Topkapı Palace
The sultans’ palace on Sarayburnu: courtyards, the Imperial Council, the treasury and the terraces over the water. Dated entry, sold online on its own site.
Eastern Anatolia
Museums in Kars
3 museums and archaeological sites in the province of Kars, with hours and what to see at each.
Kars
Ani Archaeological Site
A UNESCO World Heritage medieval city on the Armenian border, once a Silk Road capital: great walls, a huge cathedral, churches and a mosque on a windswept plateau above the Arpaçay gorge.
Visitor guide
Kars
Caucasus Front War History Museum
The Kanlı Tabya, or Bloody Bastion, an 1803 fortress of Kars, restored as a museum with recreated scenes of daily life for soldiers in wartime.
Visitor guide
Kars
Kars Museum
Kars's modern museum, opened in 1981, shows archaeological, ethnographic and stone works from the Caucasus gateway to Anatolia, with a link to nearby Ani.
Visitor guideIstanbul tickets online
Four Istanbul landmarks, each sold on its own site by the agency behind this guide — dated entry and free cancellation up to 24 hours.
Basilica Cistern
Justinian’s great underground reservoir: 336 columns in still water and the two Medusa heads. Fast-track entry with a digital audio guide.
Hagia Sophia
Justinian’s cathedral, the sultans’ mosque and a working mosque again today. The ticket admits you to the upper visitor gallery.
Dolmabahçe Palace
A nineteenth-century palace on the water’s edge: the Selamlık, the Ceremonial Hall under its chandelier, the crystal staircase and the Harem.