To visit basilica citerne we reserved with Istanbul e-pass, they sent me an email and a message on whatsapp with all the explanaition: where we meet Time and they sent me a picture of the appointement station; when it was time for the visit a Young lady came 10 min before then when it was time she tooks us( the groupe) to the entry of basilica, we line cut at the entry, in side she gives many informations history…. Asks if is there any question it was about 15min and she lets us do our visit as we like. It was a very nice expérience
What an amazing feat of engineering the Basilica Cistern is, it is enormous down there. We used the skip the line with tour guide and was well worth it, our guide for us inside very quickly and was a fountain of knowledge about the history of the place. A must see attraction if you're going to Istanbul.
Was here during Eid and the crowds were unbelievable. Thankfully, purchased skip the line ticket so we were able to get right in. Otherwise, probably at least an hour wait. Once inside our guide did an excellent job giving us the history and recommending good places for photos. After that, you are left to wander at your leisure.
Even at 9 am the visitors line was quite long, so we benefitted from skip the line. The lady guide was very good and gave us quite some information on the cistern. After the we were allowed to stay as long as we wanted to visit this fascinating place. This is a must if you plan to visit istanbul.
The place itself is magnificent, so much of history right under a bustling market square. But apart from skipping the ticket line, I don't think there was much point in having a tour guide. All the information I was told, you can read in a travelguide. Our guide met us at the designated meeting spot, got us past the ticket point, told us ten minutes worth of information and then said goodbye.