Tourist Rip-Off – Avoid Istanbul Welcome Card!
We paid €130 per person in advance (€260 for two people), while the individual entrance tickets would have cost us approximately €115 per person.
The advertised benefit of skipping the queues is misleading. You don’t actually skip the waiting time – you simply have to wait in their office to collect your tickets. So there is no real time saved.
But the worst part was the Topkapi Palace ticket. When we arrived at their office to collect our pre-paid tickets, we were told that access to the Harem was NOT included and that we would have to pay extra for it.
This is absolutely unacceptable. The Harem is arguably the most important and interesting part of Topkapi Palace. If it is excluded, this should be made crystal clear before customers pay €130 per person – not sprung on them as an additional charge when they are already standing in the office to collect their tickets.
This is a complete tourist rip-off: overpriced tickets, misleading promises, unnecessary waiting and unexpected extra charges.
Save yourself the money and frustration. Buy your tickets directly from the official ticket offices.
I strongly recommend avoiding Istanbul Welcome Card!
Abbiamo chiesto informazioni direttamente all’info point in città e la ragazza che ci ha illustrato le varie opzioni è stata molto gentile, ci ha anche fatto avere uno sconto sul pacchetto che abbiamo scelto. Molto consigliata e ottima se volete visitare gli spot principali risparmiando qualcosa. Noi abbiamo scelto di visitare santa Sofia, il palazzo topkapi( compreso harem) la basilica cisterna e abbiamo fatto la crociera al tramonto sul Bosforo. Ve la consiglio per visitare la città!
