Istanbul Highlights: Skip-the-Line Museum Tour

Efficiently explore the major highlights of historical Istanbul with a guided tour of Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, and Basilica Cistern. Skip the lines and gain insights into the rich history and fascinating architecture of these iconic attractions.

Duration: 4 hours, 15 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Sultanahmet District - Meet your expert guide and join your small-group walking tour in the heart of Istanbul’s old town Sultanahmet to visit the Basilica Cistern, Hagia Sophia, and Topkapi Palace.
  • Basilica Cistern - Make the most of your time in Istanbul with a skip-the-line entry to the Basilica Cistern. Explore the famous Basilica Cistern…
What's Included
  • Headsets to hear the guide better
  • Professional expert guide for insider’s knowledge
  • Small group tour for 4 hours at a relaxed pace
  • Pre-reserved tickets for the Harem
  • Pre-reserved ticket for Hagia Sophia
  • Pre-reserved tickets for the Basilica Cistern
  • Pre-reserved tickets for Topkapi Palace
What's Not Included
  • Transport to the meeting spot
  • Guided tour of the Harem inside Topkapi Palace
Additional Information

This well-organized tour includes all tickets. Enjoy priority access to museums, bypassing the queues to maximize your time. Discover the key highlights of historic Istanbul on a guided tour that covers the essential attractions. With a knowledgeable guide, enter the stunning Hagia Sophia and delve into its fascinating history. Visit the Basilica…

Location
Ersoy Bufe
At Meydanı Caddesi
Cancellation Policy

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

Customer Ratings
4.7
(66 Ratings)
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Danny_l
Dec 12, 2024
History class. Very good one. - Too bad it was a cold rainy day. But our guide Beket did a super professional job, being patient and polite in every aspects. The deep history of these places we visited is fascinating.
Review provided by Viator
Angus_p
Dec 10, 2024
Perfect tour of the key places to visit in Sultanahmet - My family of two adults and two children ended up getting a "private" tour with Mert. Mert kept the children, aged 9 and 11, attentive throughout the visits to the Aya Sophia, Cistern, and Topkapi Palace. We loved learning about the history of Istanbul, Islam's position on cats (very positive), and the most likely way to die as a Sultan (diabetes through overeating).
Review provided by Viator
David
Dec 4, 2024
Guided tour Hagia Sophia, Basilica Cistern, Topkapi Palace - A very personalized tour, able to ask any questions about area and sights. Tour guide Ismail Mert was very friendly, knowledgeable and entertaining. Even though everything is close there is a lot of walking, but plenty of breaks. A very worthwhile experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Neelp816
Nov 18, 2024
Informative Tour - Our guide Sabih was great! He did a nice job of giving us the historical back drop of each location we visited. We ended the tour learning a lot about Istanbul and its rich history!
Review provided by Viator
Sujana_p
Nov 18, 2024
Mert was a great guide,... - Mert was a great guide, very knowledgeable and fun. He kept a good pace and shared a lot of information
Review provided by Viator
Pamela_m
Nov 17, 2024
Excellent Tour of Major Sites - Fabulous experience seeing three of the top historical sits in Istanbul. Our guide, Taner, was extremely knowledgeable and personable. I've been on Viator tours all over the world, and this is one of the best -- if not THE best.
Review provided by Viator
Katarina_z
Nov 16, 2024
Brilliant - Excellent tour, our guide Sabih was brilliant. I do recommend if you want to hear more about Istanbul and history of Ottoman Empire
Review provided by Viator
Mara_d
Nov 12, 2024
Great tour - Murat was a terrific guide. Extremely knowledgeable and pleasant. We learned a lot about Turkiye ftom him. we highly recommend this tour
Review provided by Viator
Ramana_t
Nov 11, 2024
Nice Guide and Good Tour! - The guide, Murat was very very nice guy and provided good insights of the places we toured. He tried to plan the tour well to avoid crowds and gave enough time to explore the places. This tour covered the 3 top attractions to be covered and helped plan my day well.
Review provided by Viator
Anita_g
Nov 24, 2024
Expensive, hard to hear guide without hearing device - The 3 in one tour is ok. Hagia Sofia tour allowed skip the lines. Basilica Cistern is just ok. Not sure why it’s famous and included in the tour. Was not impressive at all with the changing colors. Topkapi palace and its contents is good. Preserved artifacts of Ottoman Empire worth seeing. Harem tickets included but not the tour so have to do on own. Better to take tickets and listen to audio guide I feel. The guide Murat did not speak up in spite of telling him too. Tour listed listening devices but he said those are for high volume of tourist and this was low period. Seriously don’t understand that concept. He needed to talk louder then and not just as if talking to a couple of people. We were 9 in the group and still hard to hear or understand him at times. Compared to what was covered it feels like an expensive tour of 4 hours. Definitely would expect the review to be taken seriously and provide hearing devices if guide doesn’t understand his volume. In high volume May be worth just to get the skip the line privilege with the guide. But otherwise not worth it.
Review provided by Viator
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up to 15 guests
1 Adult
February 2025
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