🏨 Istanbul Tour with Topkapı Palace, Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and Grand Bazaar Activity

Istanbul Tour with Topkapı Palace, Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and Grand Bazaar

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From $109.14

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Price varies by group size

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Pricing Info: Per Person

Duration:

Departs: Istanbul, Istanbul

Ticket Type: Mobile or paper ticket accepted

Free cancellation

Up to 24 hours in advance.

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Overview

This fullday tour of Istanbul visits sites in the historic area of Istanbul.

- Hagia Sophia an important Byzantine structure in Istanbul and one of the world’s great monuments.
- Sultanahmet Mosque is known as the Blue Mosque because of blue tiles surrounding the walls of interior design. (Closed on Friday)
- The Topkapi Palace once served as the main residence and administrative headquarters of the powerful sultans of the Ottoman Empire during. (Closed on Tuesday)
- Hippodrome of Constantinople, located in Sultanahmet/Istanbul, was a public arena mainly for chariot races.- Hippodrome
- The Grand Bazaar built in the 15th century, is the oldest covered market in the world. (Closed on Sunday)

What's Included

All entrance fees mentioned in the itinerary

Guided Full Day Istanbul City Tour

Pick up from your hotel

Professional English-speaking tour guide

Return transfer to your hotel

Transportation in a fully air-conditioned, non-smoking coach

What's Not Included

Personal expenses: Lunches, extras at hotel or additional meals

Tipping: Tips for guides and drivers

Traveler Information

INFANT: Age: 0 - 3
ADULT: Age: 6 - 100

Additional Info

Face masks required for travellers in public areas
Social distancing enforced throughout experience
Temperature checks for travellers upon arrival

Face masks required for travellers in public areas
Social distancing enforced throughout experience
Temperature checks for travellers upon arrival

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Experience may be cancelled due to Insufficient travelers
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

What To Expect

Hagia Sophia Mosque

The Hagia Sophia that you can visit today was the primary church of Byzantine Constantinople and was built upon the site of two earlier churches that had been destroyed. Emperor Justinian I (527-565) commissioned the project and had materials brought in from all around his empire for the massive church’s construction. The Hagia Sophia was the most important church of the Christian East. Structurally, it was the first of its design and boasted the largest dome that had yet been engineered which provided a voluminous and well illuminated interior. After Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453, the Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque and was used as such throughout the Ottoman period. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the modern Turkish Republic’s most revered founding father and its first Prime Minister, initiated the process to have the Hagia Sophia transformed into a museum which opened for visitors in February 1935.

60 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Topkapi Palace

TOPKAPI PALACE The great palace of the Ottoman sultans from the 15th to the 19th centuries housing an exquisite collection of cyrstal, silver, and Chinese porcelain, robes worn by the sultans and their families, the famous jewels of the Imperial Treasury, miniatures, the Holy Mantle; enshrining relics of the Prophet Mohammed.

2 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Blue Mosque

This mosque was built by Sultan Ahmet I between 1609 and 1616 and is located in the district of old Istanbul that is named after this Ottoman Sultan and it is distinguished by its six slender minarets. The central dome is 43 m in height and 33.4 m in diameter and there are 260 stained glass windows throughout the mosque. Due to the intricately decorated blue, green and red tiles of its interior, it has long been referred to as the Blue Mosque. These tiles, produced and painted by hand in Iznik (ancient Nicaea), are an attraction in and of themselves. The Quranic inscriptions that you will see throughout the mosque were made by Seyyid Kasım Gubari, one of the most famous calligraphers of his time.

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Hippodrome

The ancient Hippodrome was the center of Byzantine social life and the scene of fiercely competitive chariot races. It was located in the square that is now in front of the Blue Mosque and is still the site of ancient relics from its glory days. These are the Obelisk of Theodosius, the bronze Serpentine Column, and the Column of Constantine. Remains of the curved end of the Hippodrome wall can be seen on the southwest side of the three monuments.

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Grand Bazaar

Your guide will then take you to the GRAND SPICE BAZAAR In this labyrinth of streets and passages are more then 4,000 shops with each trade having its own area: the goldsmiths' street, the carpet sellers, Turkish arts and crafts, such as handpainted ceramic plates, hand-honed copperware, brassware and trays, water ewers, onyx-ware and meerschaum pipes. After your tour, transfer back to your hotel.

2 hours • Admission Ticket Free

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Istanbul Tour with Topkapı Palace, Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and Grand Bazaar Activity - Istanbul Travel Guide

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