Istanbul Attractions 2026: Opening Hours, Ticket Prices and Closed Days

The old city's headline sights are a short walk from the Sultanahmet tram stop, but several different bodies run them: the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Palaces administration, the foundations directorate (VGM), the Diyanet and the bazaar traders. Each sets its own days, hours and prices. This page collects them as they stood on 23 October 2026, with the prices Ministry sites will charge from 1 April 2027.

Istanbul Sights at a Glance: Hours, Tickets and Closed Days

Hours and prices are as published at the time of writing (23 October 2026). Euro equivalents of lira prices use about 55.6 lira to the euro, and lira prices can change without notice. Winter hours are usually shorter than the post-summer hours shown, so check muze.gov.tr before you go. The 2027 column covers Ministry sites only.

Hagia Sophia

Foreign visitors pay 25 euros for the upper-gallery route, in place since 15 January 2024 and still quoted at that level in 2026. The ground floor is for worshippers. Expect it to open from about 09:00 and close in the late afternoon in winter. On Fridays, visitors are held back from about 30 minutes before the noon prayer until about 90 minutes after it, which in late October means roughly 12:20 to 14:25.

The ticket booth is opposite the Fountain of Ahmed III, next to the Topkapı gate. The Ministry's online shop does not sell this ticket, so websites that do are resellers. Young children are free (the age limit is given as under 7 or 8, so carry passports). Cover-ups are sold at the entrance rather than lent. Security checks can take about 30 minutes in high season; the queue is shortest before 09:30. See our Hagia Sophia guide.

Blue Mosque

Entry is free. The mosque opens to visitors from about 08:30 until dusk, but closes to tourists for roughly 60 to 90 minutes at each of the five daily prayers, and on Friday it reopens only around 14:00 to 14:30. Visitors use the south gate facing Sultanahmet Square. Headscarves are lent free of charge, and you carry your shoes in a bag. See the Blue Mosque guide for the interior.

Topkapı Palace, Harem and Hagia Irene

Topkapı is closed on Tuesday, on 1 January and on the first day of Ramazan Bayramı; it is open on the first day of Kurban Bayramı. The ticket office runs from 09:00 to 17:00. There is no palace-only foreign ticket: the combined ticket for the palace, Harem and Hagia Irene is ₺2,750, valid for one day, while the Harem and Hagia Irene are ₺1,050 each on their own.

The Museum Pass Istanbul lists the palace, the Harem and Hagia Irene on its map, but the palace's own site does not mention the pass, so ask at the gate. The Hagia Sophia tourist entrance is about 3 minutes' walk from the palace gate. Read more in the Topkapı Palace guide.

Basilica Cistern

The Basilica Cistern has been run by the Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü (VGM) since June 2026, when it was taken over from the Istanbul municipality and reopened on 6 June. The handover is still being contested in court, and prices were reset with it. The last municipal list, from February 2026, gave ₺1,950 for a foreign visitor's day ticket and ₺3,000 for the evening session, but the VGM price may differ, so check at the entrance on the day.

It opens daily from about 09:00. Ask at the door whether the evening session still runs. The Museum Pass Istanbul does not list it. It is about 8 minutes' walk from the Hagia Sophia entrance, and our Basilica Cistern guide tracks the changes.

Galata Tower

The tower is open every day. In late October the day session runs from 08:30 to 18:30 (ticket office to 18:14) and the night session from 18:30 to 22:00. The summer closing time was 23:00, which the tower's own site still shows. The foreign ticket is 30 euros, rising to 35 euros from 1 April 2027; a combined Galata Tower and Maiden's Tower ticket at 60 euros, valid for 72 hours, starts on the same date.

The Museum Pass Istanbul works only for daytime entry, by 18:14. Entry is reportedly capped at about 100 people an hour, so buy your e-ticket on the official site in busy weeks. From the M2 Şişhane station it is about 4 minutes downhill; from the T1 Karaköy stop about 7 minutes uphill. See the Galata Tower guide.

Dolmabahçe and Beylerbeyi Palaces

Both palaces are closed on Monday and on 1 January, and Dolmabahçe also closes on the first day of Ramazan Bayramı and Kurban Bayramı. Ticket offices close at 17:00, and Dolmabahçe's summer late opening ended on 14 September. At Dolmabahçe the ticket for the Selamlık, the Harem and the Painting Museum costs ₺2,000. National Palaces passes cost ₺3,500 for all sites, valid for one month.

Beylerbeyi, on the Asian shore, costs ₺800, or ₺100 for the garden only. Neither is on the Museum Pass Istanbul. Dolmabahçe is at Kabataş, the end of the T1 line; Beylerbeyi is a bus ride from Üsküdar. See the Dolmabahçe Palace guide.

Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar

The Grand Bazaar is open Monday to Saturday from about 08:30 or 09:00 to 19:00 and is closed on Sunday and on the first days of the religious holidays. Times follow the prayer timetable, so check on the day. The T1 stops at Beyazıt-Kapalıçarşı and Çemberlitaş; the Basilica Cistern is about 10 minutes away on foot. See the Grand Bazaar guide.

The Spice Bazaar at Eminönü is open daily from about 08:00 to 19:30, Sundays included, and closes on the first days of the religious holidays. That makes it the better Sunday choice. It is 12 minutes from the Grand Bazaar on foot.

Süleymaniye Mosque

Süleymaniye is free and open outside prayer times, from about 09:00 to 18:00; on Friday it opens to visitors about 14:30. The tombs of Süleyman I and Hürrem Sultan in the garden are closed on Monday. It is 15 minutes uphill from the Grand Bazaar and 11 minutes downhill to the Spice Bazaar.

Archaeology Museums and the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts

The Istanbul Archaeology Museums, by Gülhane Park, are open every day from 09:00 to 18:30 (ticket office 17:30). Entry is 15 euros, rising to 16 euros on 1 April 2027. The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, in the İbrahim Paşa Palace on the Hippodrome, keeps the same hours, costs 17 euros and rises to 19 euros. Both are on the Museum Pass Istanbul (last entry 18:45).

Further Out: Chora, Rumeli Hisarı and Maiden's Tower

Chora (Kariye) Mosque

Foreign visitors have paid 20 euros since August 2024. It is open about 09:00 to 18:00, pauses visits around each prayer, and is closed to tourists all day on Friday. The nearest stop is Edirnekapı on the T4 line, 10 to 15 minutes on foot. The Museum Pass does not cover it.

Rumeli Hisarı

The Bosphorus fortress is open 09:00 to 18:00 (ticket office 17:00) and closed on Monday. Entry is 6 euros, rising to 7 euros in April 2027. Coastal buses between Beşiktaş and Sarıyer stop nearby.

Maiden's Tower

Since its restoration the tower is a Ministry museum with a café, not a restaurant. It opens daily from 09:00 to 18:00 (ticket office 17:00), and the ticket is 27 euros, rising to 30 euros in April 2027. Boats cost ₺110 and leave from Salacak in Üsküdar and from the Karaköy pier in front of the Ziraat Bank branch. Museum Pass holders still pay for the boat.

Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum

Do not confuse this with the mosque. It is a separate Ministry museum on At Meydanı Sokak, open daily from 09:00 to 20:00 (ticket office 19:00). The foreign ticket is 25 euros, rising to 30 euros on 1 January 2027, earlier than the other Ministry increases. The Museum Pass Istanbul does not list it.

Museum Pass Istanbul

The pass costs 105 euros today and 120 euros from 1 April 2027. It is valid for 5 days from your first museum entry, with one entry per museum, across 13 Ministry museums. It covers Topkapı Palace, the Harem, Hagia Irene, Galata Tower (day entry by 18:14), Maiden's Tower, the Archaeology Museums and the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts (both by 18:45), the Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam, Rumeli Hisarı and the Galata Mevlevi Lodge. Night museum entries are not included.

It does not cover Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque (which is free), Dolmabahçe, Beylerbeyi, Chora, the Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum or the Basilica Cistern. Topkapı, the Archaeology Museums, the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts and Galata Tower add up to about 111 euros at today's exchange rate, a little more than the pass, so it pays off if you visit those four, and more so if you add Maiden's Tower or Rumeli Hisarı. The nationwide Museum Pass Türkiye costs 165 euros for 15 days, rising to 185 euros on 1 April 2027.

Prayer Times and Dress in the Mosques

Visitor access to Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Süleymaniye and Chora changes with the five daily prayers, whose times move every day. The Diyanet lists them for Istanbul at namazvakitleri.diyanet.gov.tr; the noon prayer is at 12:53 from 23 to 30 October 2026. Check the times for the day you go.

Cover your shoulders and knees. Women need a head covering, which the Blue Mosque lends and Hagia Sophia sells. Shoes come off at the mosques, so wear socks.

Public Holidays and Closed Days

Closures cluster around 1 January and the first day of each religious holiday. Topkapı, Dolmabahçe and Beylerbeyi close on 1 January and on the first day of Ramazan Bayramı; Dolmabahçe also closes on the first day of Kurban Bayramı. The bazaars close on the first days of the religious holidays.

Republic Day is 29 October, a Thursday in 2026. Topkapı and Dolmabahçe are not on their lists of closed days for it. Many bazaar shops are likely to shut, and the Spice Bazaar is reported to close, so leave the shopping for another day. If your trip falls on the Istanbul Marathon weekend, usually in early November, check the Istanbul Metro announcements: in 2025 the T1 tram was cut back to run only between Beyazıt and Bağcılar that day, which leaves Sultanahmet without a tram.

Planning Around the Closed Days

• Monday: Dolmabahçe, Beylerbeyi, Rumeli Hisarı, the Süleymaniye tombs, the Galata Mevlevi Lodge, Panorama 1453 and Miniatürk are closed. Topkapı, Hagia Sophia and the Grand Bazaar are open.
• Tuesday: Topkapı is closed. Use it for Hagia Sophia, the Cistern, the Blue Mosque and the bazaars, with Dolmabahçe as the palace.
• Friday: Chora is closed, and the big mosques pause for the noon prayer. Start with Topkapı or the museums and visit the mosques after about 14:30.
• Sunday: the Grand Bazaar is closed. Swap in the Spice Bazaar and Süleymaniye.

A sensible Sultanahmet day is Hagia Sophia first, Topkapı after it, then the Cistern and the Blue Mosque outside prayer times. Cruise passengers can use our Galataport sights guide for the same closures by weekday, and where to stay in Istanbul shows which district puts these sights on your doorstep.

From the Airports to the Old City

Most of these sights are in Sultanahmet, about 50 km from Istanbul Airport and about 45 km from Sabiha Gökçen. A private transfer to Sultanahmet starts from €48 per vehicle from Istanbul Airport and from €59 per vehicle from Sabiha Gökçen, for a Mercedes Vito or larger vehicle. The price is shown before you pay, with no extra charge for traffic or flight delays.

Our driver waits just outside the arrivals exit. After you land, they send the exact meeting point and a short video on WhatsApp. Drivers speak English, and child seats are available on request. For the routes, see Istanbul Airport to Sultanahmet, Sabiha Gökçen to Sultanahmet and transfer prices. For Galata and Karaköy, see Istanbul Airport to Karaköy and Galata; the guides on the other routes are listed below.

Sources — checked on 23 October 2026: muze.gov.tr · Museum Pass Istanbul · Topkapı Palace · Dolmabahçe Palace · Beylerbeyi Palace · Maiden's Tower · Galata Tower · 2027 tariff · National Palaces winter hours · Diyanet · Metro Istanbul · CNN Türk · istanbul.com · NTV
Euro amounts at €1 = ₺55.6.

Related guides: Istanbul Airport to Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque · Galataport to Istanbul sights · Where to stay in Istanbul · Istanbul Airport to Sultanahmet · Sabiha Gökçen to Sultanahmet · Istanbulkart guide

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