the outer gate of Topkapi palace, about 5-10 minutes before your tour time. Pro tip 2 - the e ticket you get from TripAdvisor will not be able to be scanned at the second gate of the Topkapi palace. Your tour guide has your actual tickets. So don’t try to get into the palace early! Wait at the carpet museum for your tour guide :)
The palace is amazing but unfortunately, I purchased online tickets with a guide and I got a default time which was 3:30 pm. The palace needs at least 3 hrs to be toured. It is such a huge place and so many things to see inside it. I recommend purchasing the tickets at the gate and then see everything. It is open at 9 am. So if you go around 10 or 11 then it would be great. Our guide had 1 and a half hr and she knew that it would take more time. But she talked a lot instead of talking while showing or walking. She stopped at one and talked about it. Then said you guys do not have time to see from inside. We did not go there to see from the outside. So, basically I wasted my money. She said if you want to see harem, sultan rooms, then you must come another day means to pay again for these things which we could see the same day. BUY TICKETS AT GATE OR SEE TIMING IF YOU BUY TICKETS ONLINE.
Monday through Friday 9 am to 7 pm EST
Reach us by phone
Reach us by email