Topkapi Palace Museum Guided Tour with Ticket

Topkapu0131 Palace, in short

The largest museum in Istanbul and the seat of Ottoman power for close to four centuries. It sits directly behind Hagia Sophia, spread across four courtyards and roughly 400,000 square metres above the point where the Bosphorus meets the Golden Horn.

It was a working royal household before it was a museum, and that is the thing to hold onto as you walk it: the council chamber, the treasury, the kitchens and the Harem were all part of one operating court.

Opening hours

Open daily except Tuesdays, 09:00 to 18:00. Last entry is 17:00.

What it costs

Walk-up entry is 2,750 Turkish lira, with the Harem charged separately at a further 1,050. Both are included on the pass.

Getting there

Take the T1 tram to Sultanahmet and walk about five minutes. There is a second entrance near Gu00fclhane tram station, which is usually the quieter of the two.

How long to allow

Allow an hour and a half to two hours unaccompanied; a guided tour runs about an hour and gets you oriented far faster. Photography and talking are restricted in many rooms, and the Harem in particular repays a slow walk.

Where the museum actually begins

The first courtyard is a public park and free to enter. The museum proper starts at the second gate, and that is where your pass or ticket is checked. There is a security check at both gates, plus a final one before the ticket is used.

The second courtyard

Turn right after the gate for a map of the Ottoman Empire at its height and a scale model of the palace u2014 the quickest way to grasp how big the place is. Straight ahead on the left is the Imperial Council Hall, where the Sultan's ministers met until the 19th century, with the Justice Tower rising above it as the tallest structure on the site.