11 Turkey Travel Tips: Things You Should Definitely Avoid
The good news is that these mistakes are easy to prevent. There is no need to learn everything about Turkish customs before the trip. There is no need to remember when to bargain, when not to bargain, how to eat, what not to drink, which markets are not worth visiting and which are. Just remember that bargaining, shopping, street food, Istanbul transport and some so-called “good deals” require some preliminary knowledge. These Turkey travel tips will help you prepare properly.
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Avoid Traveling During Major Religious Holidays
If your vacation dates are flexible, it would be wise to check the Turkish holidays calendar before making flight and hotel bookings.
Ramadan Bayram, Eid al-Fitr, and Kurban Bayram, Eid al-Adha are important holidays that are celebrated throughout Turkey. This means that traveling habits will be different during this period.
It will be much harder to get domestic flights and intercity buses as tickets might be sold out before this period and it will be more expensive to stay at accommodation in popular destinations.
One more thing that tourists often underestimate is the closure of some smaller businesses because of holidays when owners and employees visit their relatives.
It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t travel to Turkey during this period at all. Popular destinations like Istanbul, Antalya, Izmir etc. remain active during Bayram, and celebrating a national holiday in the country can be quite an experience. The point is that you should know that you are visiting the country during the special period, not just another ordinary week.
To travel to Turkey during the quietest period, check the dates of Ramadan Bayram and Kurban Bayram in the year you want to travel and build your itinerary around them.
The busiest period doesn’t necessarily start and end on the holidays’ dates. The point is that people often travel even before and after the holiday period, so demand on transport remains high around this period.
Turkey Travel Tips: Learn How Bargaining Really Works
Bargaining is the part of the experience in traditional markets, but it isn’t a universal Turkish custom.
When you are in a market or bazaar, negotiating on souvenirs, textiles, leather goods, or similar products is normal. In supermarkets, pharmacies, restaurants, shopping malls, or retail stores, bargaining isn’t acceptable.
When bargaining, you should start by asking if there is a better price and continue from there. A 20-30% discount from the initial tourist-market price can be a starting point for bargaining, but there is no universal discount percentage because the type of the product, its price, the location and season matter.
Don’t make bargaining a competition for you. Smile, make a reasonable offer and be ready to walk away calmly if the price is too high for you.
Be especially careful about exaggerated offers of enormous discounts. The product that is initially priced at a very high price and then discounted isn’t necessarily a bargain.
In a market, first ask the price without showing how much you need this product. If you like something, ask the vendor for his/her best price, make a reasonable offer and remain friendly. The best way of negotiation is to remain calm, not aggressive.
Do Not Assume the Grand Bazaar Is the Cheapest Place to Shop
The Grand Bazaar is worth visiting, but visiting it and shopping there are two different things.
It is one of the major tourist attractions in Istanbul and one of the historic landmarks of the city, so visiting it is a great experience. However, it is also one of the most tourist-oriented shopping destinations in the city, which means that prices in it can depend on the location, presentation, and visitor flow.
You can find there some great products, but you shouldn’t assume that the first price that you will hear is the best one in Istanbul.
If you want to buy some souvenirs at local prices, it’d be wise to compare several shops and check the markets outside the major tourist zones. Istanbul’s a huge variety of places for shopping, from neighborhood markets to specialized shopping zones. Knowing this is one of the most useful Turkey travel tips for first-time visitors.
The difference is that Grand Bazaar is perfect for a visit and for exploring traditional crafts, but it is not necessarily the best place to search for the cheapest prices.
The Grand Bazaar itself takes much longer to visit than it looks on the map. Instead of trying to complete a shopping list as fast as possible, allow yourself to explore this place and compare the offers. You will probably enjoy it more when you stop regarding it as a regular supermarket.
Turkish Food Is More than Kebabs
If your Turkey vacation involves only kebabs, you are missing 90% of the country’s food culture.
Turkey has a variety of cuisine that changes from region to region. You can taste stuffed mussels, balik ekmek, pide, lahmacun, simit, kokorec, kumpir, borek and many types of meze in Istanbul.
Official tourism materials of Turkey mention the diverse food culture of the country including the street food, pastries, stuffed mussels and regional cuisine that is influenced by Anatolian, Balkan, Mediterranean, Caucasian cuisines and others.
You should try a traditional Turkish breakfast in a restaurant instead of just buying a pastry every day because a traditional breakfast can consist of cheese, olives, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, bread, jams, honey and tea.
Don’t forget about Turkish soups – it is a popular meal, especially in the evening or after a late night.
Leave some space for dessert such as baklava, sutlac, kunefe, lokum.
Turkey Travel Tips: Be Selective With Street Food
Street food is a wonderful part of any travel to Turkey, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that every stall sells great food. Midye dolma, stuffed mussels with rice and lemon, is a typical street food in Istanbul. Kokorec is a street food for tourists who are ready to eat something more exotic.
When choosing a stall, check the turnover and the basic level of hygiene – it is better to choose a stall with constantly selling food than one with a lonely cart where the food has been sitting for a long time.
Don’t buy food that is too cheap just because it is cheap.
Regarding seafood, avoid buying anything that looks poorly stored, exposed to the excess of the heat or unhygienically handled. When you doubt, move away and choose another place to eat – Istanbul has enough restaurants to choose.
Plan Your Vacation Around Istanbul Rush Hour
It is better to learn about Istanbul rush hour before the beginning of the vacation.
Istanbul is a huge city, and the distance that looks short on the map can become much longer when roads and public transport are overloaded. The metro, trams, buses, and ferries are the ways to move across the city, but rush hour periods are particularly busy.
As a rule of thumb, try not to plan your major sightseeing around 7:30-9:30 AM and 5-7 PM from Monday to Friday.
It doesn’t mean that you should avoid public transport. On the contrary, Istanbul public transport is one of the best ways to move across the city comparing to being in a car.
Instead, plan your busiest periods of the day wisely. Stay near the sightseeing spot, have breakfast before rush hour, visit some indoor attraction or go for a walk in the neighborhood until the crowds thin.
The lost time isn’t only the time of the trip itself. Being in the crowded transport means longer time spent in it, longer time on transferring and the difficulty of moving through the stations with your luggage.
Leave extra time for your trips, especially if you have timed entrance to the museum, transfer to the airport or restaurant reservations.
Be Careful With Ultra-Cheap Day Tours
Day tour advertised at unbelievably cheap price is attractive for many tourists who try to cut costs.
However, the problem is that the unbelievably cheap price can be achieved by putting many tourists in one transport, spending a little time on every place of interest and earning extra money by shopping stops or commissions.
Not every cheap tour is bad. Sometimes a tour is a good value for the money. The red flag is an unrealistically cheap price, huge groups and an itinerary which covers too many places in one day.
If a tour guarantees too many places of interest for almost nothing, ask how much time you will spend on each place.
Smaller group can make a difference as you will have more opportunities, less time wasted on waiting and the possibility to ask more questions.
A guided private tour can be worth its money especially for historically important destinations as you pay for the information, not for transport.
Before booking a tour, ask the exact itinerary, group size, meal, entrance fees and number of shopping stops.
Check Suspiciously Cheap Five-Star Hotels
A five-star label shouldn’t be the only factor that affects the hotel choice.
It is especially important for resort destinations where the hotel can be presented as a part of package deal and become dramatically cheaper in comparison with similar hotels. It doesn’t mean that the cheap hotel is a bad one, but you should check it.
See the list of the Best hotels in istanbul…
Look at the recent reviews of the hotel. Look for complaints about the cleanliness, maintenance, food quality, noise, air conditioning and the difference between the advertised and received room.
Also check the hotel location – you will see that the hotel can be technically located in Antalya or Alanya but be far from the places that you want to visit.
Have Turkish Lira in Cash
Cards are wide-spread payment instruments in Turkey, especially in big hotels, restaurants, supermarkets and other establishments. However, having some Turkish liras is always smart. This is one of those Turkey travel tips that saves you trouble at small vendors.
Small vendors, neighborhood businesses and some casual restaurants prefer cash, especially for small purchases.
Don’t assume that all sellers accept euro or dollar. Even when they accept foreign currencies, the exchange rate can be disadvantageous for you.
Keep some banknotes to use for smaller purchases. It’s much more convenient to pay for a small snack or drink.
Turkey Travel Tips: Understand Tipping in Turkey
Tipping is a usual practice in Turkey, but the amount of money depends on the service and the place.
In restaurants, 10% is a usual amount of tip because the service isn’t included. For particularly good service, you can leave more. Overall the tipping is expected in good services.
Don’t assume that service is already included in the bill, The restaurants, cafes, diners can’t add a compulsory tip/service fee to your bill.
Cash tip only! Don’t leave a small mountain of coins just because they are in your pocket. That isn’t appropriate. Considering the lira and euro conversion the lira coins mean humiliation in every case. Small banknotes again mean nothing and euro or dollar coins aren’t exchangeable. So coins are not for tipping !
Don’t Make Water a Big Issue
The advice about drinking tap water in Turkey is often exaggerated.
Many Turkish cities have treated water that meets the standards of public water and you can drink it. Some people prefer bottled or filtered water because of taste, minerals or local infrastructure, but it isn’t necessary.
You can drink tap water in Turkey if you have a stable stomach, but it’s better to drink bottled water if you’ve problems with the stomach or you aren’t used to the water system in this area.
Local Habits That Make Turkey Easy to Travel
The main difference between the stressful travel and smooth trip to Turkey isn’t in the itinerary, but in knowing how to behave in the situations.
Be patient in shops. The Turkish hospitality can be warm and talkative, and the purchase can last longer than you expected.
Dress appropriately when visiting mosques. Cover shoulders and knees when needed and women should have a scarf to cover head before entering the mosque. Shoes should be removed before entering the praying place.
Plan extra time for the trip around Istanbul instead of taking the map’s estimate. Istanbul has hills, crowded sidewalks, ferries, bridges and big stations, and ten minutes map estimate can be longer in reality.
Don’t try to visit all landmarks of the city in one day.
And remember that Turkey isn’t one single travel destination. Istanbul, Cappadocia, the Aegean coast, Antalya, the Black Sea and southeastern cities have different rhythms, food and customs.
Turkey becomes a lot easier to visit if you know how the rules really work. Try not to travel on holidays, bargain only where it is expected, compare prices, take care about the quality of the street food, choose your time of traveling in Istanbul depending on the commuting traffic and study hotels thoroughly. Following these Turkey travel tips turns a stressful trip into an easy one.
But above all, try not to travel around Turkey as if it was one giant tourist attraction. Eat what the locals eat, explore the city outside its famous streets and leave room in your schedule to find out something unplanned.
