Most Istanbul sites well worth the time/money but Hagia Sophia "Experience" waste of time/money

Can you elaborate on what you mean by the Hagia Sophia "Experience". I'm not sure if you're referring to the actual Hagia Sophia or some sort of exhibition.

I agree. Could you say why and give examples? I've been there two times, the most recent 10 years ago. With changes in its designation and outsiders' access, what you are saying is very important for others to know.

I'm wondering if he's talking about this site. Hagia Sophia History & Experience Museum
I can't believe it would be the real Hagia Sophia.

My apologies for the confusion.
The wonderful building, Hagia Sophia, is well worth the visit, as is the palace and Blue Mosque, etc.
In the same area, and sold as a separate ticket or as a combo ticket with Hagia Sophia, they have an attraction called the Hagia Sophia Experience and Museum. While I must have missed the museum part, the 'experience is a lame series of rooms with videos of the history of Hagia Sophia. A waste of time and money, in my opinion.
John from Canada.

Just as a point of reference, this really isn't a scam. It is a place that you visited and your review provides valuable feedback. It might be better to place this in the review category next time. Sorry for your disappointment. I skipped it due to its price and now I am glad that I did.

Thanks for the comment, Carol.

I did debate where to place this notice as I felt it was more a warning than a bad review.

I don't know, if you are into the history, doesn't look terrible. https://youtu.be/PpD9xVrkD2E?si=t3sApQPPK3Zmwvgh. How much did it cost?

We were in Istanbul in September and skipped the Hagia Sophia "experience". Its expensive, and it is basically a virtual reality type thing. The mosque itself is about 25 euro and the "experience" is separate and another 25 euro.

I saw a lot of tourists waiting in the "experience" line, I think not really sure what they were getting. All in one area was the "experience" line, the mosque line and the palace line. A tourist really needs to make sure they know what line they are standing in. I wouldn't call the "experience" a scam. On the other hand, there does not seem to be much effort to delineate the experience from the actual mosque.

Within the last few months, there have been many posts on the sites in Istanbul. My #1 tip is to be in line for the tickets for both the mosque and the palace before opening. You will gain precious time for photographing the mosque before the tour groups and masses arrive.

Has anyone other than the OP actually gone? Cause if it covered Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus and the genius of the dome, and the first failure and how it was done in 6 years ... I might be interested where John wasn't.

I did read reviews from various sources and that along with the hefty price tag in comparison to other Istanbul sites and actually other sites in Europe, led me to my decision to just see the mosque. Some think the mosque price itself is high, and maybe it is, but I wouldn't have missed it for anything.

The traveler also needs to weigh the extra time the "experience" takes and whether seeing other sights would be sacrificed. If we'd done the experience we probably would have had to drop Chora church and/or the Mosque of Suleyman, which would have been a deal breaker.

The traveler also needs to weigh the extra time the "experience" takes

How long does it take?

EDIT: According to a review on TA it takes 35 minutes.

Didnt score bad on TA, but not a lot of reviews either.

Lots of great replies and just to address a few.

Yes, I do love history and that is why I went to Istanbul.
Yes, scam was the wrong word to use.

I thought Hagia Sophia itself was worth the time and money as well as the Palace and the Mosques were wonderful and free.
It is the presentation at his one venue that I found to be a waste of time and money.
It is a shame (scam) that they packaged this terrible attraction, with the wonderful Hagia Sofia.
I thought the Rick Steves Istanbul was very informative about all the venues and assumed this one was not mentioned because it appeared to be new.
Regarding tickets in general, buying online, even hours before, saves so much time and aggravation.
Currently in Nafplio Greece and highly recommend it.
John

CORRECTION, I visited Istanbul the last week of August of 2024. When I visited it wasn't an option to purchase the Hagia Sophia on line. Perhaps, I could have purchased a ticket bundled with the "experience" online, but not just the mosque. It would be really nice if that were the case now.

I also do not recall being able to purchase Topkapi Palace online. I do recall there was an ability to purchase tickets at kiosks in the palace complex, though the machines were out of order that day.

25 bucks to visit virtual reality for 25 minutes seems hardly worth it to me. I was there in August when the "experience" was quite new, and there were changes being made to other tourist sites. It was challenging to find current details for the Hagia Sophia, Kariye Mosque, and other places. I really appreciated the insight from folks on the forum that had recently visited or were currently visiting.

People in Istanbul that we talked to weren't happy to have spent 25 euro on something that didn't get them into the mosque itself. And, 25 minutes would definitely take away from something else more meaningful to us. Since we typically spend more time at the places we visit, if the "experience" was worthwhile, I'm pretty sure our visit would be longer than the "average" tourist. And if we did only spend 25 minutes, we would consider the site a dud. And consider the time waiting in line.

Thank you to the OP for providing a review of his experience of a newer site.

I've moved the thread and lightly edited the OP's topic for clarity.

My opinion about this topic is

"If you will be visiti Hagia Sophia (main building) by yourself without an official good tour guide, its better to visit Experinece Museum before seeing the main building. One more advantage of seeing it is you can book Combine tixket for experience Museum and Mosque online whi,h is valid 2 days. So second day first thing in the morning u can go in mosque without waiting in the line.
But if you will be visiting Hagia Sophia with a good tour guide u wouldnt need to go experience museum and just go to Hagia Sophia Mosque.