Turkey's Best Attractions
Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Pamukkale — and what's actually worth the entry fee.
The must-sees: in Istanbul, Hagia Sophia (now an active mosque; the upper-gallery visiting area costs around €25 for foreign tourists) and the Blue Mosque (free, but closed to visitors during the five daily prayer times); Topkapi Palace, the Ottoman sultans' seat of power; and, as a day or overnight trip, Pamukkale's white travertine terraces (around €30 entry, includes the Hierapolis ruins). All mosques require modest dress — shoulders, knees, and for women, hair covered.
Turkey's attractions operate on their own rules — literal prayer-time closures, mosque dress codes, and entry fees that are sometimes set in euros rather than lira. None of it is complicated once you know it going in, so here's the honest version: what each site actually costs in 2026, when to show up, and the one or two things every guidebook forgets to mention.
