Istanbul Mosques Tour: Süleymaniye, Blue Mosque, Rüstem Pasha

A guided tour of Istanbul's great mosques covers Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Süleymaniye and the Rüstem Pasha Mosque in one full day, and all of them except Hagia Sophia are free to enter. Foreign visitors pay €25 for Hagia Sophia's visitor route. The real work is timing: every mosque closes to visitors around the five daily prayers, and for most of Friday morning, so the order of the day matters more than the distances. Our Islamic Istanbul tour package spreads the city's mosques and Islamic heritage over four days with a private guide.

The four mosques at a glance

The first two face each other in Sultanahmet. The Süleymaniye stands on the hill above the Grand Bazaar, and the Rüstem Pasha Mosque is below it, close to the Spice Bazaar. Walking from Sultanahmet to the Süleymaniye takes about 25 minutes; a private car or the tram shortens it.

Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque

Start in Sultanahmet, where the two most famous buildings in the city stand across a garden square.

Hagia Sophia was built as a cathedral under Emperor Justinian and completed in 537. It became a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of 1453, a museum in 1934 and a mosque again in 2020. Since January 2024, foreign visitors pay €25 and follow a separate route through the upper galleries, while the ground floor is used for prayer. The Museum Pass is not valid. Our Hagia Sophia ticket price page covers the details.

The Blue Mosque was built for Sultan Ahmed I and reopened in 2023 after a major restoration. Its six minarets, cascading domes and more than 20,000 Iznik tiles make it the obvious comparison with Hagia Sophia: the Ottoman answer to the Byzantine dome, a thousand years later.

Go to Hagia Sophia first, at opening time, as its queue is the longest of the day. Cross to the Blue Mosque afterwards and aim to be out before the midday prayer. The Hippodrome next door is outdoors and always open, so it fills any wait.

The Süleymaniye Mosque

For many guides, the Süleymaniye Mosque is the finest building in Istanbul. It was built between 1550 and 1557 for Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent by Mimar Sinan, the chief architect of the empire, and it is quieter than the Sultanahmet mosques.

What a guide shows you:

• The prayer hall. A vast, light-filled space under a central dome, with restrained decoration that lets the architecture speak. Sinan placed the windows so that the interior is evenly lit all day.
• The complex around it. The mosque was the centre of a whole foundation, with schools of theology and medicine, a hospital, a soup kitchen and a bath. Many of the buildings still stand around the outer courtyard.
• The tombs. In the garden behind the mosque are the tombs of Süleyman and of his wife Hürrem Sultan, known in Europe as Roxelana. Sinan's own modest tomb is at a corner of the complex.
• The terrace. The garden wall looks over the Golden Horn, Galata and the Bosphorus, one of the best free views in the city.

Allow 45 minutes to an hour, plus time for the tombs and the terrace.

The Rüstem Pasha Mosque

The Rüstem Pasha Mosque is small, easy to miss and, for many visitors, the surprise of the day. It was built by Sinan in the early 1560s for Rüstem Pasha, grand vizier and husband of Süleyman's daughter Mihrimah Sultan.

• Raised above the market. The mosque sits on a platform above rows of shops, whose rents supported it. You reach it by narrow stairs from the street near the Spice Bazaar, so look for the entrance or ask your guide.
• The tiles. Almost every wall, column and the mihrab is covered in Iznik tiles from the best period of production, with tulips, carnations and other floral patterns in deep blue, turquoise and the famous tomato red.
• Time needed. About 20 to 30 minutes. It is a working neighbourhood mosque with limited space, so it is best visited in small numbers and quietly.

From here, the Spice Bazaar is a few minutes' walk away, and the Grand Bazaar is uphill. The Grand Bazaar is closed on Sundays.

Mosque etiquette for visitors

The same simple rules apply in every mosque in Istanbul. Non-Muslim visitors are welcome outside prayer times.

• Dress. Women cover their hair, shoulders and arms and wear a long skirt or loose trousers. Men wear long trousers or shorts below the knee and no sleeveless tops. Scarves are usually lent at the big mosques, but bring your own for smaller ones like Rüstem Pasha.
• Shoes off. Remove them before stepping onto the carpet. Larger mosques provide bags or shelves.
• Respect the prayer area. At the busy mosques, visitors stay behind a barrier. Elsewhere, keep to the back or sides when people are praying and never walk directly in front of someone at prayer.
• Photos. Photography is generally allowed without flash. Do not photograph people praying.
• Quiet voices and phones on silent. Guides speak softly inside and explain the details in the courtyard.
• Donations. Free mosques have donation boxes for upkeep. Giving is welcome but never required.

Timing your day around prayers

Prayer times follow the sun, so they move by a minute or two each day and shift a lot between seasons. Mosques stop visitor entry before each prayer and reopen afterwards, usually 60 to 90 minutes in total. On Fridays, the midday prayer is the main weekly congregational prayer and visitor entry pauses for most of the late morning, usually resuming around 14:30.

A sample day in November with a private guide:

1. 09:00 Hagia Sophia, as it opens.
2. 10:30 Blue Mosque and the Hippodrome.
3. 11:45 Drive or take the tram towards the Süleymaniye; lunch nearby during the midday closure.
4. 13:45 Süleymaniye Mosque, the tombs and the terrace.
5. 15:00 Walk down to the Rüstem Pasha Mosque before the afternoon prayer.
6. 15:45 Spice Bazaar, which stays open while the mosques pause.

On Fridays, swap the order: the Süleymaniye and Rüstem Pasha in the morning, lunch, then the Sultanahmet mosques after the Friday prayer.

Tours that cover this

• Islamic Istanbul Tour Package: 4 Days, Private Guided Heritage Tours, from $768 per person.
• Hagia Sophia Small-Group Tour with Entry Ticket, Blue Mosque & Bazaar, from $120 per person.
• Istanbul Half-Day Morning Tour: Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque & Bazaar, from $67 per person.
• Private Istanbul Tour with a Licensed Guide: 1, 2 or 3 Days, from $199 per group.

Each tour page lists what is included. With more time, mosques such as Little Hagia Sophia, the Fatih Mosque and the Eyüp Sultan Mosque can be added; see our religious tours for ideas.

Frequently Asked Questions