My family is from Turkey so Ihave spent many summers in Istanbul....and every time I go, I make it a point to see Topkapi Palace.....beautiful gardens, beautiful architecture, so much history. My favorite places are the treasury and the gardens.....in the gardens are usually women cooking traditional foods and selling traditional items all day...kind of a view of old culture.... more

The Topkapi Palace is an important site to visit in Istanbul. It was the official residence of the sultans from the mid 1400’s to the mid 1800’s during the Ottoman era. The Palace and grounds (20 Turkish Lira) and the Harem (15 Turkish Lira – additional ticket) are well worth a visit. The buildings are great examples of Ottoman architecture.... more

We left the cruise ship at about 8:15, headed for Topkapi Palace. We trammed to the Gulhane tram stop, then walked northwest towards Topkapi, orienting ourselves by keeping the Aya Sofya’s minarets between 3:00 and 4:00. Had a pleasant 5-10 minute walk uphill, and were waiting in a short line when the Topkapi ticket office opened at 9:00. Admission was... more

Nice place to visit but not good idea for kids below 12, people get to walk around the location. the tour may take upto 2 hours and i had an electronic guide which cost 10 turkish lira. you may find the electronic guide after you get into the palace. more

I have seen the reviews of the palace and do not understand the attraction. I gound the palace to be mostly boring. There is almost nothing there from its original days. Most of the place is just displays. I did not enjoy it at all and was not happy that we were paying a guide by the day to show... more

So worth the visit and the bustle of crowds. Allow 4-5 hours here. They offer an audio guide for 5YTL, although I felt the Frommer’s guidebook was just as good. Also, they ran out of audio guides for the Harem, so I recommend getting there early. Definitely see the Treasury, which spans 4 rooms and holds amazing glittering objects of... more

A wonderful palace to tour. The architecture is magnificent, and I felt transported to a very different time and place. The highlight has to be the rooms in the treasury - wonderful thrones, crowns, and of course the daggar. The room of relics is especially interesting for a non Muslim to see, how the items related to The Prophet are... more

10Y to enter the inner courtyards, armoury and to see the various famous jewels & gifts from statesmen around the world. Ottoman history is very interesting, and a reasonable amount is detailed on boards around the site, but a guide book is probably worthwhile. An additional 10Y for the Harem, which is pretty interesting in terms of what happened in... more

Very unique palace. The views of the Bosphorus are amazing. The tiles inside the palace and those inside the harem are amazing. more