This list of the best tips for traveling to Turkey, it will help you prepare your trip to an amazing country, connecting bridge between East and West, which we are sure, will make you fall in love as soon as you step on it.
In addition to its great tourist attractions, such as the natural wonders of Cappadocia or Pamukkale, cities to get lost among its bazaars and mosques such as Istanbul, archaeological sites of ancient Greek and Roman empires such as Ephesus or Pergamum, this country stands out for the great hospitality of its people and its excellent gastronomy.
Having as a reference our trip to Turkey in 15 days we have made a list of what we think are, the 10 essential tips for traveling to Turkey.
1. What is the best time?
The best time to travel to Turkey It is spring and autumn, when the weather is more pleasant and you avoid the hottest and coldest months. Keep in mind that in July and August, temperatures can exceed 40 degrees, although if your trip includes the beaches of the Mediterranean coast, it can also be a good time.
In case you can only travel in summer, we suggest you concentrate all visits during the first hours of the day, when the temperatures are still pleasant.
2. Security
After spending an unstable time with demonstrations, coup attempts and terrorist attacks, Turkey has once again achieved high tourism fees and conveys a sense of security. It must be taken into account that tourism is one of the great sources of income in the country and the government dedicates many resources and efforts to preserve the safety of tourists.
Whenever we talk about security, we must bear in mind that zero risk when traveling to Turkey or any country in the world does not exist, and normally this sense of insecurity is given by specific news from the media, which does not reflect the general situation of the country .
Common crime is not very common against tourists because of the high penalties that it entails, although it is necessary to watch with small scams, especially in taxis and backpack, purse and belongings in the most crowded markets or places.
In the end, we believe that using common sense and following a route through the most tourist places in the country, without logging into dangerous areas such as the borders with Syria or Iraq, is the key to making a trip to Turkey safe.
Turkey is a safe country
3. Requirements for entering Turkey
To enter the country you can use, interchangeably, your passport or ID, if you are Spanish. For other nationalities you should consult the page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of your country, to have all the information of entry to Turkey.
Something important is knowing that being Spanish will not exempt you from arriving at the airport, you have to do the visa, if you have not previously processed it online through this official website.
The visa is valid for 90 days and is priced at $ 35 per person. Also note that certain nationalities do not need a visa.
As an extra and although not mandatory, one of the best tips for traveling to Turkey is always carry one or several copies of the passport on paper and another in the cloud.
Passport
4. Vaccines and travel insurance
There is no compulsory vaccine to travel to Turkey, although we always recommend making an appointment at an International Vaccination Center and carrying the book with the vaccines you are wearing.
In the cities there are pharmacies, hospitals and private clinics of quality, which have agreements with the insurers, although to avoid the high cost of any operation or treatment in any of these centers, it is advisable to have the best travel insurance for Turkey possible.
We always travel insured with Mondo, with whom we carry a totally adequate insurance to the needs that we will have during the trip. Hiring your insurance here with Mondo, just for being a Street Travelers reader, you have a 5% discount.
In addition to travel insurance it is advisable to follow a series of precautions such as drinking bottled water, carrying sunscreen and eating always boiled vegetables.
5. How to start the trip
Most trips through Turkey start at the arrivals terminal of Istanbul Atatürk International Airport, which has direct flights from the main cities of the world. Another option is to catch a flight with a stopover that will take you to Antalya, from where you have easy access to the southern beaches, or Kayseri, if you want to start the trip visiting Cappadocia.
We recommend starting the trip to Turkey by spending 2 to 4 days in Istanbul to enjoy some of the best cities in the world and acclimatize to the country's way of life. To have a first contact with the city, it can be interesting to book a guided tour in Spanish for your essentials or this free tour of Istanbul Free !.
In addition, to make the transfer from the airport to the hotel, if you travel on your own, you can take the subway, bus, taxi or book this comfortable transfer, in which a driver will wait for you at the exit of the airport with your name.
Get to know Istanbul first, one of the best tips for traveling to Turkey
6. Money exchange
To get Turkish liras, one euro equals 6 lira, the best option is to get money at ATMs, rather than choosing exchange houses or banks. If you do not carry a bank card that does not charge you commissions for taking money out of Spain, we recommend changing at city offices, rather than at airports, where the commission is usually higher.
To avoid paying commissions and always having the current change, we recommend using the N26 card to pay and the Bnext and Revolut cards to get money at the ATMs. They are the ones we use, They are free and will save you a lot.
You can find more information in this article about the best cards to travel without commissions.
It is also important to always carry low value coins in your wallet, for the usual tips in restaurants and hotels.
Turkish Lira
7. How to have internet in Turkey?
If you want to have internet in turkey, something very necessary today, especially considering the amount of applications we use in our trips and the need to be in contact with our family and friends, you can choose several options:
- Buy a SIM card at the airport or at a phone shop in the city.
- Buy one Holafly SIM card, with which you will have internet from the moment you land, saving you all the time of the negotiations and making the whole process to have internet in Turkey much more comfortable, fast and easy.
In this case, with the Holafly SIM you will have several Gb to surf the Internet (depending on the option you choose), they will send it to you for free at home, you will keep your WhatsApp number and you will have assistance service in Spanish. You can buy your Holafly prepaid SIM card here with a 5% discount for being our reader.
More information on the Holafly post, the best prepaid SIM card for travel
8. Travel to Turkey for free or organized
Turkey is a country that can be explored perfectly by free, renting a car or using public transport such as bus and train.
The tourist route that is usually done through the country is circular and lasts approximately 15 days, starting in Istanbul and ending in Cappadocia. You can take a trip such as the return from Cappadocia to Istanbul by night bus or by internal flight.
We always recommend renting a car to have the freedom to stop where and when you want, and not have to depend on taxis to reach certain tourist points, with the usual bargains and anger.
In the particular case of Turkey, driving can be very stressful in big cities like Istanbul, where traffic is chaotic and the law of the strongest prevails. In the rest of the country driving is much easier, although you always have to be cautious at crossings and traffic lights. Putting this in value, we believe that if you are not very used to this type of driving or want to travel more relaxed, it is best to combine public transport with taxis, or save time, and often money, with organized circuits.
The advantage of travel to organized turkey, as happens in Egypt, is that travel agencies get better prices in quality hotels than an individual and you will also have a guide in Spanish, which will explain the history of each interesting place you visit.
A great option is to fly to Istanbul on your own and book in advance one of the most recommended circuits for travelers, who leave from this city, such as this 7-day tour of the best of Turkey or this 6-day tour that includes Cappadocia , Pamukkale and Ephesus.
Ephesus
9. The essential visits
The list of essential places to visit in Turkey is endless, especially in the area closest to Europe and the Mediterranean coast.
If you start the trip to Turkey through Istanbul, do not miss two of the most impressive mosques in the world, such as the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, or stop touring the Grand Bazaar or take a Bosphorus Cruise.
After completing the list of things to see and do in Istanbul, you can head to Pergamon, an ancient Greek city located about 6 hours by car, which we are sure, will not leave you indifferent.
The next stop on the route will be Ephesus, another Greek city that reached its peak in Roman times and where you can see the facade of the impressive Library of Celsus.
You can finish this part of the route with a visit to the archaeological site of Aphrodisias, the best preserved Greek ruins in the country and World Heritage Sites, which will be the icing on this stage in Turkey.
Within an hour by bus or car of Aphrodisias is Pamukkale, a natural wonder known for its white terraced pools on the side of a hill, which are one of the most photographed places in the country.
After Pamukkale, the route continues in the direction of the Mediterranean Coast with a visit to the Lycian Tombs of the 4th century BC, excavated in the rock, and to Aspendo, one of the best preserved Roman theaters in the world.
To make a small stop on the route, one of the best tips for traveling to Turkey, is to spend a few days relaxing on the beaches of Antalya, located between these last two sites.
To end the trip to Turkey nothing better than spending your last days enjoying the incredible landscapes of Cappadocia.
If you have more time you can reach the Mount Nemrut of 2,150 meters of altitude, where the giant heads that King Antiochus I built in 62 BC are located.
10. Cappadocia
Traveling to Turkey and not visiting Cappadocia is almost unforgivable. This lunar landscape, located in the center of the country and declared a World Heritage Site, is considered one of the best natural wonders in the world where you can enjoy strange rock formations that dot this place and have been created by erosion during millions of years, until you get the famous fairy chimneys.
During a route through Cappadocia you can see churches carved into the rock in the area of the Göreme Open Air Museum, underground cities such as Kaymakli and Derinkuyu, spectacular viewpoints such as Göreme, animal-shaped formations in the Devrent Valley and castles excavated in the rock like that of Uchisar and that of Ortahisar.
One of the most essential experiences in Cappadocia is to book a balloon ride at dawn, where you will enjoy views that you will never forget and that we are sure will be the perfect icing on the trip.
To get to Cappadocia, if you don't have a car, you can take a night bus from Antalya that takes about 9 hours or from the Istanbul bus station in Esenler, which takes more than 12 hours.
A faster and more comfortable way to get from Istanbul to Cappadocia is to catch a flight to one of the closest airports such as Nevsehir and Kayseyri, and from there a bus to Goreme, the gateway to this wonder.
If you do not go on an organized circuit, we recommend you rent a car to visit all the tourist points of Cappadocia.
If you only have one day it may be interesting to book this express tour by plane from Istanbul with a guide in Spanish, considered one of the best excursions in Istanbul.
Cappadocia
More tips for traveling to Turkey
Other of the best tips for traveling to Turkey They are:
- In addition to getting fed up with kebabs, don't forget to try Turkish coffee, baklava sweets, meze, dolma or midye dolm, authentic pleasures of Turkish cuisine.
- In restaurants it is usual to give a 10% tip, keep that in mind to thank the service.
- The plugs in Turkey are the same as in Spain, so you won't need an adapter.
- Although in Turkey the official language is Turkish, in hotels and tourist places you can communicate perfectly in English.
- To enter the mosques, women must wear a dress adequate and handkerchief to cover the head.
- If you need to take a taxi, it is best to opt for the yellow ones and negotiate a fixed price before they put the meter and lengthen the route.
- Haggle for every item you want to buy and see several stalls before deciding on one, especially at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. Of course, as we always say, bargaining within a balance is the basis, without pretending that the seller loses money.
Turkish eye
Do you want to organize a trip to Turkey?
Get it here:
The best offers of Flights to Turkey here
The best hotels at the best prices in Turkey here
Get € 35 for your reservation with AirBnb here
Book your travel insurance with a 5% discount here
Book the best tours and excursions in Turkey in Spanish here
Book your transfer Airport⇆Istanbul here
Istanbul guide in one day
Rent your car in Turkey at the best price here
The best offers of Flights to Turkey here
The best hotels at the best prices in Turkey here
Get € 35 for your reservation with AirBnb here
Book your travel insurance with a 5% discount here
Book the best tours and excursions in Turkey in Spanish here
Book your transfer Airport⇆Istanbul here
Istanbul guide in one day
Rent your car in Turkey at the best price hereIf you feel like helping us expand the list 10 essential tips for traveling to Turkey, add yours in the comments.
