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Bucket list experience:

Last updated: 02 March, 2023
Expert travel writer: Dana Facaros

A masterpiece of Byzantine architecture, this world-renowned 6th-century marvel encapsulates the essence of the lost Ottoman Empire in stone.

With a great dome and marble columns adorned with frescoes and glittering gold mosaics, the Church of the ‘Holy Wisdom’ was the last major creation of classical antiquity and the centre of the Byzantine world for 1,000 years. Initially a cathedral, then a mosque, it’s now a museum as well as a functioning mosque – and a must-see in Istanbul.

Recommended itineraries by our writers that include this experience

Price: Free
Minimum age: Any
Age suitable: 13+
When: All year around

Getting there & doing it

Take the tram to the Sultanahmet station; from there, it’s just a short walk.

There a number of local operators who offer guided tours of the Hagia Sophia, usually as part of a wider old-town tour – useful for skipping the queues, although some tours do feel rushed. Just make sure you climb up to the gallery for views down over the interior and to see the best mosaics.

Women need to cover their heads, shoulders and knees.

When to do it

The mosque is open all year round, seven days a week, except during prayers (half an hour after the call to prayer). Also avoid the main services on Friday mornings and early afternoons, unless you’re a Muslim.

If you can go early in the day, when it first opens, to avoid the queues and the crowds. Or go a couple of hours before closing, as the crowds disperse and the lights come on. Also try to avoid July and August and weekends and holidays throughout the year, when it’s packed.

Our selection of the best Viator tours of this attraction or activity

Hagia Sophia & Hippodrome Guided Tours Everyday

Hagia Sophia & Hippodrome Guided Tours Everyday

Istanbul

Discover the most important points of the historical heart of magnificent Istanbul, one of the most important cities in the world, the capit...

€17 | Rating 4.2 / 5 [20 ratings]

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Highlights of Istanbul: Hagia Sophia - Suleymaniye Mosque - Grand Bazaar

Highlights of Istanbul: Hagia Sophia - Suleymaniye Mosque - Grand Bazaar

Istanbul

First-time travelers can discover the best of Istanbul with this small-group highlights tour, perfect for getting your bearings in this pict...

€25 | Rating 4.86 / 5 [23 ratings]

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Hagia Sophia Group tour

Hagia Sophia Group tour

Istanbul

- Skip the long line ( i come 2 hours earlier than opening hours and taking a place for my guests at the front of the line ) - 12 years of ...

$25 | Rating 4.94 / 5 [34 ratings]

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Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace Half Day Tour

Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace Half Day Tour

Istanbul

Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace are two of the city’s unmissable cultural and historic sites. Focusing on these two places will a...

€26 | Rating 4.96 / 5 [27 ratings]

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Our writer’s picks of the best places to stay near this experience, closest first

Four Seasons Istanbul Sultanahmet

Istanbul, Marmara Region, Turkey[0.2 miles]

Superbly staffed, relaxing oasis in an unbeatable location – the luxury choice in central Sultanahmet.

Official star rating:

Sirkeci Mansion Hotel

Istanbul, Marmara Region, Turkey[0.5 miles]

Convenient for the major sights and plugged into Turkish culture, this charming, historic hotel is ideal for families and first-timers.  

Official star rating:

Yasmak Sultan Hotel

Istanbul, Marmara Region, Turkey[0.5 miles]

Close to Istanbul’s top sights, this friendly hotel with a spa and rooftop restaurant is a dream for first-time visitors. And good value too.

Official star rating:

Hotel Ibrahim Pasha

Istanbul, Marmara Region, Turkey[0.6 miles]

This stylish, friendly and affordable boutique hotel is in sights-packed Sultanahmet, perfect for first-time visitors.

Official star rating:

Destination guides including or relevant to this experience

Istanbul

Marmara Region, Turkey

Exotic, inexhaustible and dynamic – East meets West head-on in this mesmerising city metropolis, famed for its extraordinarily rich history, superb food and shopping, and mind-blowingly magnificent, over-sized mosques.

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Our writer’s recommendations of other bucket list experiences our writer says you must do in this destination, closest first

Blue Mosque

Istanbul, Marmara Region, Turkey[0.4 miles]

The greatest of Istanbul’s Ottoman mosques, beautifully decorated with thousands of handmade ceramic tiles, the Blue Mosque combines Byzantine elements with traditional Islamic architecture.

Best for ages: 13+ | Free

Topkapi Palace

Istanbul, Marmara Region, Turkey[0.5 miles]

Built in 1459 to become the 15th and-16th century home of the Ottoman Sultans, this magnificently decadent palace is a perfectly preserved time capsule of life at the top in this most exotic of empires.

Best for ages: 8+ | £17

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Lovely, lively 5th and 6th-century AD mosaics depicting nature, animals and people from the palace of the first Byzantine Emperors.

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Istanbul Modern

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Round-ups that include this experience

101 World’s greatest historic buildings

Multiple countries

The great civilisations of the past have left a legacy of constructions that still stand out and inspire. Built without the wonders of 20th-century technology, many are also monumental feats of engineering; others offer such grace and beauty, that they’ll literally take your breath away.

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