The Rahmi M. Koç Museum is one of Istanbul's best-kept secrets: an industrial museum set in a restored Ottoman shipyard on the northern shore of the Golden Horn, in the neighbourhood of Hasköy. While most visitors head for mosques and palaces, here you'll find steam engines, vintage cars, trams, aircraft and an old Istanbul passenger ferry, and you can climb aboard or walk through many of them.
If you're travelling with children, or you simply like machines and the stories behind them, it makes a wonderful half-day away from the crowds of Sultanahmet. In this article I'll tell you what there is to see and do, the opening hours and how to get there.
What to see and do at the Rahmi M. Koç Museum
The museum spreads over some 27,000 square metres of quays, workshops and gardens along the Golden Horn, and it was the first museum in Türkiye devoted to the history of transport, industry and communications. It opened in 1994 in the Lengerhane, an 18th-century Ottoman anchor foundry, and later grew into the neighbouring Hasköy shipyard. Some of the things you can do while you're there:
- Hands-on science. Interactive exhibits explain how everyday objects work, from a washing machine to an engine. It's educational without being dull, and it works for every age.
- A boat trip on the Golden Horn. The museum runs short trips from its own pier on one of its historic boats; at the time of writing (2026) they leave Wednesday to Friday at 14:00 and 15:00, and four times a day at weekends (13:00–16:00). It's a lovely way to see the skyline of the old city from the water. Moored at the quay is the "Liman 2", a steam harbour tug built in the Netherlands in 1935, which worked in Istanbul's port from 1936 to 1988.
- Weekend activities in the garden. On Saturdays and Sundays, when the weather allows, the museum runs open-air activities: classic car engines fired up, demonstrations of the tall Victorian penny-farthing bicycle, and unusual inventions such as the "Ginger". They usually take place between 13:00 and 15:00; check the museum's programme before you go.
- The big exhibits. Locomotives, trams, cars, aircraft, the historic Fenerbahçe ferry and a planetarium. This is the part children remember.
This is a museum you touch, climb into and explore rather than just look at, so give yourself at least a couple of hours; families often stay half a day.
Where does the collection come from?
The museum grew out of the private collection of Rahmi M. Koç, of the Koç family behind Koç Holding, one of Türkiye's largest industrial groups. Since it opened in 1994 it has kept growing through donations of objects and funds from institutions, foundations and private individuals.
Among the most striking pieces are military vehicles, classic and luxury cars and aircraft.
Leave time for the museum shop and for lunch or a coffee: the restaurants and cafés are decorated in the same spirit as the museum, with pieces from the collection on display. Halat Restaurant, on the waterfront, stays open into the evening; there is also Suzy's Café du Levant (closed from July to October at the time of writing) and a couple of casual cafés, one of them inside the old Fenerbahçe ferry. Most of them close on Mondays, like the museum, but their hours vary from one to another, so check before you go if you're planning dinner.
Rahmi M. Koç Museum: opening hours and tickets
The museum is closed on Mondays. At the time of writing (2026) it is open 09:30–17:30 Tuesday to Friday and 10:00–19:00 on Saturdays and Sundays. Last tickets are sold 30 minutes before closing, and the museum also closes on the eve and first day of religious holidays and on 31 December and 1 January.
Admission (2026 rates) is 1,000 Turkish lira for adults and 500 lira for students; Golden Horn boat trips are ticketed separately: 250 lira for adults and 150 lira for students.
If you'd like something more personal, the museum can arrange special visits for groups of ten or more outside normal hours, by prior arrangement with the museum staff.
How to get there
The museum is in Hasköy, on the northern shore of the Golden Horn, a short taxi ride from Taksim or the old city. City buses run along the shore road, and the Golden Horn ferry line stops at the Hasköy pier, a few steps from the entrance: arriving by water is by far the nicest way to do it.
How I fit it into a visit to Istanbul
The easiest way to see it is as part of a private day tour of Istanbul, so you see other corners of the city on the same day: it pairs beautifully with the rest of the Golden Horn, with the museum in the morning and then across the water to the old neighbourhoods of Balat and Fener. Tell me what you'd like when you plan your tailor-made trip and I'll build it in.