Hagia Sophia, Topkapi, Cistern and Blue Mosque Flexible Guided Tours

Hagia Sophia: the great dome of Istanbul

Hagia Sophia was built in 537 as the cathedral of Constantinople, became a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of 1453, served as a museum for most of the twentieth century and has been a working mosque again since 2020. The dome, 31 metres across and floating 55 metres above the floor on a ring of forty windows, was the largest in the world for almost a thousand years. A Hagia Sophia guided tour is the best way to read the building: the guide explains the Byzantine mosaics, the enormous calligraphic roundels, the sultan's loge and the marble jars from Pergamon.

The guided tour lasts about an hour, with start times at 11:30 and 15:00 (not on Tuesdays). Hagia Sophia tickets are included in the default option, so you skip the ticket line, although everyone passes the security check. Visitors follow the tourist route; shoulders and knees must be covered and women cover their hair.

The Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque)

Facing Hagia Sophia across the gardens stands the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, completed in 1616 and known to visitors as the Blue Mosque for the more than twenty thousand hand-painted Iznik tiles that cover its interior in blues, greens and tulip patterns. It is the only Ottoman imperial mosque in the city with six minarets, and its courtyard, as large as the prayer hall itself, is one of the finest spaces in Istanbul. The Blue Mosque guided tour takes about an hour and explains the architecture, the role of the mosque in daily life and the etiquette of a visit.

The mosque is a place of worship, so tours run outside the five daily prayers: start times are 09:45, 10:45 and 14:00, with Tuesdays at 10:45 only and Fridays at 14:00 only because of the Friday noon prayer. Entry is free; you remove your shoes and dress modestly, and head scarves are provided for women.

The Basilica Cistern beneath Sultanahmet

A few steps from Hagia Sophia, a short staircase leads down into the Basilica Cistern, the largest of the hundreds of underground reservoirs that supplied Byzantine Constantinople. Built in the sixth century, it covers almost ten thousand square metres and its vaulted ceiling rests on 336 marble columns in twelve rows, many salvaged from older temples. The two Medusa heads used as column bases in the far corner, one upside down and one on its side, are the most photographed detail. Since the latest restoration the walkways run at water level under an atmospheric lighting scheme.

The Basilica Cistern guided tour lasts about 45 minutes with start times at 10:00, 12:00 and 14:00 (not on Tuesdays). Basilica Cistern tickets are included in the default option. The cistern is cool and damp all year, an easy visit in summer heat, with a slightly uneven floor.

Topkapi Palace: the Ottoman court

Topkapi Palace was the seat of the Ottoman sultans for almost four centuries, from the conquest until the court moved to Dolmabahce in the 1850s. It is not a single building but a series of courtyards on the point above the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn: the first with Hagia Irene, the second with the kitchens and the Imperial Council hall, the third with the Audience Hall, the library and the Treasury with its jewelled objects, and the fourth with pavilions and terraces over the water. The Chamber of the Sacred Relics is an especially moving stop for Muslim visitors.

The Topkapi Palace guided tour is the longest of the four at about two and a half hours, starting at 11:00 (the palace is closed on Tuesdays). Topkapi Palace tickets are included in the default option; the Harem has a separate ticket and is not part of this tour. Wear comfortable shoes: the grounds are large.

The Hippodrome and Sultanahmet Square

Every tour begins on the Hippodrome, the long square between the Blue Mosque and the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum. This was the chariot-racing stadium of Constantinople, and three monuments still mark its central line: the Egyptian Obelisk carved in Karnak around 1450 BC and brought here in the fourth century, the bronze Serpent Column from Delphi and the rough-stone Walled Obelisk. At the northern end stands the German Fountain, a gift to the Ottoman sultan at the end of the nineteenth century.

The square is two minutes from the Sultanahmet stop of the T1 tram, which links the old city with Eminönü, Karaköy and Kabataş, and it is surrounded by halal restaurants, tea gardens and the shops of the Arasta Bazaar behind the Blue Mosque, so it is easy to fill the gaps between your tours.