Guided Tours

Topkapi Palace & Harem Guided Tour with Skip-the-Line Tickets

Topkapi Palace Harem interior with ornate decor and seating area, Istanbul.

Visitors on a guided tour inside Topkapi Palace Museum's ornate Harem section.

Armory display of chainmail and helmets at Topkapi Palace's Imperial Treasury in Istanbul, Turkey.

Topkapi Dagger with emeralds displayed in Imperial Treasury, Topkapi Palace, Istanbul.

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Free cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience

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Audio guide

Enhance your experience with multilingual audio guide

Guided tour

Skip the lines and enter the Topkapı Palace, home to the Ottoman Sultans for almost 400 years, and enjoy a guided tour.

4.4/5

(3,862)

Sophie

Sep 2025

Verified booking

4/5

After a three-hour walking tour in the morning, we arrived tired at Topkapi in the afternoon. But Ozzy was an excellent guide. He highlighted the key sights and entertained us with anecdotal information. Personally, I wouldn’t have minded if the tour had lasted longer than an hour.

Justin

Sep 2025

Verified booking

4/5

Head out made the entire experience of booking this tour, easy and hassle free. My guide G was excellent and gave a great tour. I enjoyed him in his energy. I only wish I would've had more time at the palace.. wonderful experience and I'd recommend; thank you.

Karen

Aug 2025

Verified booking

5/5

Our Topkapi guided tour with our guide, Vusra, was great! We had a small group of about 12 people, and Vusra was a wealth of info. We were able to go through the whole palace. Skip the line was great. Allot the whole afternoon if you want to go through everything with reasonable detail. Blue Palace entry is free so dont get duped into including that in a paid package.

Tour the UNESCO World Heritage site – Topkapı Palace along with an expert multilingual local guide and enjoy priority admission with skip-the-line access.

Explore the main residence and administrative headquarters of the Ottoman sultans.

Admire the lavish interiors, see the brilliant artifacts on display, and bask in the glory of the Ottoman Era.

Visit the Harem section and see the lavishly decorated marble hallways, and arched doorways with over 400 rooms!

Fun Fact: The Palace has 20 chimneys in the kitchen, where roughly 800 employees worked making this the largest kitchen in the Ottoman Empire at the time.

1-hour guided tour

English-speaking guide

Skip-the-ticket-line entry to Topkapi Palace

Access to Harem Section

Audio guide for IOS & Android is available in English, German, French, Italian, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish. Instructions to download will be shared with your ticket. Do bring your own headphones.

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

4.4
3,862 reviews
How do we collect reviews?
These ratings include verified reviews from both Headout guests and our trusted partners who operate this experience locally. All reviews come from real travelers who've taken this experience.
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What our guests say
Asad
Oct 2025
Verified booking
4/5
The tour operator Ibrahim was great but overall the tour was very short (for an one hour). The guided tour just included two sections of the entire palace. For the haram, entry is included but not thr guided tour.
María
Oct 2025
Verified booking
4/5
The tour guide OGUZ the best, he made the tour super interesting, with a common thread that kept you hooked to the story. Highly recommended!!!
Sophie
Sep 2025
Verified booking
4/5
After a three-hour walking tour in the morning, we arrived tired at Topkapi in the afternoon. But Ozzy was an excellent guide. He highlighted the key sights and entertained us with anecdotal information. Personally, I wouldn’t have minded if the tour had lasted longer than an hour.
Justin
Sep 2025
Verified booking
4/5
Head out made the entire experience of booking this tour, easy and hassle free. My guide G was excellent and gave a great tour. I enjoyed him in his energy. I only wish I would've had more time at the palace.. wonderful experience and I'd recommend; thank you.
Natalia
Sep 2025
Verified booking
3/5
The guide was nice and very knowledgeable. But he told us the whole count and then we were seeing it on our own, it was too much information to retain and to be able to see in each space.

Queue less, see more

See the spectacular Topkapı Palace for yourself, the primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for nearly 400 years. As the most visited museum in Turkey, Topkapı Palace is an absolute must-see, so make sure to add it to your itinerary! This ticket has everything to make your visit convenient: skip-the-line entry, the services of a representative who will lead you to the entrance, and the company of an expert guide. Topkapı Palace is home to many unique collections on display. Follow your expert guide as they narrate the fascinating history of the palace and all that you see around you.

A journey through history

You'll find here weapons of the Ottoman Army, beautiful fabrics, jewels, and art. The Palace kitchen boasts an astonishing collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelain too. See the Holy Relics Chamber, which contains items associated with legendary historical figures. Find here personal artifacts of the Prophet Muhammad, the staff of Moses, and the sword of David, to name only a few. What a collection! There's all this and more to explore here. Don't miss it for the world! Explore the Harem, once ruled by the Queen Mother who wielded domestic and political power. Admire the Turkish baths, Sultan's apartments, rooms of the Chief Black Eunuch, Queen Mother's rooms, and many more.

Topkapi Palace

Monday	09:00am - 04:45pm	last entry 03:45pm
Tuesday	Closed
Wednesday	09:00am - 04:45pm	last entry 03:45pm
Thursday	09:00am - 04:45pm	last entry 03:45pm
Friday	09:00am - 04:45pm	last entry 03:45pm
Saturday	09:00am - 04:45pm	last entry 03:45pm
Sunday	09:00am - 04:45pm	last entry 03:45pm

Basilica Cistern

Monday	09:00am - 10:00pm	last entry 06:30pm
Tuesday	09:00am - 10:00pm	last entry 06:30pm
Wednesday	09:00am - 10:00pm	last entry 06:30pm
Thursday	09:00am - 10:00pm	last entry 06:30pm
Friday	09:00am - 10:00pm	last entry 06:30pm
Saturday	09:00am - 10:00pm	last entry 06:30pm
Sunday	09:00am - 10:00pm	last entry 06:30pm

What to bring

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.

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.

Audio app for IOS and Android is available in English, German, French, Italian, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish.

Children will be asked to present their valid passports at the entrance of the museums in order to validate their age.

This attraction cannot be accessed directly by presenting the digital Pass at the museum. You need to enter with the tour guide.

It is mandatory for guests to use a headset during the tour. For this reason, be sure to bring your ID card with you when you come to the Topkapi Palace Tour. ID cards will be taken during the use of the headset and will be returned at the end of the tour.

Your voucher will be emailed to you instantly.

Please display your mobile voucher along with a valid photo ID to your guide.

If you have purchased reduced-price tickets, please carry your valid photo ID proof for verification.

Kindly ensure that you arrive 15 minutes before the start time of your tour to avoid any delays.

Meeting Point

Please check your final voucher for the meeting point details and specific instructions