Travel Tips Turkey
Discovering Turkey
We've put together some travel tips and information we hope you'll find useful. This includes travel essentials, money, food & drink, speaking Turkish, staying in touch, time difference, getting around and power supply.
Travel essentials
VISA requirements ~ British passport holders require a visa to enter Turkey. You can get a sticker-type visa as you enter Turkey, this is £10. This is sufficient for the vast majority of holiday makers that visit Turkey each year. If you are at all unsure contact your local Turkish consulate.
PASSPORT requirements ~ Your passport should be valid for a minimum of 6 months from your date of arrival in Turkey.
PASSPORT requirements ~ Your passport should be valid for a minimum of 6 months from your date of arrival in Turkey.
Money
Currency ~
New Turkish Lira (TRY; symbol YTL) = 100 New Kurus (Ykr).
Denominations (notes): YTL200, 100, 50, 20, 10, 5 and 1.
Denominations (Coins): YTL1 and 50, 25, 10, 5 and 1 New Kurus.
Traveller's cheques ~ These can only be exchanged in banks, you will require your passport in order to cash in your traveller's cheques.
ATMs are widely available in established areas.
The post office offer a good exchange rate, banks and other exchanges can charge higher rates.
If you have received good service whether it be in a restaurant or taxi etc you can leave a tip, a good guide is to leave between 10% and 15%.
New Turkish Lira (TRY; symbol YTL) = 100 New Kurus (Ykr).
Denominations (notes): YTL200, 100, 50, 20, 10, 5 and 1.
Denominations (Coins): YTL1 and 50, 25, 10, 5 and 1 New Kurus.
Traveller's cheques ~ These can only be exchanged in banks, you will require your passport in order to cash in your traveller's cheques.
ATMs are widely available in established areas.
The post office offer a good exchange rate, banks and other exchanges can charge higher rates.
If you have received good service whether it be in a restaurant or taxi etc you can leave a tip, a good guide is to leave between 10% and 15%.
Food and Drink
Drink bottled water, not tap water.
Legal age for alcohol consumption is 18.
Legal age for alcohol consumption is 18.
Learn some Turkish
Learn some Turkish! The local people really appreciate it even if it's just a 'hello' and 'goodbye'.
Staying in touch
Tokens, credit cards and phone cards are accepted by public telephones, tokens & tokens can be bought in Turkish Telecom offices and kiosks.
Calling abroad from Turkey
If you are in Turkey and want to make an international call you need to do the following:
Dial 00 followed by the country code. The country code for the UK is 44 and 353 for Ireland. You then dial your number along with the area code, excluding the leading 0.
So as an example:
If we wanted to call someone in Leeds (area code 0113) we would dial: 00 44 113 and then the telephone number.
Calling abroad from Turkey
If you are in Turkey and want to make an international call you need to do the following:
Dial 00 followed by the country code. The country code for the UK is 44 and 353 for Ireland. You then dial your number along with the area code, excluding the leading 0.
So as an example:
If we wanted to call someone in Leeds (area code 0113) we would dial: 00 44 113 and then the telephone number.
Time Difference
GMT + 2 hours
GMT + 3 hours from last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October
GMT + 3 hours from last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October
Getting around
Public transport is very reasonable in Turkey. Use a dolmus (public minibus), they're very convenient and cheap.
Power supply
Power supply ~ Electricity is 220 volt AC. Plugs are round 2 pin therefore an adaptor is needed to use electrical devices from the UK and Ireland.