Independent visitor guide · Florya, Istanbul
Everything international visitors need for İstanbul Akvaryum in Florya: tickets in euros, opening hours, the Marmaray route from Sultanahmet, the 17 themed zones, and whether it is worth a half day.
Last checked: 2026-09-11
Entry tickets, shuttle bundles and hotel-transfer packages.
Skip the ticket desk — mobile ticket for all 17 themed zones, the rainforest and the penguins.
Entry ticket plus a round-trip shuttle from the old city. No transfers, no Marmaray map.
The same bundle for hotels around Taksim, Beyoğlu and Şişli.
İstanbul Akvaryum opened on 25 June 2011 on the Marmara coast in Florya, a residential district on the European side about 25 km west of Sultanahmet and next to the site of the old Atatürk Airport. It is Turkey's largest aquarium: 22,000 m² of building, 6,000 m² of exhibition space, 64 tanks holding 6,800 m³ of water, and a single 1.2 km walking route that takes you through 17 themed zones in geographic order, from the Black Sea and the Bosphorus out through the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, across the Atlantic to Panama and the Pacific, with an Amazon rainforest hall and polar sections along the way.
The collection is around 1,500 species and 17,000 animals. The things visitors talk about afterwards are the underwater tunnel, the rainforest hall with its crocodiles and poison-dart frogs, the ray and shark tanks, and the gentoo penguins, which the aquarium describes as Turkey's first and only colony.
It is a good half-day plan for families, for rainy or very hot days, and for anyone who has done the Sultanahmet monuments and wants something the children will enjoy. It is not a quick stop: the site is far from the historic centre and the route is long, so treat it as an outing, not a detour.
This site is written for international visitors. The official website is Turkish-first, its online prices are for Turkish citizens only, and most of the practical questions people ask — how to get there from a hotel in Sultanahmet, what a foreigner actually pays, whether it is worth it compared with the other aquariums in the city — are not answered anywhere in one place. We keep every fact here dated and checked against the official site, and we say plainly when something is unclear (the official hours pages disagree with each other, for example).
We also sell our own tickets and shuttle bundles priced in euros. The tickets page lists them next to the official price table so you can compare honestly.
Yes. The official name is İstanbul Akvaryum; locals call it Florya Akvaryum after the neighbourhood, and it sits next to the Aqua Florya shopping mall. It is not the Sea Life aquarium in Forum Istanbul or the Emaar Aquarium in Üsküdar.
The promotional online prices on the official site (1,000 ₺ adult, 900 ₺ reduced) apply to Turkish citizens only. International visitors pay the standard rate at the gate, or book an entry ticket in euros from €35 on this site, which is confirmed instantly and needs no ID check for citizenship.
Plan 2 to 3 hours for the 1.2 km route through 17 themed zones. Add 30 to 45 minutes if you buy the Ocean Giants exhibition or the VR ride, and an hour if you eat at the mall afterwards.
Take the Marmaray train from Sirkeci towards Halkalı and get off at Florya Akvaryum station, about 35 to 40 minutes. The aquarium entrance is a short walk from the platform. Bundles with a shuttle from Sultanahmet or Taksim are also available on the tickets page.
It is one of the most stroller-friendly attractions in the city: a flat, air-conditioned indoor route, low viewing windows, a rainforest hall with crocodiles and frogs, and the penguins near the end. Children under 24 months enter free.
Last checked: 2026-09-11. Aquarium Florya is an independent visitor guide. It is not the official website of İstanbul Akvaryum; official information and gate tickets are at istanbulakvaryum.com.