Istanbul: Yıldız Palace & Museum Ticket with Audio Guide

Most visitors to Istanbul never make it up the hill behind Beşiktaş, and that is exactly the appeal of Yıldız Palace. This wooded complex of pavilions was home to Sultan Abdülhamid II and became the last residence of the Ottoman dynasty. With a QR e-ticket and an audio guide on your own phone, you can wander it without a group and without the ticket-office queue.

What you will see

Rather than one grand building, Yıldız is a small world of its own. The Şale Pavilion and the Büyük Mabeyn show how the court lived and received its guests, while the palace museum gathers Ottoman furniture, porcelain, textiles and the sultan's personal belongings. Keep an eye out for the woodwork: Abdülhamid II was a keen carpenter and made some of the pieces himself. Between the rooms, terraced gardens, ponds and little bridges offer a welcome pause from the city.

Audio guide languages

The audio guide is available in 16 languages: English, German, Russian, Polish, Turkish, French, Spanish, Arabic, Persian, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Dutch, Romanian, Korean, Hungarian.

How your visit works

• Choose your date. The palace is open 09:00–17:00 and closed on Mondays and Wednesdays.
• Your QR e-ticket arrives by email, usually the day before your visit, so check your spam folder too.
• The audio guide link reaches you before your visit. It is split into short chapters, so you can listen only to what interests you.
• Make your own way to the Valide Gate on Serencebey Yokuşu, opposite the Yıldız Hamidiye Mosque, and show the QR code.

Good to know

• This is a self-guided visit: there is no live guide and nobody to meet at the gate.
• The ticket saves you the ticket-office queue, but the security check is mandatory.
• Photography is not allowed inside the palace rooms.
• Large bags, luggage and baby strollers cannot be taken inside.
• The grounds are on a hill with slopes and stairs, so wear comfortable shoes.
• Children up to 6 enter free; bring their passport because staff may ask for it.

Transfers are not included. Yıldız sits close to Dolmabahçe Palace, so the two make a natural pairing for a day in Beşiktaş.