Istanbul museums: hours, prices and closed days for the Archaeology Museums, Istanbul Modern, Pera and more

💡 The Short Version: The two museums to plan around are in Sultanahmet and Gülhane: the Archaeology Museums (€15) and the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts (€17), both open every day from 09:00 to 18:30 with the ticket office closing at 17:30. Istanbul Modern (₺1,000) and the Pera Museum (₺450) are shut on Mondays. The Pera Museum is free on Fridays from 18:00 to 22:00. The Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum is a different building from the mosque, €25 for foreign visitors. The Museum Pass covers the ministry museums and not these three. Or book a tour: the Top Museums Guided Passad is from €145 for a guided day of the big sights.

The museums compared

Prices are foreign-visitor prices. The euro prices are on the Ministry of Culture’s fee list and the hours on each museum’s page on muze.gov.tr; Istanbul Modern and the Pera Museum publish their own.

Most ministry museums’ ticket offices close an hour before the museum does. The Museum Pass works out when the €105 card pays back.

Istanbul Archaeology Museums

€15 · 09:00 to 18:30, ticket office 17:30 · open every day · Museum Pass

Turkey’s first museum is three in one, in Gülhane Park below Topkapı’s walls: the Archaeological Museum, the Museum of the Ancient Orient and the Tiled Pavilion of 1472, the oldest building in the complex. The collections hold nearly a million objects. The Archaeological Museum’s best-known pieces are the sarcophagi from the Sidon royal necropolis, among them the Alexander Sarcophagus. There is an audio guide. The Museum Pass allows entry until 18:45; the ticket office closes at 17:30.

The Istanbul Archaeology Museums and their courtyard. Photo: Chapultepec, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts

€17 · 09:00 to 18:30, ticket office 17:30 · open every day · Museum Pass

In İbrahim Pasha’s palace on At Meydanı, which Suleiman the Magnificent commissioned in 1520 for his grand vizier. The ministry says its collection of rugs is considered the best in the world, with rare 13th-century Seljuk carpets, and the courtyard hall shows the ethnography of 19th-century Istanbul. It reopened in 2014 after a restoration and has an audio guide. It is a few steps from the Blue Mosque.

Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum

€25, €30 from 1 January 2027 · 09:00 to 20:00, ticket office 19:00 · open every day · no Museum Pass

A separate building at At Meydanı Sokak 10, not the mosque. It tells Hagia Sophia’s history across 13 halls and about 3,200 m², in 23 languages, with a Byzantine cistern visible through windows on the ground floor. Hagia Sophia tickets explains the €50 combined ticket that includes it.

Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam

€10 · 09:00 to 18:30, ticket office 17:30 · open every day · Museum Pass

In the Has Ahırlar building in Gülhane Park, opened in 2008 with a concept by the historian Fuat Sezgin. It has 12 sections, from astronomy to medicine and mining, of instruments from the 9th to the 16th centuries, and al-Jazari’s Elephant Clock greets visitors in the entrance hall. It is next to the Archaeology Museums.

Istanbul Modern

₺1,000 (students and over-65s ₺650) · Tuesday to Thursday, Saturday, Sunday 10:00 to 18:00, Friday 10:00 to 20:00 · closed Monday · no Museum Pass

On Tophane İskele Caddesi on the Karaköy waterfront. It is closed on 1 January and on the first day of religious holidays, entry ends 30 minutes before closing, and children under 12 are free. One ticket covers all the exhibitions. Tickets come from the museum’s site or Biletix, and the museum says it is not responsible for tickets bought elsewhere. Its free hours are for residents of Türkiye only.

Istanbul Modern on the Karaköy waterfront. Photo: vlyalcin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Pera Museum

₺450 (discounted ₺250) · Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 to 19:00, Friday to 22:00, Sunday 12:00 to 18:00 · closed Monday · no Museum Pass

At Meşrutiyet Caddesi 65 in Tepebaşı, a short walk from the Şişhane stop on the M2 metro. Everyone enters free on Fridays from 18:00 to 22:00, and students are free on Wednesdays. It is closed on the first day of the bayrams and on 1 January.

Galata Mevlevi Lodge and Rumeli Fortress

Galata Mevlevi Lodge €7 · 09:00 to 18:30 · closed Monday. Rumeli Fortress €6 · 09:00 to 18:00 · closed Monday

The Galata Mevlevi Lodge, founded in 1491, is at the Tünel end of İstiklal Avenue: its ground floor is the Sema hall, and the galleries above show marbling and calligraphy. Rumeli Fortress on the Bosphorus was built by Mehmed II between March and August 1452 to control the ships in the strait, with three towers of 22, 21 and 28 metres and three terraces. Both are on the Museum Pass.

The Sema hall of the Galata Mevlevi Lodge. Photo: Nevit Dilmen, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

What to see and how to order a day

Group by area, not by type: the Archaeology Museums and the Science and Technology museum share Gülhane Park below Topkapı; the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts and the Hagia Sophia museum are on the Hippodrome. Istanbul Modern, the Pera Museum and the Mevlevi Lodge are across the Golden Horn and need a day that is not Monday. The Great Palace Mosaics Museum in the Arasta Bazaar is closed.

The Sultanahmet walk strings the first group together. Free things to do in Istanbul lists the Pera Museum’s Friday hours with the other free options, and the Galata Tower is near the Mevlevi Lodge. What to book before you go to Istanbul has the closed days for every sight, and where to stay in Istanbul compares the areas.