Currency used in Turkey

A

ACA

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Morning all, Mr ACA went to the bank this morning to get currency for our up coming hols and was told that we'd need £10 sterling to enter the country. He was also told that euro is widely accepted.

Can anyone advise whether we need sterling to get in the country and if so is it £10 each or just per party? Also whether we need to bother changing any money....cheers
 
You can pay in local currency and euro (although some of the guidebooks are ambiguous on this point and imply that you have to pay in sterling. Make sure you go to the booth to pay this tax before getting into the (huge) queue for the actual passport check. We didn't and then got to the front of the queue and were turned away to get the tourist stamp before rejoining the queue (argh). Talking about Istanbul here though - just realised that you may not be flying into there.

I would deffo get local currency though as you'll need it for smaller amounts plus you get a better price with local currency as the exchange rate used in shops for euro and dollars leans in favour of the trader, unsurprisingly.

Sprite
 
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Thanx a mill for the replies, you've both put my mind at ease, thanx again.
 
I was in Turkey many years ago and at the time, the visa had to be paid for in sterling ( it was a fiver at the time). No local currency accepted and no change given !
As WaterSprite has been there recently, it obviously can now be paid in Turkish lira, bit this is probably why guide books say that it must be sterling.
 
I rang Sunworld offices in Turkey and they said that it was either £10 or €15 per person.....bit cheesed actually as I had no idea about this before and the holiday has cost enough already without having another €45!

Unable to get any Turkish Lira either, been into AIB and BoI and neither place stock it or will order it. They advised getting it out of the cashpoint over there. Luckily there's quite a few cashpoints in Bitez, so we won't be reliant on using Euro for more than about 3-4 hours.
 
£10 or €15 per person
Click to expand...

Thıs ıs for persons holdıng a UK passport. It ıs [broken link removed]for Irısh people for a three month multıple entry vısa. I had the pleasure of payıng thıs yesterday.

As an asıde- I flew wıth Turkısh Aırlınes who were very good
 
All three of us do hold UK passports, (even tho our daughter is entitled to an Irish one if she wants - as she was born in Holles St.) I haven't changed them for Irish despite living here for 17 years, just in case we ever fancied going to Oz or the States - thought it might prove less hassle with a UK passport.

We're flying with Onur Air - any reports about them?
 
I flew with Onur Air last year from Shannon. Probably the worst airline I've ever flown with! Bring some lunch with you as on my flight they were very reluctant to serve food & the choice was very poor. They were much more interested in selling duty free - obviously this is where the staff make their commissions !

Having said that, they got me there in one piece. Don't expect much & you'll be fine.

Visa is €10 for Irish & £10 for British. I brought Turkish Lira with me but found they'd do a better deal there for Euro. Euro was widely accepted in restaurants, shops etc.

It's good value out there & presumably the sun is shining.....unlike here.

Enjoy.
 
Thanx Perplexed.

Still a bit confused about one thing - can I pay for the visa in Euro even tho its a UK passport? On the link posted by Ontour it gives prices in Euro, Sterling and Dollars.
 
The rule they seem to operate is UK passport holders need sterling, Irish passport holders need Euro.

The last time I was there they would not accept Sterling as I had an Irish Passport. The people in the visa office seem to make up the rules as they go along.
 
I don't think the passport makes a difference to the actual currency you pay - you can pay in either Sterling or Euro (and I thought Lira as well, although could be wrong on this point). The price may be slightly different (UK passport = £10; Irish passport = €10). Don't worry - they'll find a way to take your cash! If you have Sterling, maybe shove some into your wallet before you go, but I wouldn't go out of my way to change Euro into Sterling just for this purpose.

Sprite

p.s. - oops! Overlapped with Bond there- I could be totally wrong here and apologise - we paid in Euro when we went (on Irish passports)
 
Thanks for all the advice. I think to be on the safe side I'll get £30....I'll have euro anyway but at least having the sterling will give me one less thing to worry about.

Thanx again to all.
 
it shouldn't make a difference, but to avoid confusion at the airport (and genreally anywhere in Turkey lol) go with the easiest and most obvious solution - so if you passport is UK, then pay in sterling!

As for what money to bring - dont bring much in euro/sterling. just enough to get by - then take the rest out at an atm - this is the easiest way I find. Otherwise you end up either bringing a lot of lira in cash with you - and carrying a lot of cash in any currency is never a good idea. Or you bring sterling/euro and then end up chaning it there anyway!

And as for not charging commission over there like all the signs say - twaddle! unless you exchange in a bank where you have an account you will pay a small commission -
(between 5-10 lira per 100 sterling/euro).

my advice is to bring yor atm card, take out a decent amount to last you a couple of days, take it out in local currency. when you spend it go back to atm - much better than carrying wads of cash in any currency around, and comission wise it's about the same price anyway.
 
Using a preloaded CC is probably more cost effective than using Cirrus etc. This issue and the various pros and cons of each option are discussed at length elsewhere.
 
Bumping an old thread to ask for some updated info on what's already here please!

Going to Turkey in 5 weeks time, and as ACA reported a few years ago, I find I can't buy Turkish Lira here.

I'll be on an organised tour, and will be in several locations during the holiday (many for 1 night only), so don't want to have to rely on getting to an ATM for cash. It's likely that I'll have to exchange money in or close to the hotels.

The bank staff recommended bringing US Dollars - is this the best cash option, or can I just bring Euro and exchange them as needed? I have some US Dollar travellers cheques - is it easy to change them in Turkish hotels?

Thanks!
 
Euros can be easily exchanged everywhere. I don't think they will change US Dollar TCs. A Turkish bank would though.
 
Thanks to you both, you've saved me one set of currency transaction fees, no need to change my euro to US$ then!
 
I exchanged my Euros at the Turkish post office, good exchange rate, no commission. Never rely on one type of payment ie. if your laser does not work have another method of obtaining money
 
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