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Topkapi Palace vs Pera Museum
Both Topkapi Palace and Pera Museum are rated very highly by those who travel for a living. On balance, Topkapi Palace is preferred by most reviewers compared to Pera Museum. Topkapi Palace ranks #1 in Istanbul with positive reviews from 9 reviews including Lonely Planet, Afar Magazine and Concierge.
Topkapi Palace
Fodor's
Concierge
Lonely Planet
Let's Go
Michelin Guide
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Babıhümayun Caddesi , Istanbul, Turkey
From $0 /night
Fodor's
"Few other royal residences match this hilltop compound when it comes to mystery, intrigue, and the lavish intricacies of court life."
Full review
Concierge
"If you're stuck for time, limit yourself to the main palace and the harem, the most intimate and personal rooms used by the sultans and their many, many women."
i
Avoid going on weekends or during peak periods of the day so you miss the busloads of people who move in flocks around the grounds in a veritable babel of chattering languages.
Lonely Planet
Top Choice
"This opulent palace complex is the subject of more colourful stories than most of the world's royal residences put together."
Full review
Let's Go
"The views are luxurious, the buildings overwhelmingly crafted, and the treasures outrageous. "
Full review
Michelin Guide
3 Stars
"In the harem of Topkapi Palace visitors are plunged into a mythical Orient of a thousand and one treasures and as many fantasies."
Full review
i
Visit the unmissable Treasury and its masterpiece: a 250kg solid gold throne encrusted with diamonds and emeralds.
Pera Museum
Fodor's
Lonely Planet
Travel + Leisure
Frommer's
Let's Go
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Mesrutiyet Cad. No.65, Tepebaşı, Istanbul 34443, Turkey
From $0 /night
Fodor's
"A small private museum housed in a grand 1893 building (the former Bristol Hotel), the Pera showcases a diverse range of exhibits."
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Lonely Planet
Top Choice
"Head to this museum to admire works from Suna and İnan Kıraç's splendid collection of paintings featuring Turkish Orientalist themes."
Full review
Travel + Leisure
"Set in a lavish 19th-century mansion overlooking the Golden Horn, the privately funded museum stages exhibitions such as a show of Kutahya pottery and Orientalist portraits from the late Ottoman era."
Full review
Frommer's
"Located on five floors in the heart of Old Pera, the Pera Museum houses a small but solid collection of Kütahya ceramics."
Full review
Let's Go
"The museum’s best-known painting is Osman Hamdi Bey’s strangely funny The Tortoise Trainer, which the Pera bought for $3.5 million in 2004."
Full review
