In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Foreign visitors pay €25 for the upper-gallery route, bought at the ticket office at the visitor entrance. The ground floor is a working mosque and is not open to sightseers. The €50 ticket sold online is a different product: the gallery route plus the History and Experience Museum, a separate building, valid 3 days and non-refundable. No guide may speak inside the visit area: visitors listen through an app and earphones. The main dome is under restoration, with a grey tarp over it from outside since early October 2026. Women cover hair, shoulders and knees; men cover shoulders and knees. The Museum Pass does not cover it. Or book a tour: Walks In Europe’s Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia tourad is from €33 with the Hagia Sophia ticket included.
The tickets, compared
Prices are for foreign visitors. The gallery fee was set by the foundations directorate (Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü) when the gallery opened to visitors on 15 January 2024, and its notice is copied on the travel agents’ association’s site. Search results for “Hagia Sophia tickets” are filled with sites that carry the building’s name in their web address and resell tickets; the gallery ticket is sold at the entrance, and the museum’s online tickets are sold at its own booking site.
| Ticket | Price | Where to buy | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gallery route (the mosque’s visiting area) | €25 | The ticket office at the visitor entrance | The upper gallery. The ground floor is for worship |
| Gallery route plus History and Experience Museum | €50 | Online, at the museum’s booking site | Valid 3 days, non-refundable. Children under 8 free with ID |
| History and Experience Museum alone | €25, rising to €30 from 1 January 2027 | The Ministry of Culture’s museum page | A separate building at At Meydanı Sokak 10, open daily 09:00 to 20:00, ticket office closing 19:00 |
- Where the queue is. The security check at the entrance is the queue. A reseller’s “skip-the-line” ticket costs more than the €25 at the entrance and does not skip security, which can take up to 30 minutes in high season.
- Museum Pass. Not valid at the gallery or the museum.
Tours worth paying for
Inside the visit area the foundations directorate allows no guide narration, so a guide explains the building and the Sultanahmet Square outside, and you walk the gallery with an audio guide in your ear. All three tours below include the Hagia Sophia ticket. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices, per person.
Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, tickets included
From €33 · 2.5 to 3 hours · 3,724 reviews
Istanbul: Blue Mosque & Hagia Sophia Guided Tour w/ Ticketsad by Walks In Europe is a small-group tour in English or German with pre-reserved Hagia Sophia tickets and headsets. The itinerary gives 20 minutes in Sultanahmet Square, 80 minutes at the Blue Mosque and 80 minutes at Hagia Sophia. Women need a headscarf, and children under 7 are not admitted. Cruise passengers can start from Galataport.
Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque with priority entry
From €48.75 · 2.5 to 3 hours · 2,641 reviews
Istanbul: Hagia Sophia & Blue Mosque Tour with Entry Ticketad by TOURMANIA adds the Hippodrome and its obelisks to the two buildings, in a small group with priority admission tickets. It costs €15.75 more than the Walks In Europe tour above.
Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and the Basilica Cistern
From €49 · 3 hours · 2,182 reviews
Istanbul: Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia & Basilica Cistern Tourad by Walks In Europe is a small group with pre-reserved tickets to Hagia Sophia and the Basilica Cistern and a licensed guide. It is the one to pick if the Cistern is on your list, because the Cistern ticket is bundled in. Basilica Cistern tickets has the Cistern’s own hours.
History and Experience Museum with audio guide
From €25 · 1 hour · 131 reviews
Istanbul: Hagia Sophia History Museum Entry with Audio Guidead is the museum next door, not the mosque, at the ministry’s €25 price, with an audio guide in 23 languages. The museum narrates Hagia Sophia’s history across 13 halls of about 3,200 m².
What to see
The visitor route goes up a ramp from the outer narthex to the upper gallery, a horseshoe that encloses the nave on three sides. Justinian I’s building was completed in 537, and it has been a church, a mosque, a museum (1935 to 2020) and a mosque again.
Scaffolding around the main dome of Hagia Sophia. Photo: Joseolgon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
- The gallery, south side. The best-preserved mosaics are here: the 11th-century Empress Zoe mosaic, the Komnenos mosaic and the Deësis, probably from 1261.
- The nave from above. The view down the nave is the main reason for the ticket. The main dome is closed off for restoration and a printed canvas stands in for the ceiling inside it, with a steel work platform in place.
- The Virgin and Child. Licensed guides report that every mosaic is on view except the Virgin and Child at the end of the south gallery, which is behind a white curtain.
- A 9th-century graffito. A Viking inscription from the 9th century in the south section reads “Halvdan was here”.
The nave of Hagia Sophia from the upper gallery. Photo: Dosseman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
How long: allow 60 to 90 minutes for the gallery, plus the security queue. The order: the Blue Mosque first, because it closes around prayers (the Blue Mosque’s hours), then the gallery. What to skip: the museum next door, unless you want the digital exhibits.
The Deësis mosaic in the south gallery of Hagia Sophia. Photo: Myrabella, Wikimedia Commons.
Practical information
- Dress: women cover hair, shoulders and knees; men cover knees and shoulders, and sleeveless tops are not allowed. Shoes come off on the carpet. Mosque visiting rules in Istanbul has the rules for every mosque on the list.
- Not allowed: tripods, flash and filming worshippers. Tour operators add that banners, flags and political or religious materials cannot be brought in.
- Fridays: the gallery route pauses around midday prayer. Plan another day for it.
- Getting there: the T1 tram stops at Sultanahmet, a few minutes’ walk from the entrance, across the square from the Blue Mosque. The Sultanahmet walk links the sights on foot.
- Restoration: the work is ongoing and the building stays open to visitors.
Next to book: the Topkapı Palace, which is shut on Tuesdays, and the Basilica Cistern. What to book before you go to Istanbul has the closed days for every sight, Istanbul Old City tours compares the guided combinations, hotels near the Blue Mosque lists where to sleep in Sultanahmet, and hammams in Istanbul includes the Hürrem Sultan bath beside Hagia Sophia.
Common questions
How much is a Hagia Sophia ticket?
€25 for foreign visitors, for the upper-gallery route. It is bought at the ticket office at the visitor entrance. The foundations directorate that runs the mosque (Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü) charges visitors from abroad for the gallery floor.
Is Hagia Sophia free?
For worshippers, yes: they use a separate entrance to the ground floor. Sightseeing is through the visitor entrance and the gallery route, which costs €25.
Can I walk on the ground floor of Hagia Sophia?
Not as a sightseer. The ground floor is a prayer hall and the visitor route runs through the upper gallery.
What is the €50 Hagia Sophia ticket sold online?
It covers the gallery route and the Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum, a separate ministry museum on At Meydanı Sokak. It is valid for 3 days, non-refundable, and children under 8 are free with ID. The museum alone is €25.
Can a guide explain Hagia Sophia inside?
No. The foundations directorate's notice of 15 January 2024 says the visit area requires silence and allows no guide narration by any method. Visitors listen through an app on their own phone and earphones, which are sold at the entrance for anyone without.
What should I wear in Hagia Sophia?
Women cover their hair, shoulders and knees; men cover their knees and shoulders and do not wear sleeveless tops. Shoes come off on the carpet and bags are provided for them.
Does the Museum Pass Istanbul cover Hagia Sophia?
No. The Museum Pass covers neither the gallery route nor the History and Experience Museum.
