Topkapi Palace Guided Tour: Skip The Line and Discover Istanbul's Historic Gem

47 Ratings

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Discover the historic gem of Istanbul with a guided tour of the Topkapi Palace. Skip the line and explore the magnificent architecture and rich history of this iconic Ottoman residence and museum.

Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Cancellation: 24 hours

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Highlights

Topkapi Palace - Skip the line and enjoy immediate entry to the leading museum in Turkey and the Balkan Peninsula. Experience a guided tour through its impressive grounds, featuring four fascinating courtyards: the Audience Hall, High Court, Historical Kitchens, and The Treasury.
Originally, the palace served as the Sultan’s residence; today, it…

What's Included

Guidance in English
Skip the ticket line Entry to Topkapi Palace

What's Not Included

Harem section entrance ticket

Additional Information

Experience an expedited entry to Turkey’s and the Balkan Peninsula’s paramount museum. Uncover the remarkable history of the Topkapi Palace, constructed from 1466 to 1478, which stood as the prestigious residence and administrative hub for the Ottoman Sultans for more than four centuries.
During a captivating one-hour tour, your guide will narrate the…

Location

Fountain Sultan Ahmed III

Front of the Fountain Ahmet 3rd accross the main gate of Topkapi Palace our guide will hold Istanbul E-pass flag

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

4.4

(47 Ratings)

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Grayle_j

Oct 28, 2024

Church at Topkapi Palace - The 2nd ecumenical council (381 AD) was held in a church on this site. The grounds and garden are very nice. Watch for the parrots!

Review provided by Viator

Departure66215645957

Oct 12, 2025

Take the hassle out of planning - I was in Istanbul for a stop-over and did not really have time to research on the attractions, so decided to purchase the Istanbul e-pass which included entrance tickets to most of the popular places of attractions with guided tour. It turned out to be a good choice, looking at the extremely long queues of visitors to each of the attractions. Initially, it appears to be a bit confusing having to check the time, meeting place for the different attractions and look out for the right tour guide, among the sea of people in the square. But after the first time, it got easier. With the pass, we were able to skip the long queue to purchase the ticket on the spot, although we still have to queue to get pass the security checks, where applicable. The guides were quite knowledgable and often gave some interesting perceptive to the attractions. They were generally polite, considering that they have to control a large group of strangers. They are not pushy. One of these guides whom I have the pleasure to join twice was Izah (not sure if I spelt it right). The e-pass also includes other experiences, such as coffee tasting, cruises and a shuttle transfer to or from the airport. Although it may seem expensive, but for one who explores only around the Sultanahmet and Takzim areas, it is possible to utilise it up to 5 times a day, and it really takes away the headache of deciding what to do next, so it is quite worthwhile.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Brittany_h

Jul 25, 2025

Guide was very... - Guide was very knowledgeable! Would recommend this tour, but the pre tour communication was lacking. Also our guide was 15 mins late and no one knew what was happening.

Review provided by Viator

Thierry

Jan 21, 2025

Not to be missed - What a beautiful place to visit, plan a half day visit. Beautiful rooms and an interesting story. Do not forget to visit the harem

Review provided by Tripadvisor

A367mbstuartb

Sep 26, 2024

Great introduction to Topaki Palace - Good tour. Guide shared interesting features. 1 hour tour good to show you around, provide history and let let you go into the different exhibits at your own pace. To see everything would take at least 4 hours as there is so much to see!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Jennifer_d

Oct 15, 2025

Absolutely waste of $150 - The tour amounts to the guide pointing out buildings and what you could be seeing in them, but the guide doesn’t actually take you in. The storytelling was weak and we had no sense of what was happening, despite asking a bunch of questions about the history and what we were seeing. The Harem is not included in the tour and our guide actually said “you’ll be disappointed to learn that’s the best part of being here and you can’t go” which was INSANE to hear. All in all don’t waste your time, just book it yourself and get the audio guide or ask ChatGPT to give you the history, it’ll be a thousand times better and cheaper.

Review provided by Viator

Seann_t

Jun 28, 2025

You must visit “ harem” which is not included in this tour - The guide is ok, but this tour does not include harem section, which is the most worth seeing places in topkapi palace. Just visit Harem if you don’t have enough time to visit the whole palace.

Review provided by Viator

Tim_r

Mar 11, 2025

Should be called "description of parts of a model of the palace" - The supposedly 1hr tour of the palace was the tour guide taking us to a model of the palace and describing which parts (on the model) were which. Not a tour of the palace at all

Review provided by Viator

Camila_c

Feb 7, 2025

I was sold a tour of the... - I was sold a tour of the Topika Palace for which I was charged $67.00. The guy gave me 50 minutes of “orientation” as he called it. Refused to show me the galleries, never mentioned dates and type of architecture. A complete waste. I expect my money back!

Review provided by Viator

Ullivb

Dec 27, 2024

book yourself the tickets and take the audio guide for free ! - Audioguide tour without an accompanying guide. the guide only supported us with general information outside all sights. she wasn't accompanying us at all into the several sights / rooms / exhibitions. we could have talen an audio guide (for free) and do the tour on our own. she was more busy with organising kids tickets and taking photos of their passports than taking care of the group that was definetely too big for her (20 people). all organisational stuff could have organsied digitally upfront :-( very bad and very sad experience ! plus the HAREM is NOT included ... go to get your guide, you'll get the same tour including the harem wnd with a real guide :-)

Review provided by Viator

Check Availability

From $74

up to 15 guests

1 - Adult