Museum Pass

The Museum Pass, Your Best Companion When Visiting Turkey

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There are are different versions of the Museum Pass.

It is essential that you buy the one that fits your travel plans.

Below you can find the necessary information to make the right decision which Pass to buy.

All Turkey Museum Passes cover a specific geographical area and give access to a selection of museums and ancient sites within that area.

Below is the breakdown of that list and what to expect from them.

The Museum Pass

An Istanbul Museum Pass gives you access to 13 museums in Istanbul for a period of five days.

Some of those places will be on your list, others might not be, but you’ll find a detailed expose of the value of the Istanbul Museum Pass further down in this article.

Please check the status of the museums (restoration/open/closed) on the website.

Istanbul Museum Pass

GALATA MEVLEVI HOUSE MUSEUM
GALATA TOWER MUSEUM
RUMELI FORTRESS MUSEUM
MUSEUM OF THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN ISLAM
ISTANBUL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUMS
HAGIA IRENE MONUMENT MUSEUM
TOPKAPI PALACE MUSEUM
TOPKAPI PALACE MUSEUM HAREM APARTMENTS
MUSEUM OF TURKISH AND ISLAMIC ARTS
TURBES MUSEUM
ADAM MICKIEWICZ MUSEUM
GREAT PALACE MOSAICS MUSEUM
FETHİYE MUSEUM

How Does The Istanbul Museum Pass Work?

The Museum Pass has a validity of 5 days, but you can’t buy it upfront.
The countdown of the 5 days start at the moment you use the Pass for the first time.

The Museum Pass is also available in Istanbul from 12 sales points. In these sales points, you can use your credit card as a payment method. Always bring your passport or an identity card when you intend to buy from these places.

You can also easily buy your Istanbul Museum Pass online using this link.

If you buy online, the card will be sent to you within the week.

You can skip the line with people who want to buy a ticket with your card because you can directly go to the electronic entrance.

NOTE: If you want to visit the other palaces, pavilions and kiosks in İstanbul where a museum pass is not valid, the below link will help you with the prices and visiting times.

https://www.millisaraylar.gov.tr/en/visiting-information

Cappadocia Museum Pass

A Cappadocia Museum Pass gives you access to 13 museums in Cappadocia for three days. Even the ‘Dark Church’, which is not included in a standard Göreme ticket, is on the list. If you prefer to buy your Museum Pass Cappadocia on-site, you can do so at these 14 different places.

These are the 13 museums that are freely accessible with your Museum Pass Cappadocia:

IHLARA VALLEY
DERINKUYU UNDERGROUND CITY
GÖREME OPEN AIR MUSEUM
KAYMAKLI UNDERGROUND CITY
ÖZKONAK UNDERGROUND CITY
NEVŞEHIR MUSEUM
NEVŞEHIR ÇAVUŞIN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE ÇAVUŞIN CHURCH
NEVŞEHIR HACIBEKTAŞ MUSEUM
NEVŞEHIR ZELVE-PAŞABAĞLAR ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
AKSARAY MONASTERY VALLEY
AKSARAY MUSEUM
NEVŞEHİR GÜLŞEHİR – ST. JEAN CHURCH
THE DARK CHURCH (GÖREME)

Click here to order your Museum Pass Cappadocia online.

The Mediterranean Museum Pass

Allows you to visit over forty museums and archaeological sites in Antalya, Mersin, Adana, and Denizli for seven days, starting from your first museum or archaeological site entrance.

You can buy your Mediterranean Museum Pass online or in Turkey at one of these 21 points of sale. Highlights include Patara, Aspendos, Olympos, and Hierapolis & Pamukkale.

These are all the museums that are freely accessible with your Mediterranean Museum Pass:

Click on the links (highlighted in Blue) to get more information.

ALANYA ATATÜRK HOUSE AND MUSEUM
ALANYA CASTLE
ALANYA MUSEUM
SYEDRA
ANTALYA ARYKANDA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
ANTALYA ASPENDOS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
MUSEUM OF ATATURK HOUSE OF ANTALYA
ANTALYA KARAIN CAVE
ANTALYA LIMYRA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
ANTALYA MUSEUM
ANTALYA OLYMPOS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
ANTALYA PERGE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
ANTALYA PHASELIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
ANTALYA TERMESSOS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE AND NATIONAL PARK
ANTALYA ST. NICHOLAS MUSEUM
ANTALYA DEMRE ANDRIAKE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE AND LYCIAN CIVILIZATION
ANTALYA MYRA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
ANTALYA PATARA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
ANTALYA SIMENA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
ANTALYA XANTHOS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
ANTALYA ELMALI MUSEUM
ANTALYA SIDE APOLLON – TEMPLE OF ATHENA
ANTALYA SIDE MUSEUM
SIDE ANTIQUE THEATRE

MERSİN ANAMUR ANAMURIUM ARCHAELOGICAL SITE
MERSİN ANAMUR MUSEUM
MERSİN ANAMUR MAMURE CASTLE
MUSEUM OF ATATÜRK HOUSE
MERSİN GÖZNE CASTLE
MERSİN KANLIDİVANE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
MERSİN MAIDEN’S TOWER(SEA CASTLE, CASTLE AND BEACH)
MERSİN ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
MERSİN SİLİFKE ALAHAN MONASTERY
MERSİN SİLİFKE ASTHMA CAVE
MERSİN SİLİFKE ATATÜRK HOUSE AND ETHNNOGRAPHY MUSEUM
MERSİN SİLİFKE AYATEKLA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
MERSİN SİLİFKE CHASM OF HEAVEN AND HELL
MERSİN SİLİFKE MUSEUM
MERSİN SİLİFKE NARLIKUYU MOSAIC MUSEUM
MERSİN SİLİFKE UZUNCABURÇ ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
MERSİN TARSUS MUSEUM
MERSİN TARSUS ST.PAUL MEMORIAL MUSEUM
MERSİN ST. PAUL WELL
ADANA ANAVARZA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
ADANA MUSEUM
ADANA MUSERUM OF ATATÜRK HOUSE
ADANA KURUKÖPRÜ CHURCH AND HISTORICAL ADANA HOUSE
ADANA ŞAR ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
DENIZLI ATATÜRK AND ETHNOGRAPHY MUSEUM
HIERAPOLIS PAMUKKALE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
HIERAPOLIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
LAODICEA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE

Click here to order your The Mediterranean Museum Pass online.

The Aegean Museum Pass

With an Aegean Museum Pass, you can visit more than sixty museums and archaeological sites in Izmir, Aydın, Muğla, and Denizli for seven days starting from your first museum or archaeological site entrance.

You can buy your Aegean Museum Pass online or in Turkey at one of these 24 points of sale.

The Pass includes Pergamon, Ephesus, Aphrodisias and Hierapolis & Pamukkale.

These are all the museums that are freely accessible with your Aegean Museum Pass:

Click on the links (highlighted in Blue) to get more information.

BERGAMA ACROPOLIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
BERGAMA ASKLEPION ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
IZMIR BERGAMA KIZILAVLU (BASILICA) ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
IZMIR BERGAMA MUSEUM
ÇEŞME MUSEUM
ERITRAI (ILDIRI) ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
AYASULUK ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
EPHESUS MUSEUM
EPHESUS ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE
EPHESUS ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE THE TERRACE HOUSES
BASILICA OF ST. JOHN
IZMIR AGORA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
IZMIR ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
MUSEUM OF ATATURK HOUSE
ETHNOGRAPHY MUSEUM OF IZMIR
CLAROS ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE
KLAZOMENAI ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
METROPOLIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
IZMIR HISTORY AND ART MUSEUM
TEOS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
IZMIR BIRGI ÇAKIRAĞA MANSION
IZMIR ÖDEMIŞ MUSEUM
IZMIR TIRE MUSEUM
APHRODISIAS MUSEUM AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
ETHNOGRAPHY MUSEUM OF AYDIN KARACASU
ALABANDA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
ALINDA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
AYDIN ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
ETHNOGRAPHY MUSEUM OF AYDIN
AYDIN MAGNESIA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
AYDIN NYSA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
AYDIN YORUK ALI EFE MUSEUM

AYDIN DIDYMA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
MILETUS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE AND MILETUS MUSEUM
AYDIN PRIENE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
MUĞLA BODRUM ANTIQUE THEATRE
MUĞLA BODRUM MAUSOLEUM MUSEUM
MUSEUM OF UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY
MUĞLA BODRUM ZEKİ MÜREN ART MUSEUM
MUĞLA FETHİYE AMINTHAS ROCK TOMBS
MUĞLA FETHİYE GEMILE ISLAND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
MUĞLA FETHİYE KADYANDA ANCIENT CITY
MUĞLA KAUNOS ANCIENT CITY AND ROCK TOMBS
MUĞLA FETHİYE KAYAKÖY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
MUĞLA FETHİYE LETOON ANCIENT CITY
MUĞLA FETHİYE MUSEUM
MUĞLA FETHİYE PINARA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
MUĞLA FETHIYE TLOS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
MUĞLA MARMARIS KNIDOS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
MUĞLA MARMARİS MUSEUM
BEÇİN CASTLE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
MUĞLA MİLAS DAMLIBOĞAZ ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
MUĞLA MİLAS EUROMOS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
MUĞLA MİLAS GÜMÜŞKESEN MAUSOLEUM
MUĞLA MİLAS HERAKLEIA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
MUĞLA MİLAS IASSOS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
MUĞLA MİLAS LABRAUNDA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
MUĞLA MİLAS MUSEUM
MUĞLA LAGİNA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
MUĞLA MUSEUM
SEDİR ISLAND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
MUĞLA STRATONIKEIA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
DENİZLİ ATATÜRK AND ETHNOGRAPHY MUSEUM
HIERAPOLIS PAMUKKALE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
HIERAPOLIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
LAODICEA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE

Click here to order your Aegean Museum Pass online.

With a Turkey Museum Pass, you can enter more than three hundred museums and ancient sites in a period of fifteen days, starting from the day you visit your first museum or archaeological site.

Buy your Turkey Museum Pass online or in Turkey at one of these 69 points of sale. There are, of course, too many highlights to name them.

The list of museums that are accessible using your Turkey Museum Pass is too long to publish here. You can access it online using this link. (Turkish only)

Click here to see an overview of all museums and archaeological sites on a map.

Which Museum Pass To Buy

Click on the links below in the article (highlighted in Blue) to get more information.

Best do some research to find out which Pass is best for you. Of course, if you only visit Istanbul, the Istanbul Museum Pass is your only choice.

With A Museum Pass You Will Save Time And Money

In short, checking out your options is the smart thing to do. Getting a museum pass to save money is great, but to us, the benefit of skipping the line even outweighs the financial profit.

Is It Worth It? Check Out These Benefits Using The Istanbul Museum Pass As An Example.

The most important question to ask is if buying a Turkey Museum Pass is worth it. In most cases, the answer is yes. Unless you’re planning on visiting only one or two museums or archaeological sites in the country, it will almost always be cheaper to buy a museum pass.

Moreover, having a museum pass is super convenient, as you get to skip the lines. To show you the benefits of a Turkey Museum Pass, we’ll take the Istanbul Museum Pass as an example, showing you precisely what you’ll gain by purchasing one. We’ll be using the 2021 entrance fees in this breakdown.

What’s the price of an Istanbul Museum Pass? In 2021, the Museum Pass Istanbul is priced at 360 TL. Below is an overview of the entrance fees for each of the museums that you can visit using your Istanbul Museum Pass:

GALATA MEVLEVI HOUSE MUSEUM (25TL)
GALATA TOWER MUSEUM (100TL)
RUMELI FORTRESS MUSEUM (30TL)
MUSEUM OF THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN ISLAM (25TL)
ISTANBUL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUMS (60TL)
TOPKAPI PALACE MUSEUM AND HAGIA IRENE AND HAREM APARTMENTS (285TL)
MUSEUM OF TURKISH AND ISLAMIC ARTS (60TL)
GREAT PALACE MOSAICS MUSEUM (35TL)

You will pay a total amount of 620 TL on entrance fees if you visit all these places. Even the most enthusiastic culture and history person won’t go to all these places on this list during a single Istanbul visit.

But, you cannot visit Istanbul without seeing the Topkapi Palace Museum, of course. If you visit Topkapi, you must see the Harem and Hagia Irene as well.

All these entrance fees together almost equal the price of an Istanbul Museum Pass. And remember the advantage of being able to skip the line.

Which Museum Pass should I Buy?

When travelling around in Turkey, things can get more complicated. The typical cultural triangle, including Istanbul, Ephesus, Pamukkale, and Cappadocia, for example, sets your main attractions in four different Pass zones. However, you will find that Hierapolis and Pamukkale are included in both the Aegean and the Mediterranean Museum Pass. Still, at this point, a Turkey Museum Pass is worth considering.

Yes, 600 TL (price in 2021) sounds steep, but we’re assuming that your bucket list will at least consist of Hagia Sophia and Topkapi in Istanbul. When visiting Ephesus ancient site, the Efes Archaeological Museum, and especially the Terrace Houses, you should not miss. After that, Hierapolis and Göreme, and you’ll hit that mark.

Our advice? Prepare your list, then check the entrance fees for each place and do the math. Click here to see an overview of the entrance fees for all museums and archaeological sites in Turkey.

If a museum pass is out of budget, or it covers too many places that you’re not going to visit anyway, have a look at some of the combined ticket offers that you can choose from. Those ‘packages’ are still cheaper than buying a separate ticket, online or at the ticket booth on-site.

If nothing fits your scheme or itinerary, and you still want to benefit from the time gain, you can also buy your museum ticket or entrance to Turkey’s archaeological sites online. Your e-ticket is sent to you by email after your online payment. Print it, and you’re ready for your museum visit. Please note that there’s no financial benefit to buying an e-ticket. This is simply a matter of convenience.

Those who are planning to travel long-term in Turkey may need to apply for a residency permit, depending on the duration allowed on their tourist visa. Remember that being exempt from a visa doesn’t necessarily mean that you can travel to Turkey for an indefinite period. You can easily check for how long you’re allowed to travel on the official e-Visa website.

Why are we telling you all this? Because citizens and residency-holders can buy a dedicated museum pass. It is called Müzekart+, and it is the cheapest way to visit over 300 museums and archaeological sites in Turkey. A Müzekart+ is valid for an entire year from the day of purchase and can be used in these museums. (link in Turkish as only available for citizens and residents)

NOTE: The Müzekart+ is not valid in the Topkapı Palace Harem, Hagia Irene, Terrace Houses in Ephesus, and the Dark Church in the Göreme Open-Air Museum. You must purchase tickets for these places.

While you can order a Müzekart+ online if you’re already in possession of your identity card or residency permit, we would advise you to purchase it from one of these 69 salespoints in Turkey. Make sure to bring a photo ID with you, as you will need it to buy a Müzekart+.

Click here for more information and the current price of the Müzekart+

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