Your day, step by step
08:00
Leave the terminal, walk 5 minutes to Tophane, buy an İstanbulkart and take T1 towards Bağcılar.
08:30
Sultanahmet. Blue Mosque first, via the visitor gate on the Sultanahmet Square side, outside prayer time.
09:30
Hagia Sophia: the paid visitor route to the upper gallery.
10:45
Walk to Topkapı Palace (opens 09:00). Allow 2–3 hours with the Harem.
13:30
Lunch near Sultanahmet, then T1 two stops to Beyazıt–Kapalıçarşı or walk 15 minutes to the Grand Bazaar.
14:15
Grand Bazaar. Leave by 15:15.
15:30
T1 towards Kabataş from Beyazıt–Kapalıçarşı or Sultanahmet to Tophane.
- Latest you can leave Sultanahmet15:30
16:00
Back on board, 90 minutes before all-aboard.
Where to leave from, and when
on foot bus, train, boat taxiPins show when to leave each place. Lines: route back to your ship.
Going further? Leave by these times
- SultanahmetT1 tram to Tophane, 15–25 min15:30
- Grand Bazaar (Beyazıt)T1 tram to Tophane, then 5 min walk15:30
- Galata BridgeWalk along the shore, about 10 min16:20
- Galata TowerWalk downhill, about 15 min16:15
Where people get Istanbul wrong
Planning Topkapı on a Tuesday or the Grand Bazaar on a Sunday, when they are closed.
Built from our Istanbul guide, checked against 13 official sources (October 2026). Nothing here is guessed. Read the full guide or see the sources.
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