Tourist office Istanbul
The official tourist office of Istanbul is the Istanbul Directorate of Culture and Tourism, the provincial arm of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and it runs 4 tourism information offices. One is a walk-in office on Divan Yolu in Sultanahmet, beside the old Hippodrome; the other three sit in the international arrivals halls of the two airports and inside the Galataport cruise terminal. The offices that older guides place at Sirkeci station and in Taksim are gone from the list the directorate keeps up to date. Staff there hand out maps, brochures and documents about the city, and all four open on public holidays.
Find the nearest tourist office
Sultanahmet tourism information office
Location: Divan Yolu Caddesi 3, Binbirdirek, on the old Hippodrome square in Sultanahmet, Fatih
Opening hours: Every day of the week, 09:00 to 17:30
Hands out maps, brochures and documents about the city to visitors who call in person.
Istanbul Airport tourism information office
Location: International arrivals floor of Istanbul Airport, Arnavutkoy, on the European side
Opening hours: Every day of the week, 09:00 to 19:00
Meets international arrivals on the European side, and stays open on public holidays.
Sabiha Gokcen airport tourism information office
Location: International arrivals at Sabiha Gokcen airport, Kurtkoy, on the Asian side
Opening hours: Every day of the week, 09:00 to 19:00
Covers arrivals on the Asian side, and works through the official and religious holidays.
Galataport tourism information office
Location: Meclis-i Mebusan Caddesi, Kilicali Pasa, Beyoglu, inside the customs area of the cruise terminal
Opening hours: Planned around the arrival and departure of the ships
Set inside the customs area, so it reaches cruise passengers as they come ashore.
Get to know Istanbul in detail
Get to know Istanbul in detail
The Istanbul guide on Tourist Office is built for visiting Istanbul without wasting a morning: a one day itinerary that walks from Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque down into the Basilica Cistern and up to Topkapi Palace, then ten landmarks worth booking ahead, the Grand Bazaar and the Galata Tower among them.
It also gathers what the old city gives away, the monuments of the Hippodrome that stand steps from the Sultanahmet office, Gulhane Park and the Galata Bridge, alongside the small museums and the hidden corners that rarely make a first itinerary, with notes on how many days the city needs.
Public holidays in Istanbul to plan around
Public holidays change the shape of a visit more than most travellers expect. Public offices and banks close on the days the law names, and many shops and museums change their hours around them, so a day built around a market or a museum can come apart. Turkey fixes its holidays by law rather than by region: Law 2429 of 1981 sets a single national list, and the two religious feasts move each year with the calendar published by the Presidency of Religious Affairs.
National holidays in Turkey 2026
- 1 January New Year's Day (Yılbaşı)
- 20 March First day of the Ramadan feast (Ramazan Bayramı)
- 21 March Second day of the Ramadan feast (Ramazan Bayramı)
- 22 March Third day of the Ramadan feast (Ramazan Bayramı)
- 23 April National Sovereignty and Children's Day (Ulusal Egemenlik ve Çocuk Bayramı)
- 1 May Labour and Solidarity Day (Emek ve Dayanışma Günü)
- 19 May Commemoration of Ataturk, Youth and Sports Day (Atatürk'ü Anma ve Gençlik ve Spor Bayramı)
- 27 May First day of the Feast of the Sacrifice (Kurban Bayramı)
- 28 May Second day of the Feast of the Sacrifice (Kurban Bayramı)
- 29 May Third day of the Feast of the Sacrifice (Kurban Bayramı)
- 30 May Fourth day of the Feast of the Sacrifice (Kurban Bayramı)
- 15 July Democracy and National Unity Day (Demokrasi ve Milli Birlik Günü)
- 30 August Victory Day (Zafer Bayramı)
- 29 October Republic Day (Cumhuriyet Bayramı)
Local holidays in Istanbul 2026
Istanbul adds no local public holiday to that list. Turkish law sets the general holidays for the whole country and gives no province or city a rest day of its own, so 29 May, the anniversary of the conquest of the city in 1453, is marked with ceremonies rather than a day off: for the 573rd anniversary the provincial governor's office ran a conquest walk from Beyazit Square to Hagia Sophia Square. In 2026 that date falls inside the Feast of the Sacrifice in any case.
The directorate states that all its tourism information offices work through the official and religious holidays, which makes them unusual among public counters. Half days are the part visitors miss: the law starts each religious feast at 13:00 on the eve, 19 March and 26 May in 2026, and starts Republic Day at 13:00 on 28 October, when public offices shut for the afternoon.
The 2026 religious calendar from the Presidency of Religious Affairs >