Guided Tour of Basilica Cistern & Topkapi Palace

Topkapi Paula's was our 3rd booking through Headout. The process went very smoothly. Any glitches were quickly and easily resolved. The tour guides are extremely nice, helpful, and informed. Topkapi Palace is very big and extensive. We pooped out without getting through everything but that's ok. We loved what we saw. I point out that these days you may have people who behave entitled. The guards and ushers in the museum are quick to correct those who break the rules. As it should be.

We had an audioguide for the Basilica and the palace but were not able to use it in the basilica for there is no mobile network connection there. That is of course a shame when one downloads an audioguide in advance and pays for it. In the palace, however, the live guide was very good and knowledgeable. The tickets really were skip-the-line which worked very well.

I liked the knowledge of the guide and his relaxed way of explaining the historical data and the specific sites of the tour. I did not like the initial mess and the change of the tour start time.

The Skip the line feature was a great idea. As a solo traveler it is not fun to stand in line alone and wait. I will gladly pay to not stand around in endless lines. There was a bit of confusion about the meetup point. I made it to the designated meet up point in plenty of time for the 10am tour. But then was told my Palace tour meet up point was at a different location. Then was told after my palace tour to return to the initial point at noon for my cistern tour. While on the palace tour, the guide urged us to explore the palace for a few hours after the tour ended . I asked him how I could do that and still make the cistern tour at noon. He told me I could go to 2 or 4 pm tours instead. That was a relief to hear. But if I had been told about the 2 and 4 pm tour options for the cistern I would have been more informed planning my day.

The guide was very knowledgeable and explained things well. My hotel was around the corner from the meeting place so that made it easy to find it.

Punctuality, organization, friendliness, good English skills, helpfulness, Everything worked out great. Thank you for everything.

The Cistern and Palace are absolutely stanning with a lot to see and go around. The skip-the-line ticket are definitely worth it w Basilica Cistern as it hugely cut down time waiting in line under the skorching sun. Our tour guides Dennis and Buse are very ethusiastic and knowledgeable, who made the experience much more enjoyable and eye-opening. Would highly recommended getting the skip-the-line ticket with tour guides!

Good option if you want to skip the long lines and access the venues rapidly. Guides were very knowledgeable and open to answering questions. We got plenty of time to visit both locations. For Topkapi Palace we were given headphones so we could stay behind and take pictures and still hear the guide. At the meeting point, it wasn't clear who the contact people were - only one was holding the HeadOut flag; the other was dressed normally and it's only when we asked the other guests waiting that we got to know there were 2 people verifying reservations. Found out at Topkapi Palace that the visit of the harem was not included in our package . We were given the option to pay on the spot to continue with the guide but we chose not to take it. I feel it was not made clear during the booking process that some parts of the visit were not included ; I understood i was booking for the whole package and not a limited one.

We enjoyed having an informative guide who shared a lot of interesting facts about the Basilica Cistern. It was an easy process obtaining the tickets online, it was wonderful being able to skip the long queue and go right inside.

The venue is great. The audio presentation did seem to work that day and there were too many people to be able to troubleshoot the problem.

Very friendly guide, knowledgeable and accurate.

Well plan and clear instruction end story telling..Strongly recommended

Excellent experience with you guys. I definitely recommend the service.

Excellent tour guide, detailed information, the ability to make the tour at comfortable speed

Good guides had lots of relevant information and explanations were clear.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get into St. Sophia. Endless queue. The rest beautiful.

Tour guide for Topkapi Palace was not in a good mode. Tour guide for Basilica was great.

Assistance from the hostesses in charge very kind and friendly and skipping the line is priceless

The places

Great place to visit. The guide was polite and knowledgeable