edit Turkey Travel Guide

• Relax at a Hamam - these famous baths are too beautiful and interesting to pass up
  
• Visit one of the country's many mosques and get a glimpse of Islam
• Hagia Sofia
  
• Istanbul - Turkey's largest city, the former capital of both the Ottoman and Byzantine Empires, and the only city in the world to straddle two continents
• Göreme - a town with fairy chimney rock formations, too cool to describe in words

Visa Requirements

Before visiting Turkey, check the E-Consulate website to determine if you need a visa.

Citizens of the following countries need visas, and can get a sticker-type entry visa at the point of entry into Turkey for a fee:

Valid for three months:

• UK (cost: US$20 / €15 / £10)
• US (cost: US$20)
• Canada (cost: €45)
• Australia (cost: $20 / €15)
• Ireland
• The Netherlands (cost: €10)
• Italy (cost: €10)
• Portugal (cost: €10)

Valid for two months:

• Ukraine (cost: US$20)

Valid for one month:

• Slovakia (cost: €10 or US$15)
• Azerbaijan, Moldova, Russia (cost: EUR10 or US$15)
• Serbia (cost: 10 euros)

German visitors can enter with their identity card (Personalausweis) unless they arrive at the non-Council of Europe land border crossings (i.e. to Iran, Iraq and Syria).

Customs and Immigration

In 2005 customs at Istanbul international airport was rearranged to the effect that you are now required to go through customs and "enter the country" there, rather than first travel to a regional destination and pass customs there. Luggage will generally travel to the final destination, but you may have to point it out to be sure it will be transported on. The information given by flight attendants in the incoming flight may not be adequate so until the procedure is changed (it is supposed to be only temporary) it is wise to inquire at Istanbul airport.

By plane

Turkey's main airport is Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport. Ankara's Esenboğa Airport handles a limited selection of international flights, and there are also direct charters to Mediterranean resort hot spots like Antalya in the peak summer and winter seasons.

Sabiha Gökçen Airport (SAW )

Of special interest to those traveling on low-cost carriers, this airport is situated some 50km east of Istanbul's Taksim Square. Airlines servicing this airport include EasyJet , Germanwings, Condor, THY (Turkish Airlines) and many more. Very interesting is the possibility of catching a plane from Emirate's budget carrier Air Arabia to Sharjah (United Arab Emirates) and from there to India for a very competitive price. All those low-cost options though, entail departure and arrival times in the middle of the night.

By car

From Central Europe getting to Turkey is not too difficult. In any case you'll need your International Insurance Card (Green Card). Pay attention to "TR" not being canceled and be sure your insurance is valid for the Asian part of Turkey, too. Otherwise you will have to buy Turkish car insurance.

By boat

Many people arrive in Bodrum on one of the hydro-foils or ferries that run from most of the close Greek islands into the port. A fairly pretty way to arrive. While many of the lines that originate and terminate in Istanbul have recently been discontinued (due to bankruptcy), there are still summer departures direct to Eastern Italy.

Other main towns on the Aegean coast have ferry connections with the nearest Greek islands as well. Trabzon, a major city on the eastern Black Sea coast has a regular line from/to Sochi on the Russian Black Sea coast. Mersin, Taşucu, Anamur and Alanya on the Mediterranean coast has ferry links with either Famagusta (with Mersin) or Kyrenia (with others) in Northern Cyprus.

By train

You can still travel from Europe to Turkey by train, although these days this is more of historical or perhaps even romantic interest than fast or practical. The famed Orient Express from London now travels no further than Vienna, but you can take the daily TransBalkan from Budapest (Hungary) via Bucharest (Romania), a two-night journey with a scheduled 3-hour stop in Bucharest. 1st/2nd class sleepers and couchettes are available, but the train lacks a restaurant car so stock up on supplies. From/to Greek stations there are two daily services, from Istanbul to Pythion every morning and from Istanbul to Thessaloniki every night. There are also daily trains to Istanbul from Sofia (Bulgaria).

Turkey is in Zone G of Inter Rail along with Greece, Italy and Slovenia.

There are also once-weekly services from Istanbul to Aleppo and Damascus in Syria, Tabriz and Tehran in Iran.

Economy

Banking

Currency

On January 1, 2005, Turkey adopted the New Turkish Lira (Yeni Türk Lirası or YTL, currency code TRY), at a rate of 1 new lira to 1,000,000 old lira. 1 New Turkish Lira is divided into 100 new kuruşes (yeni kuruş), which is abbreviated by ykr or simply kr.

Banknote nominations are in 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 liras, whereas coin nominations are in 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 kuruşes and 1 lira.

1 Euro = 1.7620 new lira (as of May 29, 2007)

US$1 = 1.3326 new lira (as of May 29, 2007)

Credit Cards

Tax

Tipping

Shopping

Costs

Holidays and Celebrations

Official holidays

• Jan 1: New Year's Day

National holidays

• Apr 23: National Sovereignty and Children's Day (anniversary of the establishment of the Turkish Grand National Assembly)
• May 19: Atatürk Commemoration and Youth & Sports Day (the arrival of Atatürk in Samsun, and the beginning of the War of Independence)
• Aug 30: Victory Day (victory over invading forces in 1922).
• Oct 29: Republic Day (anniversary of the declaration of the Turkish Republic)

Religious holidays

• Seker Bayrami: Three-day festival during which sweets are eaten to celebrate the end of the fast of Ramadan.
• Kurban Bayrami: Four-day festival when sacrificial sheep are slaughtered and their meat distributed to the poor.

The dates of these religious festivals change according to the Muslim lunar calendar and thus occur 10-11 days (the exact difference between Gregorian and Lunar calendars is 10 days and 21 hrs) earlier each year. According to this; Seker Bayrami will be celebrated on 23-24-25 October 2006, and 12-13-14 October 2007, and 30 September-1-2 October 2008. Kurban Bayrami will be celebrated on 31 December 2006-1-2-3 January 2007, and 20-21-22-23 December 2007, and 8-9-10-11 December 2008.

The most important holiday in Turkey is the fasting month of Ramadan, known in Turkish as Ramazan.

Language

Types of Restaurants

Types of Food

Etiquette

Drinks

Phones

International country code of Turkey is 90.

Internet

“Internet-cafés” or “net-cafés” are available even in small towns. Most, if not all, have good DSL connections, and hourly price for connection is about more or less 1 YTL. Most, if not all, of these internet-cafés also have cd-writers which are avaible for anyone who makes an additional payment.

• Hamam - If you haven't been to one, you've missed one of life's great experiences and never been clean. You can catch your inner peace with history and water in a bath (hamam). See hamams in Istanbul.

• Bird flu - There have been reports of an outbreak of avian influenza in Turkey, with 12 reported cases with 4 deaths (as of February 2006) in rural areas and villages - none of them in Istanbul or any major tourist city. The virus mainly affects birds and cross-infection to humans is still relatively rare. It usually occurs where people have been in close contact with infected animals. The World Health Organization has a website on the bird flu and does not recommend any restrictions on travel to any areas affected by avian influenza. WHO recommends however, that "travellers to affected areas should avoid contact with live animal markets and poultry farms, and any free-ranging or caged poultry." There is no evidence that properly cooked poultry or poultry products can be a source of infection. You may consider taking your regular "human" flu shot before travelling, as it reduces opportunities for the virus to reassort during co-infection of a human with both avian and human influenza viruses.

• Water safety - However tempting it may be on a hot day, try to avoid water from public water tanks and fountains (şadırvan), frequently found in the vicinity of mosques. Also, though tap water is always chlorinated, it is better to drink only bottled water. Supermarkets always provide the same brands of water cheaper than kiosks or little stalls. If you have no chance of finding bottled water –for example, in wilderness, up in the eastern highlands- always boil your water; if you have no chance of boiling the water, use chlorine tablets –which can be provided from pharmacies in big cities-, or devices like LifeStraw. Also avoid swimming in fresh water, which you are not sure about its purity, and at seawater in or near the big cities –unless a beach which is declared safe to swim exists. And lastly, afterall, be cautious about water, not paranoid.

• Public restrooms - Though many main squares and streets in the cities have a public restroom, if you cannot manage to find one, look for the nearest mosque, where you will see a public restroom in a corner of, or below its courtyard. Despite the fact that there is no shortage of cheap toilet papers anywhere in the country, however, you are unlikely to find toilet paper in almost any of the public restrooms (except lavatories of restaurants –including the road restaurants, hotels and most of the cafés and bars, of course). Instead, you are likely to find bidét or a faucet. So it is a good idea to have a roll of toilet paper in your backpack during your walkings for sightseeing.

• Pharmacies - There are pharmacies (eczane in Turkish) in all cities and many towns. Pharmacies are open from 08:30 until 19:00 (07:00 pm), however every town has at least one drugstore on duty overnight (nöbetçi eczane), all other pharmacies in the town usually display its name, address and telephone numbers on their windows.

Crime

Emergency

Dial 112 from any telephone, anywhere, free of charge for an ambulance.

Police

Dial 155 for police, from any telephone without a charge. However, in rural areas there is not police coverage, so dial 156 in such a place for gendarme, a military unit for rural security.

Though slightly off topic be advised to carry passport or other means of identification at all times. One may not be requested to show them for ages, then all of a sudden a minibus is checked by the traffic police (or the military, particularly in Eastern Turkey), or one runs into an officer of the law with time on his hand, and one must show papers. Hotels may request you to hand your passport in until you paid the bill, which puts you into an awkward situation. Referring to the police always made them hand the passport back, once the registration procedure was finalized. Showing a personal visiting card, one or two credit cards or knowing the address of a respectable hotel may solve the no-papers situation, but any self-respecting officer will tell you that you are in the wrong, and will be sorry next time. If treated politely however police and military can be quite friendly and even offer rides to the next city (no joke intended).

Fire Department

In case of a fire, dial 110.

Hospitals

Gays and lesbians

Illicit drugs and prostitution

Smoking

By plane

By train

By car

By bus

By thumb