Topkapı Palace
The Topkapı Palace has been the Imperial residence of the Ottoman Sultans from the 15th to the 19th century. Its design, initially devised by Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror himself and then enhanced by Architect Sinan, hides marks of the rituals and structure of Ottoman hierarchy and the running of state affairs.
Home to the imperial treasury, cabinet and the site of the barracks for Janissaries, the elite of the army, every single corner of the palace mentions the splendor of the Ottomans. Apart from the priceless treasury, a distinguished collection of Chinese porcelains, holy relics, Sultan’s attires, and imperial weaponry are exhibited in different palace sections.
Tombs of Sultans
While visiting the tombs of Sultans, various essential figures who had a say in the administration of the Ottoman Empire, you both will be fascinated by Ottoman history and have the chance to experience poetry in motion with their delicately constructed and decorated architecture.
Posted By : UmittaI
Istanbul has becomes one of our fav cities to visit thanks to your amazing our guide on our 1st visit in 2015 with Cenk Akbostanci. He is super knowledgeable about the history, very friendly and a true Turkish local that knows all the cool spots to take you.
He has since become our bro and every time we visit Istanbul, Cenk is our 1st port of call. He arranged for us a free ride to the airport, introduced us to his local friends, introduced us to the delicious Salep (hot milk drink) during winter, book stores, beautiful Islamic arts calligraphy store and even bought us a free Turkish lunch and Kahve (Turkish coffee).
Cenk definitely made our 1st and subsequent visits very memorable.
We highly recommend Cenk as a tour guide
Rating :
Posted On : 2019-07-29 01:09:52 
Posted By : Elena O
The local agency with which Viator is working is horrible Travelium. They wouldn't pick us up from our hotel said too far, even though it was 25 min away from Topkapi. They changed meeting point twice and told us to wait for our guide at 12:30 there. The guide showed up at 2pm and said he wasn't sure why we received these instructions. It was very frustrating. The tour itself was not very informative. The guide got us through the main visitors' line and got tickets. He then only showed us around the gardens and pointed out which places we should see i.e. kitchens, harem, armory, etc.. This lasted about 1 hour, then he left us to our own devices in the middle of the gardens. I honestly didn't learn much from him. Also, the point that is not stressed enough during the tour is that you need a separate ticket for harem - be aware of that. Interestingly, the guide also said we no longer needed our tickets and collected them from us before he left. It seemed very suspicious. I would recommend to simply get your own tickets to the palace - no need to waste time at meeting points and extra money on a guide that does not tell you much. Please note that Rustam Pasha Mosque is closed for renovation tombs of Sultans in Hagia Sophia visited instead - not that special and crown jewels and dress exhibit at Topkapi also closed for the next 2 years nothing offered instead. I think this needs to be communicated prior to the tour and it was not! I was very disappointed with this tour.
