Attractions & day tripsBy Clever Tourists · Published · Last updated
Since 15 January 2024, foreign tourists pay €25 (≈ $28) to visit Hagia Sophia on a separate visitor route that leads to the upper galleries, where the Byzantine mosaics are, with views down into the prayer hall. Children under 8 enter free. The building is still a working mosque, so worshippers who come to pray enter the ground-floor prayer hall free through a separate entrance, and the visitor route pauses around prayer times, longest on Friday at midday. Women need a headscarf, and everyone needs covered shoulders and knees. The Blue Mosque across the square is still free.
Free toolConvert to your own currency at live rates →Live mid-market rates for all 17 currencies we used, so you can see what a price actually costs.The fee for foreign visitors is €25 (≈ $28) per person, unchanged since the Ministry of Culture and Tourism introduced it in January 2024 and still the price quoted by 2026 visitor guides. It buys the ticketed visitor route; there is no cheaper ground-floor-only tourist ticket. Children under 8 are free with ID. Turkish citizens have a separate rate in lira.
Tickets are sold at the booth opposite the Fountain of Ahmed III, between Hagia Sophia and the main gate of Topkapı Palace, not on the Sultanahmet Square side facing the Blue Mosque. Third-party sites report that the Istanbul Museum Pass is not valid here; we found no official statement either way, so do not count on it. Organized tours with a guide cost more than the €25 (≈ $28) ticket.
Since the 2024 changes, tourists and worshippers are separated. Ticket holders enter through a passage and ramp on the south side, under the minaret of Bayezid II, climb to the gallery level with the mosaics and the marble "Gate of Heaven and Hell", look down into the main hall, and exit by a ramp on the northeast side.
Muslims coming to pray use the worshippers' entrance into the ground-floor prayer hall without a ticket. That entrance is for prayer, not sightseeing, so plan to buy the €25 (≈ $28) ticket if you are there to see the building.
2026 visitor guides give the visitor route as roughly 09:00 to 19:30, opening earlier in summer, with last entry before closing. The exact schedule shifts with the season and is not published on an official English-language page, so check on the day.
Visitor access pauses or slows around each of the five daily prayers. The longest closure is Friday midday, roughly 12:00 to 14:30, for the weekly congregational prayer. Avoid Friday lunchtime and the half hour around the noon (öğle) prayer on other days.
• Women: hair covered with a headscarf, plus clothing that covers shoulders, arms and knees. Skirts or loose trousers below the knee work well.
• Men: no shorts above the knee and no sleeveless tops.
• Scarves and wraps: sold or handed out near the entrance; reports differ on whether they are free, so bring your own scarf.
• Shoes: if you enter a carpeted prayer area, shoes come off; follow staff directions on the visitor route.
Our guide to what to wear at temples and mosques covers the same rules for the Blue Mosque and Süleymaniye.
Beyond the mosques: for what to wear in Istanbul and the rest of Turkey month by month, including tips for women, see What to Wear in Istanbul and Turkey.
Lines are shortest at opening time and in the late afternoon, and longest from mid-morning to early afternoon when tour groups and cruise passengers arrive. Allow about an hour inside.
The Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii), a few minutes' walk away, has no entry fee and the same dress code. It closes to visitors during prayer times, so time it between prayers. Both fit into day one of our 3 days in Istanbul itinerary, and our tipping in Turkey guide covers lunch afterwards.
Not for tourists. Foreign visitors pay €25 (≈ $28) for the gallery visitor route. Worshippers who come to pray enter the ground-floor prayer hall free through a separate entrance, and children under 8 are free.
€25 (≈ $28) per person for foreign visitors, the price in place since January 2024. Tickets are sold at the booth opposite the Fountain of Ahmed III, near Topkapı Palace's main gate.
Third-party ticket sites say it is not, and we found no official statement that it is, so plan to buy the €25 (≈ $28) ticket separately.
Women need a headscarf and clothing covering shoulders, arms and knees. Men should avoid shorts above the knee and sleeveless tops. Bring your own scarf, as reports differ on whether wraps at the entrance are free.
Yes, but the visitor route closes for Friday midday prayers, roughly 12:00 to 14:30. Go in the morning or late afternoon instead.
Yes. The Blue Mosque has no entry fee and the same modest dress code, but it closes to visitors during prayer times.
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