In this guide
💡 The Short Version: The Hagia Sophia ticket is €25 at the mosque’s own ticket office, so a guided tour that includes it is paying for the guide. The Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia tour is €33 for 2½ to 3 hours (204412ad, 3,724 reviews); adding the Basilica Cistern makes it €49 for 3 to 3½ hours; adding Topkapı Palace and the Harem makes it €99 for 4 hours. A €38 full-day tour leaves entry out and asks for €60 for Topkapı and €30 for Hagia Sophia in cash. Guides cannot narrate inside Hagia Sophia, and no ticket skips the security check. Topkapı is closed on Tuesday, and the Blue Mosque admits visitors only from 14:30 on Friday. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices for one adult.
The tours compared
Most of these tours meet in Sultanahmet near the Hippodrome. The Walks In Europe tours also offer a start at the Galataport cruise terminal.
| Tour | Length | From | Sights and tickets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Mosque Guided Tourad | 1 hour | €14 | The mosque only, guide, no tickets needed |
| Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia Guided Tourad | 2½ to 3 hours | €33 | Hagia Sophia ticket, small group, Walks In Europe |
| Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque Tour with Entry Ticketad | 2½ to 3 hours | €49 | Hagia Sophia ticket, small group, Tourmania |
| Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and Basilica Cistern Tourad | 3 hours | €49 | Hagia Sophia and Cistern tickets, small group, Walks In Europe |
| Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and Basilica Cistern Tourad | 3½ hours | €49 | Cistern ticket, Hagia Sophia ticket and audio guide, Katalay |
| Topkapı, Hagia Sophia and Basilica Cistern Tourad | 4 hours | €99 | Tickets for all three and the Harem, small group, Walks In Europe |
| Private Full-Day Old City Tourad | 7 hours | €87 | Private guide; the main entries cost extra |
| Full-Day Highlights Tour with Guide and Lunchad | 7 hours | €38 | Guide and lunch; entry fees paid in cash |
What a tour can and cannot do inside
- Hagia Sophia is a working mosque. The General Directorate of Foundations banned guide narration in the visit area on 15 January 2024, and the area is kept silent. A “guided tour” is a guide outside the building. Inside, the Katalay tour hands you a fast-track ticket and an audio guide at the door and lets you go round at your own pace, and the Walks In Europe listings mention headsets. The ground-floor prayer hall is not part of the visit. See Hagia Sophia tickets.
- Restoration is under way inside Hagia Sophia. The Katalay listing warns that work may hide part of the building.
- Tickets skip the ticket queue, not the security check. The Katalay listing gives waits of up to 60 minutes at Hagia Sophia and 30 minutes at the Basilica Cistern at busy times.
- The Blue Mosque is free. A tour pays for the guide. The mosque closes to visitors around the midday and afternoon prayers, and on Fridays it opens to visitors at 14:30. See Blue Mosque opening hours.
- Dress. Cover your knees and shoulders, and women cover their hair. The Katalay tour supplies a scarf and body cover; the mosque rules have the detail.
Hagia Sophia from Sultanahmet Square. Photo: Radosław Botev, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 pl.
The tours
Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, with the ticket
From €33 · 2½ to 3 hours · 3,724 reviews · Walks In Europe · English or German
Istanbul: Blue Mosque & Hagia Sophia Guided Tour w/ Ticketsad starts with 20 minutes in Sultanahmet Square, then 80 minutes at the Blue Mosque and 80 minutes at Hagia Sophia. The Hagia Sophia ticket is in the price, so it costs €8 more than the €25 ticket alone. A second meeting point at Galataport serves cruise passengers, who ride the tram to Sultanahmet with the guide. It is not suitable for children under 7, wheelchair users or visitors with mobility impairments.
Istanbul: Hagia Sophia & Blue Mosque Tour with Entry Ticketad (Tourmania, from €49, 2,641 reviews) covers the same two sights in 2½ to 3 hours from the German Fountain. It runs in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese and four more languages, and says it is not suitable for wheelchair users.
The Blue Mosque in Sultanahmet. Photo: Norbert Nagel, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Adding the Basilica Cistern
From €49 · 3 to 3½ hours · 2,182 and 2,365 reviews
Istanbul: Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia & Basilica Cistern Tourad is a small-group Walks In Europe tour in English or German with pre-reserved Hagia Sophia and Cistern tickets and headsets. After 20 minutes in Sultanahmet Square it spends 1 hour at the Blue Mosque, 75 minutes at Hagia Sophia and 1 hour at the Cistern. If the Cistern is closed it substitutes the Cistern of Theodosius or the Binbirdirek Cistern.
The Katalay versionad (also €49, 3½ hours) is in English only. It takes the Blue Mosque and the Cistern with a guide, tours the Old City outside, and hands over the Hagia Sophia ticket and audio guide at the end so you go in alone. On Fridays the 10:00 and 11:00 groups visit Hagia Sophia and the Cistern first and enter the Blue Mosque after 14:00.
Columns and brick vaults in the Basilica Cistern. Photo: David Berkowitz, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
Topkapı, Hagia Sophia and the Cistern
From €99 · 4 hours · 1,465 reviews · Walks In Europe
Istanbul: Topkapi, Hagia Sophia and Basilica Cistern Tourad allots 30 minutes to the Cistern, 1 hour to Hagia Sophia and 2 hours to Topkapı, and includes the Harem ticket, which you use on your own for about 30 minutes. Topkapı is closed on Tuesday, so choose another day. The Topkapı Palace tickets guide has the palace’s own ticket for a visit without a guide.
The Imperial Gate of Topkapı Palace. Photo: Canercangul, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Private full-day tour
From €87 · 7 hours · 423 reviews · Guided Istanbul Tours
Istanbul: Private Full-Day Old City Tour with Skip-the-Linead is a private group with hotel pick-up. It lists Topkapı, Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Cistern and the Grand Bazaar, and the guide helps you buy priority tickets; the entries for Topkapı, Hagia Sophia and the Cistern are an additional fee. On Fridays Hagia Sophia or the Blue Mosque is viewed from outside because of worship, and the Grand Bazaar is closed on Sundays. A tour that starts after 11:00 may skip sites, because they close by 19:00.
The full-day tour that leaves entry out
From €38 · 7 hours · 1,763 reviews · City of Sultans
Istanbul: Full-Day Highlights Tour with Guide and Lunchad covers the Hippodrome, the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkapı and the Grand Bazaar, with lunch and optional hotel pick-up. The listing says the Topkapı entry fee (€60) and the Hagia Sophia fee (€30) are paid in cash to the guide, so the day costs about €128. Hagia Sophia’s own ticket is €25. On Tuesdays the Cistern replaces Topkapı, and the inner parts of the Grand Bazaar are closed on Sundays.
Which tour
- A guide for the two big mosques: the €33 Walks In Europe tour.
- Both mosques and the Cistern in one morning: the €49 Walks In Europe tour, in small groups, or the Katalay tour if you want to walk Hagia Sophia alone.
- Topkapı as well: the €99 four-hour tour. Do not pick a Tuesday.
- A Friday: the Katalay tour, which states how it handles the mosque closure.
- No guide: buy the Hagia Sophia ticket at the mosque, walk to the free Blue Mosque outside prayer times, and use the Sultanahmet walk.
- The Museum Pass: it covers Topkapı and the Harem but not Hagia Sophia, the Cistern or Dolmabahçe; see the Museum Pass guide.
What to book before you go to Istanbul lists the closed days of every sight. Istanbul walking tours covers the tip-based and themed walks, and the Basilica Cistern tickets guide has the cistern’s own ticket. Where to stay in Istanbul compares the areas, with hotels near the Blue Mosque close to the Sultanahmet meeting points.
Common questions
How much is a guided tour of Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque?
From €33 for the 2½ to 3-hour small-group tour with the Hagia Sophia ticket included (3,724 reviews), and €49 for the Tourmania tour with the same two sights. The Blue Mosque is free to enter, so the price covers the guide and the Hagia Sophia ticket, which is €25 at the mosque's ticket office.
Can a guide talk inside Hagia Sophia?
No. The General Directorate of Foundations, which runs the mosque, bans guide narration in the visit area. Guides brief the group outside, and inside you listen through earphones or headsets. The visit area is kept silent.
Does a skip-the-line tour skip security at Hagia Sophia?
No. A tour ticket skips the ticket queue, but the security check cannot be skipped. The Katalay listing warns of waits of up to 60 minutes at Hagia Sophia and 30 minutes at the Basilica Cistern at busy times.
Which day is Topkapı Palace closed for tours?
Tuesday. The full-day tour from City of Sultans replaces Topkapı with the Basilica Cistern on Tuesdays, and the private full-day tour from Guided Istanbul Tours notes the same closure.
What happens on a Friday tour of the Blue Mosque?
The Blue Mosque admits visitors only from 14:30 on Fridays. The Katalay tour sends the 10:00 and 11:00 groups to Hagia Sophia and the Basilica Cistern first, and the private tour from Guided Istanbul Tours views one of the mosques from outside.
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