Per buying tickets to Topkapi & Hagia Sophia

Hi,

I'm trying to prebuy tickets for Topkapi & Haiga Sophia in Istanbul for 2nd May, & seem to be struggling.

I want to buy individual tickets, not the 72 hour pass.

I've gone to https://www.muze.gov.tr/buy_e_ticket (which is where everybody seems to recommend), but it says tickets are 40TL instead of the admission price of 30TL (as per the website for each). Am I charged more for prebuying tickets, or am I using the wrong site?

Also- the ticket I was buying looked almost like just a pass for any of the attractions listed on the website (kind of like buying museum credit). Is this right?

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Alix

No this is the correct web site.Click on bilet then click on e bilet and there is a drop down menu(müze seç) for the sites covered.It clearly says 15-30TL.Hagia Sofia is 30TL and Topkapı Palace is also 30TL.Please note that for Topkapı Harem section there is an extra ticket needed which is 15TL.
I think maybe you clicked on Müzekart which is a card for museums outside Istanbul.
I must also apologise to every visit to Turkey that this web site is only in Turkish.I cannot believe that such an important thing has no English menu on it.A HUGE blunder by the tourism ministry on their new web site which I hope they will put right soon.

Ahaa,look what I found for you and in English too :)) Prices are the same btw.
http://www.biletix.com/museum/TURKIYE/en

Thanks a lot.
I assume online ordering has the benefit of avoiding the queue for the Instanbul museums, is that right? For the Goreme musuems I guess there is not much benefit in pre-ordering, is it?
Cheers, Herman

Perfect! Thank you so much for your help! & yes, I've noticed all the websites are in Turkish, but that's where Google Translate is amazing! 😀

The English page on the government website - https://www.muze.gov.tr/en/purchase?t=5

David you amaze me!Where/how did you find this?I looked all over the homepage for a language menu but couldn't see one.
@Hermanleenders;yes,the biggest benefit is being able to walk straight in rather than queue.That is a huge bonus as queues for both Topkapı and Hagia Sofia are very long now almost all year round but especially from April through to November.
In Cappadocia ....no I don't think there is a great benefit.Queues do form but not on the scale of Istanbul,i.e you may need to wait a few minutes to get into a particular cave church to allow others to come out but that is all-not an hour like T.P! .

Thanks both!

I too am trying to buy tickets online but I read somewhere I can't actually just present my email proof that I purchased the tickets but that I have to go pick them up from one of several locations in Istanbum. Is this true? Don't want to give my credit card info until I understand the process.

Download and print off the e- ticket and present that at the entrance gates,that's all.Perhaps you have got mixed up with the Museum Pass which one does need to collect from a particular point.

Very useful post for my upcoming trip to Istanbul. One question -- when filling out the online form, it asks for country and city. The only country that appears selectable is Turkey and the only cities available to select are Turkish cities. I am coming from USA. Is it ok to include the address information for my Istanbul hotel here? It probably doesn't matter as the tickets are sent by email, but just wanted to check.

Thanks.

Yes,no problem.This is typical Turkey;they provide web site info in English but no option for other countries...hey ho :)

If i want to buy tickets for both Hagia Sophia & Topkapi, isn't better to purchase the Istanbul museum pass for 85 TL ?

Hi it seems that the prices are now 40 for each of these museums & 25 for the Harem. Am I right? In that case the museum Istanbul pass is better at 85 TL !!!

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Yes entrances are now 40TL plus an extra 25TL for the Harem section so you are correct ;buying the museum pass does work out better.Plus it entitles you to visit several other important attractions and benefit from certain discounts on other things- and that's not even mentioning the convenience of being able to just go straight in without needing to queue :)

Thank you for the reply. is there any museum pass for family with discount & if i purchase it online, what do i have to do to get it. will i be able to to print it after receiving it by email or i have to go somewhere with my email & get it? and is there a sales point next to Novotel Istanbul Bosphorus where i will be staying. Thanks in advance :-)

Here is some info about the card-
http://www.muzekart.com/en/museum-pass/about_27.html
Unfortunately they don't do a discounted family card system AFAIK,certainly I've never heard of such a thing.However,children under 12 years old have free entry anyway so hopefully that benefits you :)
You can buy your passes on arrival from one of the mobile vans-
http://www.muze.gov.tr/Images/mbsatis.jpg
You'll see these at the gates of all the major sites.But I am 99.99% sure that if you e mail your hotel they will order the passes and have them waiting for you upon arrival if you prefer to do that.

No my girl is 12 years old :-(
Anyway i will ask the hotel to order for us the passes.
Thank you for the information
Best regards.

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