Category: Useful Tidbits

These tips for visas, money, tipping, visiting mosques, dress, and safety will help you prepare for your trip to Turkey and let you know what to expect while you are in the country.

Turkey has a great deal to offer its visitors: a rich culture, history that spans from the dawn of civilization through to Greeks, Romans, Ottomans and modern-day Turks, diverse areas of geographical beauty, friendly people, and one of the world’s best cuisines.  There is so much to see and experience in Turkey that narrowing down…

If you are planning to visit more of Turkey than just Istanbul you are going to need to leverage some mode(s) of inter-city travel.  I like to fly between cities whenever possible – its the most efficient way of getting around a big country and most of the big cities have serviceable airports.  Inter-city buses are…

One of the best things about traveling to Turkey is getting the opportunity to eat non-stop Turkish food.  This post contains some general tips for navigating the Turkish culinary landscape.    

Ahhh – souvenir shopping!  One of my favorite activities while I’m on vacation.  If you are a souvenir shopaholic like me, Turkey will not disappoint!  There are plenty of goods both big and small, edible and inedible for you to bring home from Turkey with you.  Just don’t forget to leave room in your suitcase…

Mastering a few basic Turkish phrases will make your stay in Turkey much easier.  Although English is widely spoken in most tourist destinations (and taught in school to all students), the locals will appreciate your effort and any Turkish will help you with taxi drivers who rarely speak any English. 

The Turkish ministry of tourism recently developed a series of museum passes which will grant you entry into most of the government-run museums for a fixed price over a set time period.  The passes can potentially save you money, but perhaps their biggest benefit is that they allow you to skip the ticket lines!  That…

To ensure the most comfort and enjoyment from your trip to Turkey, make sure you bring along these seven key items!  

Visiting a hamam is at the top of many tourists must-do lists when they visit Turkey.  The Turkish bath, or hamam, is an ages-old tradition with its roots in the ancient Roman bath complexes.  During Ottoman times, you could find at least one hamam in just about every Turkish city: in Istanbul you will find…

You may know that you definitely want to visit the coast while you are in Turkey but you might be trying to figure out which town or part of the coast to visit.  Below is my take on the key attributes of each of the main beach options in Turkey.

I judge Turkish restrooms all the time.  Public Turkish restrooms are a topic of conversation with my family in a way that restrooms in the US almost never are.  Our default expectation in many places is that the bathroom will be horrible so we are excited and amazed when public restrooms defy expectations.  To make matters worse, you…