Istanbul Combo Tour: Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace and Basilica Cistern

Save with this Combo Ticket time and money, enjoy hassle-free access to the Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace and the Basilca Cistern. Benefit of Highlight Tours, get the most important information and orientation tips by an official tour guide and benefit of an audio guide app in 7 languages.

We will personally meet you at the museums and bring you inside. Inside each museum, you will enjoy a 30 min. highlights tour with a licensed local tour guide. After the tours and orientation tips, you can stay inside the museums as long as you want and listen to the exciting stories and information in the included audio guide on your own smartphone.

All trips to Istanbul should include a visit to Hagia Sophia the largest Christian church in the world for 1,000 years (and since 500 years a Mosque), the majestic Topkapı Palace, home to Ottoman Sultans for centuries, and the 1,500-year-old Basilica underground water cistern, famous for its Medusa heads and many Hollywood Blockbusters. All attractions are located right next to each other in the old town on Sultanahmet Square.

Meet your guide at the meeting point and enter these attractions the fast way! Once inside, your licensed tour guide will give highlights tour, then you are free to explore more at your own pace with your audio app. The audio guide includes exciting stories and more interesting information.

With this Combo there are 2 different options:

Option 1:

You can do all tours in one day with the same tour guide in same day. Meet your tour guide at the meeting point. The meeting point is open between 9:30am until 5:30pm.

Option 2:

Or you can spread the tours across three days, giving you freedom to see things as and when you like. The tour guides are easy to spot at the attractions as they have a flag. 

The meeting point is open between 9:30am until 5:30pm. Visit all 3 attractions at with your tour guide at following tour times.

Hagia Sophia ticket daily at expect Fridays:

10am, 10:30am, 11am, 11:30am, 12pm, 12:30pm, 1pm, 1:30pm, 2pm, 2:30pm, 3pm, 3:30pm.

45 min Topkapı Palace tour daily except Tuesdays at:

10am, 12pm, 2pm.

15 min Basilica Cistern tour daily at:

10am, 11am, 1pm, 2pm.

Important information

We skip the ticket lines but can not skip the security line.

At Hagia Sophia please expect a security waiting time of up to 1 hour during the high season. While you are waiting, your tour guide will entertain you with valuable information about daily life and the history of Istanbul.

At Topkapı Palace and the Basilica Cistern we skip the ticket lines but can not skip the security line. The security check can take up to 10 minutes.

During the waiting times, don’t worry! Your guide will entertain you with interesting stories and facts about the sights and Istanbul, and you can also ask questions. 

Hagia Sophia dress code

Remember to wear modest clothing (arms and legs covered). Women must cover their hair with a scarf.

Languages

Highlights tour: English-speaking guide.

Search in Apple or Google Play Store for Hagia Sophia audio guide and Topkapi Palace audio guide (available in 7 languages, English, German, Russian, Italian, Spanish, French, Turkish).

Download each audio on your smartphone and start exploring even before the tours