Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul Tickets and Tours

Dolmabahçe Palace is one of the largest buildings in Istanbul. It was built in 1856 to replace the old Topkapi Palace. It is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular buildings, as it is located on the shore of the Bosphorus Strait.

This impressive palace served as the administrative centre of the Ottoman Empire until it was converted into a museum. During the visit, you will be able to take a unique tour of most of the entire complex, an interesting and characteristic visit of the city.

I will tell you how to get tickets and the details you should know before you go!

The best option

Istanbul Dolmabahçe Palace Guided Tour

Istanbul: Dolmabahçe Palace guided tour without queues

A 1 hour tour of this marvellous Istanbul Palace in the company of the best expert guide in your language.

From £71 at Hellotickets

This tour will give you the opportunity to visit the Dolmabahçe Palace with an expert guide so that you can just explore the ornamentation of the different rooms and learn interesting stories about the sultans who lived there. In addition, your guide will end the tour at the viewing platform on Çamlıca Hill where you can enjoy a spectacular panoramic view of the city of Istanbul.

Don't waste valuable holiday time on accessing a tourist attraction or planning itineraries. Visiting a palace like this in the city of Istanbul is truly a privilege and you should make the most of it.

Recommended if... You are not satisfied with just visiting the sites without knowing their history. Thanks to this guided tour you will better understand the interest of this impressive palace in Istanbul.

If you are planning to visit this magnificent work of art, you can buy your ticket in two ways: at the Dolmabahçe Palace ticket office or online in advance, to better organise your holiday plans. If you want to buy your ticket there, I recommend you to go a while in advance as the queues at the door of the Palace are usually quite long. The clear advantage of buying online is to save this time.

Tickets are divided into different categories depending on which section of the Palace you are interested in visiting. As you can see, the general admission ticket is slightly cheaper. Therefore, if you have the time, it is a very good option. The prices are in local currency, but here are the approximate prices in euros:

• Entrance to the Selamlik area: 8€.
• Entrance to the Harem: 5€.
• Joint ticket: 12€.

Is it worth taking a guided tour of the Dolmabahçe Palace?

Of course it is. In palaces with so much history and so many ornate details it is always advisable to book a guided tour. On this tour the guide will take you through the different rooms of the impressive Ottoman residence (there are more than 280 rooms and this on your own can be overwhelming) and tell you about the most relevant events that will give you the context of the history of luxury and eccentricity of the sultans of the time.

You may be thinking of buying one of Istanbul's tourist passes to make the most of your trip.

Well, your Istanbul E-pass includes the admission fee and the guided tour of the Selamlik section of the Palace.

This visit consists of a tour of the Dolmabahce Palace with a professional English-speaking guide, if you speak English. If not, don't worry as the audio guide is also available in Russian, Spanish, Arabic, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, among others, provided by the Istanbul E-pass live guide.

Moreover, you can get in without booking or queuing. All you need to do is show your pass, which will be sent to your email address in a QR code format.

The Istanbul E-pass is available in passes of different lengths. There are 2, 3, 5 and 7 days and it starts with your first activation. Days are counted according to the calendar and can only be used on consecutive days.

Individual visits are not allowed, so always wait for a group to form. This takes practically minutes, as tourists are constantly arriving.

The visit inside the Palace is estimated to take about 1**.5 to 2 hours**. No photography is allowed inside the building and the tour is strictly marked, which makes the visit much smoother. But it is true that the Palace is very large and full of details that you will certainly want to take a closer look at.

Then it is up to you whether you take a break at the café located on the banks of the Bosphorus, in the first garden of the Palace. There, you can also gaze at the popular Clock Tower.

The best time to visit the Palace, in my experience, would be early in the morning or in the late afternoon before closing time. If you decide to visit it around noon, you will probably come across many other tourists with the same intention. This is the busiest time of the day.

You can also combine your visit, taking advantage of the proximity to the Bosphorus, with a cruise on the Bosphorus River. An extremely pleasant experience after your tour.

If you are planning your visit to the Palace, please note that it is closed on Mondays. This is quite common in the city of Istanbul, so I recommend that you check before heading to any attraction on this day of the week.

All other days of the week it is open from 9am until 5pm, but visitors are admitted until 4pm.

The Dolmabahçe Palace is one of the largest buildings in Istanbul and its tour is one of the most interesting of all the museums and exhibitions in the city.

Selamlik

This is the main building of the Dolmabahçe Palace. This is where the public life of ancient times took place. It was the site of various meetings and festivities related to the representatives of the state. It is the first part of the palace that you will see and it will simply leave you open-mouthed.

But why? Actually, all the halls and corridors in this part of the visit are more than beautiful. I recommend you to pay attention to the decoration of the ceilings and the big and luxurious chandeliers.

Everything that has to do with the ornamentation of the Palace is really impressive. In fact, you will be able to identify that the rooms are distinguished according to their colour. You will find, for example, the Blue Room or the Pink Room.

My favourite places of the whole visit are the staircases made of Bohemian crystal and the library of the caliph Abdulmecid Efendi, the last inhabitant of the palace in the Ottoman period. These are truly must-see gems.

The feast hall

As you can imagine, in the midst of all this luxury, the reception hall is most spectacular. It is a truly immense hall, some 2,000 square metres in size, with soaring ceilings of almost 40 metres high. Inside there is not so much luxury because it is almost empty, but just looking at the columns and the giant 4-tonne chandelier is marvellous.

It was here, for example, that Atatürk's first speech as president and his funeral were held.

The harem

In this type of Ottoman-era palace, the Sultan's family and women lived their lives. It is true that this part of the palace is not as spectacular as the other parts of the palace, but it is interesting to know what the daily life of the Sultan was like.

Atatürk's room

Inside the harem, you will find the room of the man who founded the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. This is where he lived and died in 1938.

A curious fact is that all the clocks in the Palace mark the time of his death as a tribute and commemoration.

The Gardens

The gardens have an easily identifiable European style, as in the rest of the Palace. It is decorated with many elements from other palaces of older periods such as fountains, statues and floral arrangements. The so-called Hasbahçe is the main garden, where you can also appreciate the façade of the Selamlik building from a privileged perspective.

Dolmabahçe Palace is located in the Besiktas area of Istanbul, an area a little more secluded than the main central areas of the city.

Beyond that, it is very easy to get around Istanbul by public transport, and if you can't find your way around, you can use the Google Maps service or the Istanbul transport page.

Kabatas is the closest stop to the Palace and is perfectly connected to the rest of the city. You can reach this point with:

• Funicular: from Taksim.
• Ferry: from Uskudar, on the other side of the Bosphorus.
• Tram: from Karaköy or the Sultanahmet area.
• Bus: from many other parts of the city.

If you don't feel comfortable with public transport, remember that you can always use the taxi service or Istanbul's tourist buses.

The interesting part for children will surely be listening to the story of the sultan, which is told by the guide as a story, and it is easy to imagine how these scenes of daily life in the palace we are visiting unfold. The gardens and the views of the bay are also special places to share with the family.

If you want to make the most of the day and visit the Dolmabahce Palace area, here is a list of interesting options:

• Besiktas Football Stadium: here you can visit the Besiktas Football Club museum, the museum of the oldest football club in Turkey.
• If you take the funicular to Taksim Square, you will reach Istikal Street. This is a very commercial area, full of shops for shopping and street food options.
• Another attractive option is to take the ferry to the Asian side of Istanbul and discover another side of the capital.
• Also visit the Ortakoy neighbourhood, very close to Besiktas. The Ortakoyes Mosqueis free of charge and very impressive, on the banks of the river. I recommend you visit it at prayer time to really immerse yourself in Muslim culture. Remember, if you are a woman, cover your hair, shoulders and arms before entering.

Sundays are particularly nice because there is a very lively market with lots of people in the streets.

• Remember that it is forbidden to take photographs and videos inside the palace. You will see a large security operation in and around the Palace.
• Before entering the building, you will need to put on some plastic sheeting to protect your feet. You must keep them for the whole visit and they are to promote the preservation of this valuable building for the city of Istanbul. The floors and carpets are already many years old, and the purpose is to prevent them from becoming easily worn or soiled.
• Take into account the time you will spend at the security checkpoints when planning your visit. As I said earlier, it is a very busy place and everyone must be checked.
• Large bags or backpacks are not allowed at the entrance to the Palace, so remember to bring only the bare essentials.
• You are also not allowed to bring food and drink, so enjoy yourself before entering the Palace.