Miniaturk

Very nice experience!! We have enjoyed, first we visited the upside down house, then Minigurk, there are also a little tram and a little train (for youngest kids), to pay a little extra. There is a souvenir shop. There are all Turkish most iconic places. It would be great if they would have any audio guide.

The park is good to understand the turkish art and history with modern touch in a miniature form. The tickets need not be bought in advance however, the entry is free if you carry a valid e-pass. The exhibition just after the entrance is marvellous especially the tiny workers will move if you press the start button. Children attractions are again chargeable even after entry and have a special purpose.

You may find all pieces of Anatolia in this open air exhibition and details of the mini models are surprisingly amazing. Park is clean and there are cafeterias, a small park for kids and a nice bookshop. Should be added to the visiting list.

The park is pretty nice overall, but I’m giving it four stars ⭐️ because it could use some maintenance. Also, some shaded areas would be a great addition since it's completely open, making it too sunny to comfortably walk around. We weren’t impressed with the main café either. They were out of most of the items on the menu, leaving us with just French fries and frozen pizza as options. The place didn’t feel very clean.

This park is amazing. We knew our little one would like to see tiny houses, but she was beyond happy seeing all the "castles", riding a little train, and swinging later at the playground. Very well kept , a lot to see and explore.

Warning: It may make you hooked on Turkey. We went here mostly as a joke, but were surprised at how large and interesting it was. There are many models and they are all well-made and the cats and birds inhabiting the place add a lot of fun atmosphere to it. I can see why it may not be the best place during the summer. We went at the end of November and it was a tad chilly, but there is nothing to shade you from the sun, so if the weather is sunny and without clouds, maybe go another day. You should also reserve several hours for it. Getting there with public transportation was a bit of a hassle and if you relax and take your time, you could probably spend more than an hour, or close to two, if you really dwell on everything there. The only major problem with this place is that it shows you how many sights Turkey has to offer in all corners of the country that it makes you wish to travel the whole country.

Everything is beautiful. The models are truly fascinating and extraordinary. They have been paid attention to every last detail. There are two problems: First, it is very difficult to walk around when the weather is sunny. Second, there is no guideline to walk around in this direction. It is very difficult to walk around regularly. Since there are many works that are disorganized and too many, you do not want to miss any of them because they are all very beautiful and meticulously made.

We visited Miniatürk in the winter and enjoyed it, though it only took about 20 minutes to see everything. While it used to be reasonably priced at around $7-10, the recent price hike makes it less worth it now. we had a pleasant meal there, and the staff was very friendly. The upside-down house requires an additional fee and is good for a few photos, but I would recommend visiting the Museum of Illusions in Taksim instead.

This park is huge and reminds me of exactly how much I still have to see in Turkey! I'll say one thing though...they REALLY need someone to spellcheck the English on their signs haha. It's funny though, and the little statues are pretty neat.

This place is a miniature village of all of Turkey's sites. i recommend coming here to check things out. We went when it was rainy and cold, so it was pretty empty. If you're wanting to go off the beaten path, this place is it. By coming here, you get a nice overview of all of Turkey's sites - hagia sophia, blue mosque, another mosque, monasteries, airports etc.

I gather by comparing the Google reviews with TripAdvisor and Yelp that Miniaturk is substantially more popular with Turks than with foreigners, but I still think it's worth a visit. First of all, at current exchange rates it's less than $3 (15 TL). Second, I think it's at least as interesting to see how a country portrays itself -- what they choose to highlight and celebrate -- as to see historical sites and whatnot. Miniaturk is basically what it says on the tin: a bunch of miniature replicas (at 25:1 scale) of some famous buildings and landmarks in Turkey and the former Ottoman territories. You can walk around the whole layout in an hour or so, although we weren't stopping to scan the QR codes at every stop. In addition to the famous Byzantine churches and Ottoman palaces, there are models of the limestone buildings of Merdin, an old Ottoman bridge in the Balkans, and some of the lesser-known masterpieces of the great Ottoman architects like Mimar Sinan. (Something that struck me as funny was the model of Istanbul's major football stadium. You can put a coin in a machine to make the speakers blare the fight song of your preferred club, which seems like a great way to make money off of fanatics.) For an attraction that seems to pull a fair number of visitors, Miniaturk is not in great repair. The miniature train that runs between the exhibits wasn't functioning while we were there, and it's also evident that many of the models were really only constructed to be viewed from one angle. And if you're in Istanbul, I hope you'll go see Hagia Sophia and the like in person. But it was still cool to see some of the sites that didn't make it on to our itinerary, as well as some from the parts of the country (e.g. the Southeast) that tourists won't be visiting any time soon.

A park full of miniature buildings, cheesy right?! My thoughts exactly... and then I had a great time there. Given the scale of the architectural sights in Istanbul, the miniatures give you a chance to view the buildings as a whole vice the partial perspectives you get when visiting them. Also, there were miniatures of all the great structures across Turkey, many of which I would not otherwise have known about since my family and I only had time to visit Istanbul. This is also a great place for kids. There is plenty of walking to be done around the miniature buildings, a playground, and an arcade to help them blow off steam. This place was not on our itinerary, but I'm really happy that we visited.

Miniaturk confuses me. I've been three times and while the first time I was completely underwhelmed (Turks hype this place up a bit), the second and third times I was just bored and kind of weirded out. For whatever reason this place attracts domestic and foreign tourists alike and while I can't say it's bad, "meh, I've experienced better" is exactly how I feel about it. Several points here: 1. Many of the miniatures are in obvious disrepair. This annoys me because I honestly do not know what they are doing with your ticket fee (foreigners pay double what Turks pay). 2. Most of the exhibits are dirty and/or damaged. 3. Information is given via a speaker voice that talks to you in the language of your ticket, which you scan at each exhibit. The idea is cool but the information given could not be more uninteresting. They usually just say what it is, when they started building it, when construction was complete, and its size. All of that info can be easily ascertained from looking at it and glancing at the plate next to it. So tell us something we couldn't figure out from looking at it?! 4. It can be very crowded on nice days, making it awkward to listen to each information thing anyway and even more awkward to take you time viewing each miniature. 5. It is so far off the beaten path and not extremely easy to get to, it almost doesn't make sense to come unless you are in a car or with a bus/tour group. 6. There is nothing edible at the site. The "restaurant" offers and extremely limited selection of fast food and not even enough ketchup to drown out the taste. 7. All visitors MUST pass through the gift shop on the way out, which is stocked full of kitschy, outdated weirdness you would never ever want to buy ever. Overall I think Miniaturk has potential and if was kept cleaner and more up-to-date I might get excited about going. If your expectations are low and you just want a general overview of famous Turkish architecture/landmarks I guess it would be a fine thing to do. The ticket price is only 10 lira, after all.