The smaller palaces: six pavilions most visitors miss

Beyond Topkapı and Dolmabahçe the sultans left a string of smaller buildings — summer palaces, hunting lodges, garden pavilions — on both shores of the Bosphorus and on the Golden Horn. They are run by the same administration, sold on the same e-ticket system, and a good deal quieter.

Along the Asian shore

Beylerbeyi Palace (1863–1865) was Abdülaziz’s summer palace and the guest house for foreign sovereigns; Abdülhamid II died here in 1918. Some of its outlying pavilions are closed, but the main building and gardens are open.

Further north, the Küçüksu Pavilion (1856–1857) sits on the meadow between two streams, its carved façade facing the water. The meadow beside it is run as a picnic ground with its own ticket.

Furthest north, the Beykoz Mecidiye Pavilion was a gift to Abdülmecid from the governor of Egypt, finished in 1854 and opened as a museum only in 2017 after a long restoration.

The three are on the same shore road, so they combine naturally into a day on the Asian side. All three close on Mondays.

On the European side

The Ihlamur Pavilions (1849–1855) stand in a walled garden in Beşiktaş, close to Yıldız and Dolmabahçe — an easy addition to a Beşiktaş day.

The Aynalıkavak Pavilion in Hasköy is all that remains of the Tersane Palace on the Golden Horn. Selim III is thought to have composed music in one of its rooms, and it now houses a museum of Turkish music.

The Maslak Pavilions, well to the north, were the country home of the young Abdülhamid; he was living here when he was called to the throne in 1876. Stables, a greenhouse and a large garden come with it.

Practical notes

All six close on Mondays. Several sell a cheaper garden-only ticket. The National Palaces Full Pass covers them, along with Dolmabahçe — but not Topkapı.