Currency

[fivestarserv]

Do they accept British Stirling in Turkey? Is it better to use than Turkish Lira?

[SteveD]

If you are a British passport holder, you will need �10.00 in cash (Bank of England notes only) for your visa when you arrive. My wife and I went to Istanbul earlier this year and found that it is useful to have some Turkish money for small expenses but euros are widely accepted and are preferred to US dollars these days. Turkish money is VERY confusing because of the enormous numbers involved - for example, be careful not to confuse 500,000 lira notes with 5,000,000 lira notes. Haggle over prices almost everywhere. For example, when you are looking for a restaurant, you may be approached by a "tout" outside who wil show you the menu. Look at the bottom to check service charges, cover charges etc. Say you are not prepared to pay them and negotiate a price for the meal. We did this at the Fish Market and got a meal for two: three courses + 2 beers + coffee for �20.00 (the bill said "2 meals, special price �20"). You might also be approached by someone wanting to change euro coins into banknotes so that he can change them at the bank. I think that it is courteous to do this to help them. Because of recent terrorist incidents, tourist numbers to Turkey are down: they need our money and consequently are very open to price negotiation. Haggling is part of their culture anyway and is expected.