17 Useful Turkey Travel Tips: What to Know Before Traveling to Turkey (What to Do – and NOT To Do!)

If you’re planning a trip to Turkey, chances are you’re a smart traveler and want to be as prepared as possible. I’ve got your back!

But before that, a little about me… I’ve spent a total of more than 3 months in Turkey over various trips and visited more than a dozen cities, from the capital (Ankara) to the bustling metropolis of Turkey’s biggest city (Istanbul) to the sun-kissed coastal city of Antalya, the rugged plains of Rize, and even a tiny bungalow that was drenched in snow near the Kaçkar Mountain Range. 

There were so many things I learned along the way that I decided to create this handy little guide about the things you should absolutely know before traveling to Turkey. Here you’ll find what to do, what mistakes to avoid, common scams, what not to do in Turkey, how to travel on a budget, and useful tips that I wish I knew before I traveled to Turkey. 

Whether it’s your first time in Turkey or your tenth, I’m sure you’ll find a Turkey travel tip that you didn’t know before. :)

Ready? Let’s check it out!

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PC: Henry Thong

First Things First: Check If You Need a Visa for Turkey 

First and foremost, make sure that you can legally enter the country! Turkey has a very relaxed visa policy for many countries and it shouldn’t be too hard to get a visa to Turkey. 

For example, if you have a passport from the European Union, you can visit Turkey for up to 90 days (within a 180-day time period) without a visa. United States and Canadian citizens need to apply for an electronic visa (e-visa) ahead of time, but the process is extremely simple and will only take a few minutes. Here’s a quick overview* of some of the most common countries and whether or not they need a visa to Turkey:

📍 European Union – All EU countries (except Cyprus and Latvia) do not need a Turkish visa for stays up to 90 days (within a 180 day time period). 

📍 United States & Canada – US and Canadian citizens will need to apply for an e-visa. This can easily be done on the internet (such as iVisa) and the e visa is good for stays up to 90 days. 

📍 Australia & New Zealand – Similar to the US, Australian citizens need an e-visa before they can enter Turkey. New Zealand citizens do not need a visa. 

*Please note that the list is just a guideline and only applies if you visit Turkey for tourism purposes. For the latest info, you can check Wikipedia’s article or visit a visa site such as iVisa.*

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Turkey Weather

When most people think of Turkey, they might imagine a scorching-hot beach or a sunny day strolling along in Istanbul. However, it’s actually possible to see all four seasons in Turkey!

(It’s even possible in one day if you rent a car *cough cough*) 

In fact, did you know that it snows in Cappadocia? There are even more than a dozen popular ski resorts all across Turkey! My mind was blown because I always associated Turkey with warm weather, beaches, and temperatures that are a nice and balmy 25+ Celsius all year ‘round.

Sure, you can visit the beach in Antalya, but you can also see beautiful fall colors in Bursa, a field full of spring blooms across a yayla (plateau in Turkish), or snow on a mountain 2,100 meters in the air. (We stayed at the wooden bungalow in the photo above, and it was still snowing in April!)

Now there won’t be anymore questions like when is the best time to visit Turkey? Because the answer will be anytime!

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It Helps To Know A Little (Turkish) History

You might have heard the terms Ottoman empire, Sultans, and Atatürk floating around when you’re reading about Turkey and its history. If you’re really into learning more about a country, I recommend getting a very quick crash course in Turkish history.

Turkish history dates back thousands of years and is extremely interesting, especially around the “Golden Age” of the Ottoman Empire in the 1500s, when Suleiman the Magnificent came into power; the life and times of the poet Rumi (if you haven’t read his works, I highly recommend buying a copy!); the Seljuks; and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the birth of the Republic of Turkey.

If you have a basic overview of Turkish history, you can truly appreciate the typical tourist attractions — such as the Hagia Sophia, Dolmabahce palace, the city of Konya, and the Anıtkabir— with greater depth and understanding. 

If you don’t have time to get primed up on Turkish history, no worries! There are plenty of free walking tours in Istanbul (and other cities) that will give you a quick recap — if you prefer to become absorbed in history, there are also dozens of private guided tours. 

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Turkish Breakfast Lasts Only Until Noon

Now that you finished your tour through history, I think you might be a little hungry (that was a lot of information!) Do you want to try one of the best dishes in Turkey? 

Yes? Well, make sure you do it before noon. I’ll tell you why in a second ;)

If you’re traveling to Turkey, I recommend pulling out your itinerary and scribbling in “try Turkish breakfast” right now. There’s nothing that compares to coming hungry to a restaurant and seeing dozens of mouth-watering dishes appear on your table. Cheeses, salami, meats, honey, omelettes, bread, olives… Mmmm, I can go on all day. 

Turkish breakfasts are available almost everywhere, from your hotel, to small little cafes in the wall, to big restaurants. But there’s a catch: like any good breakfast place, most restaurants and cafes serve Turkish breakfasts until about 11 AM or noon. 

I know, I know… I come from a very spoiled background of all day breakfast cafes in the United States, but it was still such a disappointment when we went to a cafe we really wanted to try and found out that they don’t serve breakfast anymore.

Wake up early and get yourself some Turkish breakfast. You won’t regret missing that hour of sleep. ;)

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Museums are closed on Mondays 

As a rule of thumb, many museums in Turkey are closed on Monday. These include popular museums in Istanbul such as SALT Galata (which is a must-visit, btw!), Dolmabahçe Palace, the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, Pera Museum, İstanbul Toy Museum and more. If you’re traveling to Ankara, the Anıtkabir (Ataturk’s tomb) is also closed on Monday. 

Make sure to check in advance before adding a place to your itinerary – the majority of museums and tourist sights have helpful websites that lists opening and closing times.  

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PC: Daru Sultan Hotel (One of my favorite hotels in Istanbul!) 

Heads Up! This Popular Travel Website Doesn’t Work… 

If there’s one thing that I learned about planning a trip to Turkey… It’s that you shouldn’t plan your accommodations at the last minute. 

That’s because Booking.com, the world’s most popular accommodation website in the world, doesn’t work in Turkey! That’s right: If you’re physically located in Turkey, the website will block you from reserving accommodations within the country. 

If you’re really desperate (and already in Turkey), you can try to bypass the Booking Block by using a VPN… But it’s usually more convenient to book your accommodation ahead of time. 

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Always Carry Spare Cash

This is an awkward situation that I was in (more than once!) so learn from my mistakes.

In Turkey, your US-issued credit cards might not work, especially on older terminals. 

And I’m not talking about some regional tiny village bank credit cards, but “big” travel ones like Chase Sapphire or Citi Prestige. I think it has something to do with the security on these cards, but I could be wrong. 

I found that I had the best luck with contactless cards (those with RFID chips) that you simply touch on the terminal to pay. The majority of the time (75% or so) when a worker inserted the chip card into the terminal, it would reject the transaction. 

Moral of the story: make sure to test your credit card ahead of time and always carry spare cash.   

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Turkish Wifi Sucks

I don’t mean to sound harsh, but the WiFi in Turkey really does suck. 

Besides that one time I was on a remote island in the middle of Fiji, the worst WiFi I ever came across was in Turkey. Although the Fiji situation was excusable (it is the middle of nowhere, after all), the depths of Turkey’s horrible WiFi stretched all across the country, from an apartment in the center of Istanbul to luxury hotels in Izmir, guesthouses in the middle of nowhere, and even public WiFi. 

To put it in perspective: The WiFi of a four-star hotel that we stayed at kept kicking us out every. ten. minutes. To add insult to injury, we had to log in using our passport number, full name, and room number…

… Although as a plus, we quickly memorized our passport numbers that night. 

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A streetside cafe in Çeşme

Don’t be afraid to venture out of Istanbul

Let me tell you something that shocked me the first time I traveled through Turkey: Airline tickets are insanely cheap, especially if you book ahead of time. 

In my Turkey on a Budget post, I listed the prices of a few round-trip flights from Istanbul to Cappadocia, Izmir, Antalya, and other popular destinations… and none of them were over $50 —round-trip! In fact, many tickets can be as cheap as $10 one-way and $15 round-trip.  

With these prices, you have no excuse to not visit other parts of Turkey.

You can check airline tickets on Skyscanner, Kiwi, or Expedia

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Download Google Translate

If there’s one app that really saved my butt in Turkey, it’s Google Translate (although BiTaksi does get an honorable mention). 

Before you leave for Turkey, I recommend downloading the Turkish language offline on Google Translate (Settings > Offline Translation > and click the + in the top right corner). You’ll be able to translate menus, store names, descriptions, and so much more. 

It makes ordering food (restaurants and from delivery apps) so much easier. 

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Pasta Actually Means Cake In Turkish

Don’t make my mistake by ordering pasta and expecting Italian macaroni, because you’ll get a cake instead. ;) 

All jokes aside, I recommend memorizing a few important phrases in Turkish before you start your trip, because — and I can’t stress this enough — it’ll really help you in the long run.

Just to tell you how much I really mean by this tip: In Bursa, we went hunting for the local delicacy known as an İskender kebap. 

We stopped by this one restaurant that looked promising, ordered from the menu, and patiently waited while the chef cooked our food. Let me tell you something: that was one of the most delicious meals of my life. (In fact, I’m drooling right now as I remember this story!) 

After we finished our food, we really wanted to thank the chef but had no idea how to. That’s because the only three phrases we knew were hello (which we already said to the waiter), cat (didn’t work, as the kebab was made from lamb), and thank you (which wasn’t enough to truly show our appreciation). 

I tried to wave a few hand gestures to our waiter (who, BTW, was really patient in this whole ordeal) but to no avail. I asked him to wait a few seconds while I frantically Googled “how to say ‘very delicious’ in Turkish” I until I finally found it: Elinize saglik. 

Now you see what I mean. 

Anyway, without further ado, here are the most important Turkish phrases for traveling: 

Hello – Merhaba (mehr-haa-baa)
Thank You – Teşekkür ederim (tesh-eh-koor eh-de-rim)
Please – Lütfen (lyoot – fan)
Sorry – Pardon (similar to the English pardon, although this is informal) 

It’s delicious – Elinize saglik (Ell-en-is-eh sag-leek), which literally means “health to your hands.” It’s often said to the chef (his hands cooked the meal, after all) but we said it to the waiters and they all smiled.
Packet – Poşet (poh-shet), when you’re shopping at a grocery store and need a bag to put all your stuff in.  

Cat – Kedi (ked-ih)
Dog – Köpek (Koh-pek)

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PC: Kılıç Ali Paşa Hamami

Don’t Miss The Chance to Relax at a Traditional Hammam

Like the title says, just add it to your Turkey To Do list right now.

A hammam is usually an antique building with a Turkish spa inside — in fact, some hammams are more than 500 years old and still in use! 

There’s even a whole procedure to doing the hammam properly. First, you get dressed in hammam attire (a large cloth that you wrap yourself with) and relax for a few minutes in a heated room. Just like in a sauna or spa complex, you can move onto hotter rooms, or stay put and splash yourself with cool water. Many hammams also offer add-on services, like foam massages (a must do!), facial masks, oil massages, scrubbing, and more. 

 

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Be aware of common scams in Turkey

Like most countries, Turkey (unfortunately) has its own fair share of scams going around. Although it’s a perfectly safe country, be on the lookout for small-scale scams like these ones: 

👞 The Shoe Shiner Scam - As you’re walking along and enjoying the colorful streets of Istanbul, a shoe shiner will walk in front of you and (very obviously) drop one of their brushes on the ground. Their goal is for you to pick up the brush and hand it over to him so that he can graciously give you a complimentary shoe shining… except it won’t be so complimentary after all. Most genuine shoe shiners cost about $1 or $2 USD (5 to 10 TLR), but these types of scammers can ask anywhere from 10 to 20 times that amount. If you see this happening, just ignore it and keep walking - the shoe shiner will see that it didn’t work and go back to pick his brush up.

🚕 The Taxi Scam(s) - Taxi drivers have a reputation of being unscrupulous, and Turkey is no different. Before even considering flagging a taxi off the street, I recommend downloading either BiTaksi or Uber so that you can order a taxi online and know how much your trip will cost. If you have to flag a taxi, be very careful and keep an eye on the meter and which route they’re taking. Taxi drivers in Turkey have a few tricks up their sleeve, from messing with the taxi meter (i.e. making the ride cost much more than usual); taking a longer route (follow along on Google Maps to avoid this); or switching paper notes on unsuspecting tourists (make sure to hand over each bill slowly and one by one so that both of you can see the total). 

🛍 The Bazaar Scam - While shopping around the Grand Bazaar (or any other bazaar), you’ll see hundreds of shops that sell carpets. There are two very common scams that you should be aware of when shopping in carpet stores. The first is to be careful about buying rugs that won’t fit in your luggage. There have been hundreds of scams where carpet stores offer free shipping, a tourist pays in advance (for the rug + shipping), and never received their rug in the mail… because the store never sent it.

Second, that Turkish carpet might not be Turkish after all. Even though the tag might say Made in Turkey, a good percent of rugs are made in neighboring countries like Iran, the Caucuses, and even China. If you’re dead-set on buying an authentic Turkish carpet, I recommend finding an expert (either on Viator or GetYourGuide) who can give you a proper tour of authentic carpet stores. 

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Save Some Space in Your Luggage

Speaking of bazaars, be sure to plan out your souvenir shopping! Yes, you read that right — sometimes it pays to plan in advance. ;) 

Since Turkey has so many opportunities to go shopping (and so many amazing souvenirs!), you might need to buy extra luggage on your way back home. 

To avoid this hassle, don’t fill up your baggage to its maximum capacity. Instead, leave a few pockets of space — or even one half of your luggage! — so that you don’t have to worry about where to put those souvenirs. If you’re traveling with a carry-on and have a check-in bag already included in your ticket, you can also buy a duffle bag and pop it out when you’re packing souvenirs 

Likewise, depending on how long you stay, buy little by little (if you’re traveling around) or block out the last day to go shopping. 

Psst… Want to get a refund on some of that souvenir shopping?
My 25 Ways to Save Money In Turkey post will show you how!
(Check out #25 for that tip ➡️ )

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Don’t Forget to Haggle

Before we finish our conversation about bazaars, I have one last little tip about shopping. You can bargain the price down on many goods — and it’s actually expected in Turkey! 

Usually, the actual price of an item is half of the price that the seller quotes you. 

So if the seller says he’ll sell you an item for 100 TLR, the actual price is somewhere around 50 to 60 TLR. Try to get as close to this price as possible and you can save hundreds of Lira during your trip to Turkey.

However, please haggle ethically, especially in smaller family-run shops and for handmade items. It’s not worth getting kicked out of a souvenir shop if you’re haggling down that last 2 TLR.  

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Turks Will Make You An Offer That You Can’t Refuse...

… And that offer is to enjoy a cup of tea with them. *dun dun*

I know it sounds strange for me to tell you to take tea from a stranger, but do it! 

It’s (usually) free, it tastes delicious, and it’s one of the oldest methods of hospitality in Turkey. In fact, offering tea is considered a sign of friendship and welcoming you to their shop/hotel/city/Turkey.

You’ll see that this mostly happens in smaller hotels or souvenir stores, especially when the shopkeeper sees that you’re interested in purchasing an item. He or she will brew you a fresh cup of Turkish tea (usually authentic Turkish black tea from the Rize area) and ask you where you’re from, how you like Turkey so far, and so on. 

I remember when I first traveled to Turkey, I had five shopkeepers brew me and my travel buddy a cup of tea while we were shopping in Cappadocia. The first two times I was completely shocked and didn’t know what to do, so I politely refused (and still feel terrible even to this day). The next shopkeeper offered us a cup and told us a little more about the tradition… and now you know too! 

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Press A Button, Get A Taxi

If you’re having a hard time flagging down a taxi, no worries. Take a look around — preferably on a tree, lamppost, or any other pole — and you might see a small yellow box that has the answer. 

In popular tourist destinations like Antalya or Izmir, local governments wanted to make it easier for tourists and locals to call a taxi, so they created these “call boxes.” Just press the button and a taxi will show up within minutes (or even seconds!) 

Convenient, right?

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Ladies, You Don’t Need To Wear Scarf

Do you have to wear a headscarf in Turkey? was one of the first questions I Googled right after I clicked ‘buy’ on my airline tickets. Even though I had a basic idea of rules in Turkey, I still wanted to be respectful and appropriately plan what to pack for Turkey. 

And the answer? No, you don’t have to wear a scarf or hijab in Turkey, as the country is very open in terms of religion. In fact, Turkey is officially a secular country (i.e. it doesn’t have an “official religion") with the majority of the population being Muslim (more than 98%!)

However, it’s important to be respectful when visiting religious sites, such as the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. There is a dress code for these kinds of tourist attractions: men should wear long pants, while women should cover their hair and arms, as well as wear something knee-length or longer. Many religious sites have clothes that you can borrow for free, but check in advance just in case. 

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