Decisions to make before you travel
- Can you enter, and for how long? Türkiye sets entry by passport. US, Canadian and British (tourism) ordinary passports are visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180; Germany, France, Italy, Japan and South Korea get up to 90 days; others, such as Vietnam and Mexico, need an e-Visa from www.evisa.gov.tr. Your passport must be valid at least 60 days beyond the stay you are allowed, and the ministry advises 6 months (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, checked 30 October 2026).
- How do you get in from Istanbul Airport? The airport is about 35 km from the city centre, and Turkish Airlines puts the taxi ride at about 60 minutes on average. The M11 metro takes 30 minutes to Gayrettepe, and Havaist (11 routes) and İETT (5 routes) buses leave from floor -2. Neither the airport nor the airline page lists fares.
- How will you pay for transit? A standard İstanbulkart costs ₺165 as a card fee, and a single-ride BİRgeç ticket ₺65 (İstanbulkart fee table, checked 30 October 2026). No official page we could read gave the per-ride fare on the card, so check it at a machine.
- What has to be bought at the palace? Foreign visitors pay 2,750 TL for Topkapı's one-day combined ticket (palace, Harem and Hagia Irene) and 2,000 TL for Dolmabahçe. The National Palaces' Turkish online form is for Turkish citizens only, Topkapı is not in its online list, and the English "Foreign Visitor" page could not be read, so plan to buy at the ticket office, which closes at 17:00.
- What closes, and when? Dolmabahçe and Beylerbeyi close on Mondays, Topkapı on Tuesdays and Yıldız on Wednesdays. Topkapı, Dolmabahçe, Beylerbeyi and Yıldız all close on 1 January and on the first day of Ramazan Bayramı. The Touristanbul Bosphorus evening tour runs only from 1 April to 31 October, so it stops from 1 November 2026.
- What do customs and the exit check look at? Adults may bring 600 cigarettes, 1 litre of alcohol over 22% or 2 litres at 22% or less, and gifts worth up to €430. Leaving with more than €10,000 in cash, or its equivalent, must be declared (Ministry of Trade FAQs dated 3 March 2026 and 22 March 2023).
Your planning order
Compare the main tickets
| Sight | Foreign-visitor price checked 30 October 2026 | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Topkapı combined (palace, Harem, Hagia Irene) | 2,750 TL | Valid one day; no palace-only ticket listed; closed Tuesdays |
| Topkapı Harem or Hagia Irene alone | 1,050 TL each | Mainly for Müzekart holders, who pay these sections separately |
| Dolmabahçe (Selamlık, Harem, Painting Museum) | 2,000 TL | Closed Mondays; Müzekart not valid in the Selamlık |
| Beylerbeyi Palace | 800 TL; garden only 100 TL | Closed Mondays |
| Kombine III (Dolmabahçe + Asian-side sites) | 2,750 TL | Valid one month, each site once; excludes Topkapı |
| Galata Tower | €30 on an undated Ministry page | Day tickets until 18:14; open every day |
| MuseumPass Istanbul | €105 | Five days from first museum; Galata entry by 18:14; not for night museums |
Children aged 0–6 enter the National Palaces free. Foreign students pay twice the reduced price and, between 12 and 25, must show a physical ISIC card.
If this is your situation
What to recheck before you go
The Galata Tower's €30 appears only on a Ministry page that shows no update date, so confirm it at the window. Palace prices are in lira and appear on the National Palaces location pages without an update date. Check the e-Visa fee on evisa.gov.tr itself, because we could not read it. The İstanbulkart per-ride fare and the Bayram dates for your travel year were not on any official page we read. Each guide names the page it follows and the date it was checked; open that page again for your travel dates.
