Traveling to Türkiye - Up, Up, and Away

What I love most about travel is how it opens my eyes and gives me an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.  Having never been to “Türkiye” (the official name, now referred to in my blog by its more-recognized name: Turkey), our familiarity of it was slim to none.  Istanbul was the only Turkish city I had heard of; I knew it had a really beautiful mosque.  Cappadocia?  Never heard of it – until we were in Egypt hoping to do a hot air balloon ride (which was canceled due to weather conditions) and Christopher told me Cappadocia is the #1 most popular place in the world to ride in a hot air balloon.  Of course I had to google it.  Seeing pictures of its unique rock formations, I immediately added it to our bucket list! 

Our two-week itinerary through Turkey

Large and diverse, Turkey offers a variety of tantalizing places for travelers to explore.  I found myself craving to visit the country that Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, and Ottomans have all previously called home.  Imagine my delight when I found out not only is there more to see than just Istanbul, we could spend two full weeks throughout Turkey with plenty to do and see!  It is quite a large country (the 37th largest) and is 13% bigger than Texas (or two times the size of Germany, if that reference is more helpful to you).  Starting in Istanbul, our itinerary explores the stunning Hagia Sophia mosque and Blue Mosque, then flies us down to Turkey's southwest, where we drive along the Turquoise Coast.  After another flight, we end our adventure in Cappadocia, crossing our fingers that the wind-gods will grant us an opportunity to float over the remarkable caves and fairy chimneys.  

The size of Turkey compared to the United States.  (Picture from Wikimedia Commons) 

After booking the trip ten months ago, shortly after Turkey’s devasting 7.8 earthquake (2/6/23), I have researched quite a bit about traveling there.  There are so many tidbits I’ve stumbled across.  I will share some highlights in case it is on your travel list!

When is the best time to go to Turkey?  Most travel is best during its shoulder season, the couple of months before and after summer.  For Turkey, the high season is the summertime.  Prices, crowds, and temps soar.  I was looking at the March timeframe, but Christopher’s Turkish co-worker said it is still cold and rainy, which are my least favorite travel conditions.  Though it could be exciting, we also didn’t want to travel during Ramadan.  The timing of Islam’s holy month of fasting follows the lunar calendar, and this year fell from mid-March to mid-April.  I thought we were missing it completely but recently discovered that it ends with Eid; right now there are millions of Turks traveling across the country for the nine-day holiday.  And we arrive for its last 24 hours.

Do Americans need a visa?  When I booked the trip last year, the answer was yes.  Since the visa is only good for 90-days, it is advised you don’t purchase the visa prior to 14 days of arrival - which was when I discovered that, as of January 2024, US citizens no longer need a $50 visa!  That’s great news!  In case you are questioning the new policy, you can go to the official website and it won’t let you buy one.

One of my go-to travel websites for lodging, Booking.com is blocked in Turkey.  You get very suspicious and figure it out pretty quickly when you discover booking.com’s nightly rates for over $1,000.  You can make your reservations on other booking websites, but I managed to find hotels that skirt the country’s policy by using a VPN.  Note: When you are inside of Turkey, you can access Booking.com but you will not be able to make any Turkish reservations from it.

Turkey uses WhatsApp.  If you don’t already have and use it, get it now!  It is so convenient, and I love that they all default to using it to communicate.

Climbing to 67.07% in February, the inflation in Turkey is insane right now and the Turkish Lira is in the toilet.  The leaders of the volatile pack are restaurants and hotels, which surged to 94.5%.  At the start of Ramadan, prices in the markets were up 50% over last year.  At 1500 ₺ (~$50), the tickets to Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace are double this year over last.  Expect the prices to be unstable and changing all the time!

There are a lot of travel blogs on Turkey.  If you travel independently and rely heavily on blogs for sightseeing ideas and tips like I do, just know that the bulk of them are outdated, shallow, and selling viator tours.  You’ll have to dig pretty deep to find useful information on the internet.  For Istanbul, I recommend Serhat Engul’s blog.  Taking pride in his site, he is reliable and current.  Note – in all transparency, I admit my one-and-done blog will soon be outdated, but you won’t find me duping you to believe it is constantly updated nor will I overwhelm you with ads or links to fund my travels.  (Hmmm maybe they are onto something.)

If nothing else, my research has reinforced my anticipation and excitement for the adventure we’ll be starting in just a few days.  I hope you travel along with us and enjoy!