Guided Tours

Hagia Sophia Guided Tour with Skip-the-Line Tickets

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Skip the lines and explore Hagia Sophia's splendors with a guide. Upgrade your experience to include the Blue Mosque or a Bosphorus cruise.

Highlights

Enjoy fast-tracked entry and learn everything you can about Hagia Sophia, with a 1hr guided tour and a self-paced audio-guided tour.
Learn from a seasoned historian about Hagia Sophia, including its fascinating past as a church, then a mosque, and a world record holder.
Equipped with the knowledge you gathered from your guide, explore at your pace, with an audio guide available in the language of your choice.
Enrich your journey by adding a guided tour of the Blue Mosque or a 1-hour guided walking tour of the Old City, followed by a relaxing Bosphorus Cruise.
Fun fact: For over 1000 years, Hagia Sophia held the title of the world's largest dome (31-meters).

Inclusions

1-hour guided tour of Hagia Sophia (as per option selected)
1-hour guided tour of Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque (as per option selected)
1-hour guided tour of Hagia Sophia and Old City (as per option selected)
English-speaking guide
Skip-the-line entry to Hagia Sophia visitors' area
Audio guide for Hagia Sophia
2-hour Bosphorus cruise (as per option selected)
Audio guide for cruise in English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Arabic, and Chinese (as per option selected)
Entry to Blue Mosque (as per option selected)
Audio guide for Blue Mosque (as per option selected)

Cancellation policy

You can cancel these tickets up to 24 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.

Reviews

4.4

2.6K ratings

5/5

1.8K

4/5

451

3/5

2/5

1/5

171

Abboud

5/5

Jul, 2024

Overall it was a great experience and our tour guide was super knowledgeable with the history and stories related to Hagia Sophia. We were running behind schedule due to Istanbul traffic, however customer support and the tour guide from Headout were super helpful and waited for us at the 11th hour. Highly recommended and will do it again when we visit next.

Rodolfo

3/5

Jul, 2024

The Blue Mosque is crowded all the time and we were a group of ~30 people, which, combined with a lack of passion from our guide made it impossible for us to hear and understand the context of the tour. We did the Hagia Sofia following the Blue Mosque, and it was very nice. Guides/groups can go into Hagia Sofia talking, so all the overview and history was taught before we entered the Hagia Sofia, and then we used the audio guides. 10x better. I would advise you not to hire a guide for the Blue Mosque (use the audio guide instead)

Varun

4/5

Jul, 2024

Hakan was simply amazing giving us an over view of Historic Turkey at the Hagia Sofia along with some very interesting info about Istanbul. This part was definitely worth it, although you'll never get to visit the lower floor of the Hagia Sofia. But the guide for the Blue Mosque tour was alright, but got too much into the details of Islam as a religion. I would have hoped to learn more about the architect of the blue mosque or the materials of construction or some other interesting aspects. The Blue Mosque provided headscarves/ robes for tourists in skirts/ shorts, quite a novel gesture from the Mosque!

Lance

5/5

Jul, 2024

The mosques were cool. The best part was our guide, Hal. Very knowledgeable and personable. It's always fun to talk classic rock while touring historical sites.

Taghrid

4/5

Jul, 2024

The most i like the good explication of our guide,good English and he explains to us everything and he answered our questions, He is very professional i think his name was semit or semih

Your experience

Hagia Sophia, how historians see it

Fuel up at the Dsign Cafe, located quite near Hagia Sophia while you wait for your expert guide to join you. Eager as they are, and with so much to tell you, be prepared to start learning everything right from the get-go. Skip the lines and go straight in with your guide. In an hour, explore every nook and corner of Hagia Sophia and fall in love with it the way a historian does, knowing why they revere it so much. Learn exactly how this iconic mosque used to be a Greek Orthodox Cathedral once, and then a Roman Catholic Cathedral.

Take your time

With all the tidbits of knowledge you gathered from your guide, go back and see it all again and gain new perspectives. Oh, and you're not alone. To refresh your memory and gather more details, tune in to the audio guide. Watch out for thrilling tales of hidden art that resurfaced when Hagia Sophia became the beautiful museum that it is. Maximize your Istanbul visit! Add a guided tour of the majestic Blue Mosque to your plans. Alternatively, immerse yourself in history with a 1-hour guided walking tour of the Old City, followed by a relaxing Bosphorus Cruise.

Know before you go

What to bring

Bring your walking shoes, water bottle, hat, sunglasses, and snacks for comfortable exploration.
Bring local currency or your preferred payment method for meals, souvenirs, and extra delights not covered by the ticket.
Stay ahead of the game; download the audio app beforehand to dodge any network glitches at the location.
Don’t forget your trusty earphones for an immersive audio guide experience.

What's not allowed

The prayer area on the first floor can only be entered by Turkish citizens.
Strict dress code: Women should not wear knee-length shorts, skirts, or clothing with exposed shoulders or chests. Hair should be partially covered with a scarf. Men should not wear knee-length shorts or clothing with exposed shoulders.

Accessibility

This experience is not accessible by wheelchair and pram/stroller.

Additional information

You skip the ticket lines but you cannot skip the security check. The security check can take up to 60 minutes during peak seasons.
Hagia Sophia is under renovation, therefore, not all parts of the building are open to the public.
Due to the Friday prayer, the Mosque will be closed to tourists from 12pm to 2pm.
Clothes and scarves are available for purchase at the entrance of the attraction.
In addition to midday and afternoon departures for the Bosphorus cruise, you can also opt for a special evening cruise at 6 PM, available from April to October.

My tickets

Your voucher will be emailed to you shortly.
Display the voucher on your mobile phone with a valid photo ID at the meeting point.
Please arrive at the meeting point 15 minutes before the scheduled time of your tour to avoid any delays.