3 h

Skip The Line

About this activity

Meet your guide in the heart of Istanbul Old Town, known as the Sultanahmet area, for a skip-the-line tour of the mysterious Topkapi Palace. Explore the beautiful palace and relive its long history of sultans, eunuchs and concubines as you hear stories from your passionate guide. Enjoy the next three hours uncovering the best corridors, rooms and Byzantine history of the palace.

With your guide, check out the foot soldiers barracks and view a beautiful pipe room, private baths, and an ornate prayer room that may entice you to join their ranks. Discover the pleasures only experienced by the sultans with a visit to the exclusive Imperial Harem. Imagine this private living quarter bustling with the sultan's many wives, concubines, children, eunuchs and even his mother. Learn the complexities of the sultan’s private life including how a concubine might graduate to be the Official Consort. Explore, too, ideas why eunuchs and crown princes were the only men allowed in this area.

Next, step into the Audience Chamber and listen as your guide reveals why this was the most terrifying spot in the palace for a poor performing Vizier. Then relish in the stunning kiosks, set in colorful gardens overlooking the Bosphorus. Finally, receive an introduction to other amazing palace rooms that you are free to visit at the end of the tour.

Please note: The Baths of the Royal Family inside Topkapi Palace are currently being restored. Entry will not be permitted until completion.