Enter through the Imperial Gate with your skip-the-line ticket and explore the 15th-century seat of the Ottoman sultans at your own pace. Your audio guide covers the four courtyards, the Imperial Treasury with the emerald-set Topkapi Dagger and the Spoonmaker's Diamond, the Sacred Relics chambers, the imperial kitchens, and the terrace pavilions overlooking the Bosphorus. Harem access is included, so you can add the tiled courtyards, the Imperial Hall and the sultan's private apartments whenever you choose.

Step inside the oldest church in Istanbul, standing in Topkapi Palace's First Courtyard. Built in the 4th century and rebuilt by Justinian after the Nika riots, Hagia Irene was never converted into a mosque, so its bare brick walls, vast dome and the rare iconoclastic mosaic cross above the apse survive as they were. Entry is included with your ticket and the acoustics inside are extraordinary.

Harem entry is included in your ticket, so there is no second queue and no extra fee at the door. Wander the private world of the sultan's household: the Courtyard of the Eunuchs, the Courtyard of the Favourites, corridors sheathed in blue and turquoise Iznik tiles, the domed Imperial Hall where the sultan received his family, and the Privy Chamber of Murad III with its painted ceilings and golden grilles.