Dolmabahce Palace: Skip-The-Line Entry with Professional Guided Tour

Visit one of the most impressive European-style palaces in Istanbul with a professional licensed guide without waiting in the ticket line. Built to let the world know the power of the Ottoman Empire one last time, Dolmabahce Palace is a showcase of magnificence.

Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Dolmabahce Palace - Visit one of the most impressive European-style palaces in Istanbul with a professional guide without waiting in the ticket line. With 285 rooms, this palace is one of the biggest in Turkey. Balyan family constructed the palace between 1843-1856 within 13 years. After the opening of the palace, Ottoman royal family started living there until the collapse of the Empire. After the royal family, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Turkish Republic founder, lived here until he died in 1938. From then on, the palace functions as a museum and hosts thousands of visitors during the year.
What's Included
  • Admission to Dolmabahce Palace
  • Professional licensed guide
What's Not Included
  • Transportation
  • Meal
Location
Dolmabahçe Clock Tower
Meclis-i Mebusan Caddesi
After the security check, the guide will be next to the clock tower with a white flag.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
3.9
(33 Ratings)
5 stars
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1 star
Phillip_n
Jul 3, 2024
Great experience - The Palace was fantastic and the tour guide was great too. We got there early for the 9:00am tour which was lucky because it was getting busy as we left.
Review provided by Viator
Thomas_w
Jun 29, 2024
Great tour - Excellent guide, provided right level of information and answered all our questions. Kept to a good schedule. Excellent English.
Review provided by Viator
Heinz_s
Jun 28, 2024
Great tour of the Dolmabahce Palace - Great small group tour of the Dolmabahce palace. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and provided many details. A must see for visitors.
Review provided by Viator
Dimfv2021
May 23, 2024
RECOMMENDED (make sure you have internet everywhere) - Let me start by saying that you definitely need internet on your phone, otherwise you will get (almost) nowhere, but we bought a bundle for 12 euros and that was enough for us. The E-pass is SUPER. Everything is so well arranged, you have support via WhatsApp and you can always ask your questions quickly To be answered. The guides are great and it's great that you can skip lines with a guide. Indeed, they do not always go inside buildings, but that is because that is not allowed and you can get a free audio tour there. We did almost everything, including a day trip to the Princess Islands by boat, which was wonderful. The only thing that really disappointed us was the rug making, which was more like a carpet sale; you walked in and saw a woman working on a carpet. Then you could sit down and as soon as you let us know that you did not want to buy a carpet, you were thanked and you could go. A pass for public transport is also highly recommended, valid on bus, tram, metro and ferry, usually a ride costs 18 Turkish lira. It takes some time to figure out how it works. Buses actually run everywhere, and if your tour ends at Minitürk you can easily return by bus. It stops in front of the door and a lot goes in an hour
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Shqip
Apr 16, 2024
Perfect support team - The resposne was blazing fast and on point! The support team found me a solution in matter if secconds and I am very happy with the service!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Gabriela_h
Apr 28, 2024
A good choice if you want to skip lines - We decided to buy this tour because we were afraid of the long lines. It turned out that the day we went it was not so bad. When we met the tour guide, the group turned out to be extremely large, over 30 people so he said he would not accompany us inside because they do not allow tours that large. Hence, the 4 stars. (We thought it was going to be more of a small group tour) However, our guide was extremely knowledgeable and gave us historical information about the palace and answered any questions. Some people got the guided earphones so you can get info on what you were seeing as you walked through the palace. I thought our guide did a good job explaining facts, his English good and we could understand despite the large group. I would say the only advantage to this tour is to skip the long lines if you anticipate that.
Review provided by Viator
Iman_n
May 20, 2024
Fabulous Palace, Bad Guide - The palace was beautiful and is definitely worth the time to visit! The two star review is solely for the guide we had. Unfortunately I never got the name of the guide because she never introduced herself. The tour began with the guide walking so quickly and never turning back to see if the group was keeping up with her pace. At one point she was at least 100m in front of the entire group. We got two bits of information and were told to go around in the palace for 45 minutes. The information she did tell us was interesting. Our guide did not tell us how long we should spend in each section or where we should be at the halfway point; it was our first time at the palace so we never knew how close or far we were from the end. Aside from not being able to get historical bits of information from the guide, the guide said that she would not wait for us if we did not get out of the palace on time. We ended up running through several sections so we could still get into the Harem. The guide just seemed like she wanted to get the tour done as quick as possible so she could leave. This was definitely not a guided tour. Left with disappointment from not being able to learn as much as I thought I would have. Definitely visit the palace but make sure you have a good guide that actually cares to share their wealth of knowledge.
Review provided by Viator
Daniel_j
Jul 10, 2024
Pointless - You really don’t need a guide for this attraction. Don’t waste your money. The tour guide isn’t allowed in the buildings so you get very little information about the place.
Review provided by Viator
William_s
May 1, 2024
Not so much - Here’s the review - didn’t happen! Got an email morning of tour asking to reconfirm - which I did. Then hour later “sorry it’s been cancelled.” Some lame excuse they’re “cleaning or repairing.”. Huh?? Asked for refund - not automatic apparently - was told they couldn’t issue refund. I have to go through the broker that booked the tour - Viator. Allegedly, Viator is refunding me. Not a great experience.
Review provided by Viator
568shivangg
May 1, 2024
Bad experience with epass with terrible service - The pass I'd not value for money. The service provided was terrible. I gave the feedback in their WhatsApp group and asked for refund I was told that they won't give it. In guided Tour, guides do not go inside unlike other tour companies
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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