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Guided Tour of Basilica Cistern with Skip-the-Line Tickets

4.3
770 reviews
5/5
493
4/5
162
3/5
28
2/5
31
1/5
56
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
  • Australia
  • Spain
  • Romania
  • Canada
  • Italy
  • France
  • South Africa
  • Mexico
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
  • Australia
  • Spain
  • Romania
  • Canada
  • Italy
  • France
  • South Africa
  • Mexico
Guests from United States, United Kingdom, Australia and over 54 countries have loved this experience
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Peter David Gill

Peter

5/5

May, 2024

Excellent guide. Excellent place to visit. Excellent accurate instructions in advance. I've used Headout twice so far, and have been impressed that they and organised, punctual, cost effective and informative
Aubrey Champ

Aubrey

4/5

May, 2024

Meeting point and finding the tour guide were quite straightforward although the instructions said look for a red flag, it was in fact white but did include the Headout logo. The cistern itself is magnificent and the guide was very informative
Nabeelah Patel

Nabeelah

5/5

May, 2024

We had a very cute and wonderful tour guide , Buse. She was so intelligent about the Basilica Cistern. Going to the Cistern was absolutely amazing. It is a marvel of architecture and so beautiful. Once in a lifetime experience.
Dilshani Annalisa Wijemuni

Dilshani

3/5

May, 2024

Tour guide was lovely, but would of liked some more information regarding the history. Tour felt a little rushed and cut of after 25mins to give time to explore. Price point doesn't seem to reflect the experience. Other than that, the cistern was beautiful and worth visit!
Alicia Ines Bether

Alicia

4/5

May, 2024

It is worth a visit. The only problem was that I was told that the guide would bring a toja flag and he brought another one that I had a hard time identifying.
View original review in Spanish
Ronald Blackman

Ronald

3/5

May, 2024

The greatest virtue of the tour was the ability to skip the line and get in at a specified time without waiting. However,, I felt the extra cost of the tour over the entrance cost was worthwhile given the virtues I just noted.
Anne Elizabeth Vinning

Anne

4/5

May, 2024

The Cisterns themselves were stunning. Such ancient history under the modern city streets. It did not help though that your website is based in Berlin and this is not advised anywhere on the website. I had told ny debit card company that I was ony travelling in Germany. After this first purchase my debit card was blocked and I need to ring Austraia at significant cost to get it unblocked.
Nicholas Nyhof

Nicholas

5/5

May, 2024

The tour guide was very knowledgable and helpful in providing context that wouldn't be readily available otherwise. It's a cool sight to see, but with the historical context it becomes something completely different and you're able to appreciate it in a whole new way.
Chrizelda Davel

Chrizelda

5/5

May, 2024

Loved that we could book skip the line tickets online. The queue at the Basilica Cistern was extremely long but our guide got us in quickly and with no hassles. The Cistern it self was amazing and really is a must see in Istanbul.
Eduardo Camacho

Eduardo

3/5

May, 2024

Se prometió entrada sin colas. La cola fué realmente larga y se perdió en esta mas de una hora; una vez en el sitio de ingreso fuimos obligados a salir de la cola porque no teníamos un código QR. No hubo información pertinente al respecto. Finalmente pudimos superar el impasse y volvimos a hacer la cola, logrando ingresar. No hubo guia en español ni audio guia. Por lo demas la atracción si valía la pena
Santiago Angel Lens Lourido

Santiago

4/5

May, 2024

La guía ha sido muy gentil en su acogida . Se ha esforzado hasta el extremo para explicarnos la historia y detalles arquitéctonicos de la Cisterna. La pena ha sido que debido a la cantidad de gente visitando el monumento no siempre fue posible escuchar sus explicaciones. Habría sido muy útil contar con un sistema de audio con auriculares entre la guía y los participantes!
Jennifer Gaye Garlick

Jennifer

3/5

Apr, 2024

I can't see the reason for booking a guided tour when I still have to wait in line for an hour to enter the venue. A lot of the group gave up in disgust. The guide herself was terrific - very informative. She did her best under the circumstances .
Marietta Riedl

Marietta

5/5

Apr, 2024

Everything went really well. We met the guide and got in without queuing. We were thrilled Impressive experience
View original review in German
James Wilson

James

5/5

Apr, 2024

Amazing guide showed us around this magnificent basilica cistern she took us through the history with clarity and patience and invited any questions at the end of the tour a truly inspiring experience
Dennis Stromer

Dennis

3/5

Apr, 2024

The guided tour was extremely short. Very concise information- total time the guide talked about the Cistern basilica was max 10-15min.
Thomas M Ireland

Thomas

5/5

Apr, 2024

One the guide was cheerful and helpful. He provided insights to the cistern construction and dispelled some myths as well. We had read some terrible reviews of this tour but only have positive feedback. The venu is beautiful but the guide made the experience.
Jose Martin Salat

Jose

5/5

Apr, 2024

The experience of visiting the basilica cistern has been very interesting. The guide explained its history and the visit was great.
View original review in Spanish
Fernando Gil Lacort

Fernando

3/5

Apr, 2024

There was not such a long queue and the explanations were a bit short. The price you pay on top of the normal entrance fee is not so worth it.
View original review in Spanish
Wiktor Vovk

Wiktor

3/5

Mar, 2024

The organization and ticket service were very good. However, the guide only had general comments about this great sight. The audio guide provided the better information in this case.
View original review in German
Lisa Ryan

Lisa

5/5

Mar, 2024

Guide was punctual, excellent English, friendly and professional. Met us exactly where we expected and explained everything we needed to know.
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