Topkapı Palace: which gate, and how long it takes

Topkapı is not a building but a walled compound: four courtyards, one behind the other. Knowing that before you go in is half the visit.

How long. Two hours at a brisk pace, three and a half if you do it properly. Add the Harem and you are close to four. If you also plan to see Hagia Sophia the same day, be at the gate by nine.

Tickets. The Harem and Hagia Sophia are separate tickets. A Museum Card still does not cover the Harem. The queue at the booth is long; buying online skips it.

Route. The first courtyard is open to everyone and is really a park — do not linger. Ticketing starts at the second courtyard. In order: the kitchens (the Chinese porcelain collection is far better than it sounds), the Imperial Council chamber and its tower, then the Harem entrance.

The Harem is the busiest and narrowest part of the day. Go early or near closing; at midday the corridors are hard to move through.

The third courtyard holds the treasury and the sacred relics. The treasury queue is usually the longest of the day — going in before the Harem is easier.

The fourth courtyard is what most people skip because their energy has run out, and it is where the view is: terraces looking at the point where the Golden Horn meets the Bosphorus, the Baghdad Kiosk, and the palace café. Get this far even if you are tired.

Getting there. From Galata: walk across the bridge and take the T1 tram from Eminönü, get off at Gülhane. Forty minutes door to door. Carry your bag in front of you when the tram is full.

Closed on Tuesday. A lot of people find this out at the gate.