Topkapi Palace, Harem & Basilica Cistern Guided Walking Tour
Recommended by 99% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Istanbul, Turkey
- 3 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
What's Included
- Entry ticket to Basilica Cistern (if option is selected)
- Professional English-speaking guide
- Entrance fees to Topkapi Palace
- Transfer
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Fountain of Sultan Ahmed IIISultan Ahmet Sultanahmet Meydanı Topkapı Sarayı, Cankurtaran, 34122 Fatih/İstanbul, Türkiye
Meet your guide in front of "Fountain of Sultan Ahmed III" holding a Tourmania flag.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
1
TopkapI Palace
2 hours • Admission Ticket Included
2
Basilica Cistern
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
5.0
based on 74 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Great way to visit Topkapi, Harem and Cistern. Elif, our guide, was so knowledgeable and took us to rooms others were not aware of and less crowded. She was also patient, considerate and funny. We got through the long lines faster because of the tour. She went the extra mile to be sure we got a great visit.. Highly recommend and hope you get Elif as your guide!
Response from Host, Sep 2026
Dear Guest,
Thank you for your wonderful review! 😊 We’re delighted that Elif’s knowledge, patience and sense of humor made your visit so special. It’s great to hear she helped you discover quieter areas and make the most of your time. We’ll gladly share your lovely words with her!
Kind regards 🧿
Our guide was very knowledgeable and animated about history. Tolga guided us as if has done this hundreds of times.
Response from Host, Sep 2026
Dear Guest,
Thank you for your lovely feedback! 😊 We’re delighted that Tolga’s knowledge and enthusiasm for history made the tour so engaging. His experience and passion truly shine through, and we’ll be happy to share your kind words with him!
Kind regards 🧿
The tour is very good. The guide gives all necessary information about the palace. The harem was included.
Response from Host, Sep 2026
Dear Guest,
Thank you for your lovely feedback! 😊 We’re delighted you enjoyed the tour and found the guide’s explanations informative and helpful. We’re also glad you enjoyed visiting the Harem as part of the experience!
Kind regards 🧿
We really enjoyed our experience our Guide was awesome, knowledgable and fun. We had a small group so could get answers to questions easily. My husband and I then had a private tour with our guide at Basilica Cistern. It is worth it. Very well done.
Response from Host, Sep 2026
Dear Guest,
Thank you for your wonderful feedback! 😊 We’re delighted that your guide’s knowledge and fun personality made the small-group experience so enjoyable. It’s especially great to hear that the private Basilica Cistern visit was such a highlight. Thank you for recommending us!
Kind regards 🧿
Hassan was an excellent guide on a very interesting tour. He was friendly, kind, and exceedingly knowledgeable! We saw a bit more of the palace than many other tours include. The Basilica Cistern is very interesting! Hassan recommended a wonderful restaurant for our lunch afterwards and showed us how to get there and where we were going afterwards.
Response from Host, Aug 2026
Dear Guest,
Thank you for the wonderful review! 😊 We’re delighted you enjoyed the tour and Hassan’s knowledge and kindness. It’s especially nice to hear that he went the extra mile with recommendations and directions after the tour. We’ll gladly share your kind words with him!
Kind regards 🧿
Tourmania Team
What an informative tour!! Defne has a deep knowledge of history and Turkish culture that she eagerly shared with us during the tour. She knew about many relevant pieces of history as we walked through the rooms in the harem and told us many interesting anecdotes about the lives of the sultans who lived in the palace. I did a tour last year where we spent a lot of time in the area with the kitchens and clothing and while that was also interesting, unfortunately the harem section was mostly closed for renovation, so it was a delight to be able to experience it this time with someone who was so knowledgeable! She was helpful as well getting us into the Cistern and giving us tips as we explored it on our own. Highly recommended!
Our wonderful, engaging guide gave us a very thorough walk through of the palace, harem and cistern. I'm very glad we chose this tour over the many others
Our guide was excellent. I believe her name was Ese. She was knowledgeable and very helpful. Pace was very good, not overwhelming. She answered all the questions posed. She had a very positive attitude and made the tour entertaining. Thank you.
Response from Host, Jun 2026
Dear Guest,
Thank you for the wonderful review! Ece will be really happy to hear your kind words and we'll make sure she does. A perfect pace, great knowledge and a positive attitude that keeps things entertaining is exactly what we strive for. Hope to welcome you back again someday!
Kind regards 🧿 Tourmania Team
We had an amazing guide, Elif.She was very knowledgeable about the cistern in Istanbul. She was very informative and personable. The guided tour was amazing thanks to our wonderful guide, thank you I would highly recommend this tour and this guide?
Response from Host, Dec 2024
We are incredibly grateful that you took the time out to leave us a amazing review.
Hard to know that there is so much history underground Istanbul. I was very impressed with our guide and her knowledge of the history of the cisterns.
Response from Host, Nov 2024
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave us a amazing review- it's much
appreciated!
Seeing the cisterns was an experience that was interesting and informative. It was lovely especially with the changing light display.
Response from Host, Oct 2024
We are incredibly grateful that you took the time out to leave us amazing review.
Fantastic guide! Wonderful experience.
Some srt is (tastefully) mixed in with the columns and makes for a unique additional experience.
Response from Host, Sep 2024
hank you so much for taking your time to give us your pleasant feedback.
Hope to see you again in the near future.
Warm Regards ;
Tourmania Team
Our tour guide was very friendly. This was my second time in the Basilica, I was dissapointed about the the new modern statues placed in the basilica, it does not look good. I loved the fact that we were a very small group.
Response from Host, Sep 2024
Thank you so much for taking your time to give us your pleasant feedback.
Hope to see you again in the near future.
Warm Regards ;
Tourmania Team
Very competent and nice guide.
We really enjoied the visit. Help Washington available for questione and gave us a lot of additional i firmation. Very helpful
This was an amazing experience. The skip-the-line made it worth the price alone. Once inside, it is a wonderful stroll through the Roman cistern. It was beautifully lit with interesting modern art which reflected the setting. Burak was a great guide. He was very informative.
Great tour and even better tour guide! Burak was great, showed us around, explained everything really well and answered any questions we had. He went above and beyond!
Response from Host, Jul 2023
We are incredibly grateful that you took the time out to leave us a 5-Star review.
Great tour, it was nice to skip the ticket line. Tour guide was knowledgeable and seemed to enjoy giving the tour. We enjoyed having some insight that we wouldn’t of had if we just walked on our own.
Response from Host, May 2023
We are so grateful for your review. Thanks for sharing your rating with us and the
community.
Excelente guía , muy atenta y con conocimiento de lo que estaba mostrando.
Es impresionante la construcción.
La Cisterna Basílica es una obra arquitectónica increíble en donde.
El Guía turístico es excelente y nos entregó también mucha información de Istanbul.
Response from Host, Aug 2023
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave us a 5 star rating - it's much appreciated!
Yours sincerely ;
Member Pricing
From
$102.59
per personWas $107.99(-5%)
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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