My husband and I will be travelling to Turkey in Sept. Do you recommend getting Turkish lira before leaving the U.S.? Or, do the locals prefer being paid with U.S. dollars or Euros? Also, how available are ATM machines in Turkey (we will be doing a 15 day organized tour)?
Posted by
Camarillo, California
3122 posts
ATMs are everywhere now, and most merchants are bit set up to accept anything but TL. Although some might take your euros or dollars, you probably won't get a very favorable exchange rate.
Posted by
Chicago, IL, USA
473 posts
ATMs are pretty plentiful, so I wouldn't worry about finding them. Some merchants will take US dollars, English pounds and/or euros, but don't count on it. Having said that, I'll contradict myself and say that it could be handy to have a small stash of 1's, 5's and 10's for an emergency. We needed to pay a small restaurant bill that came to the equivalent of $4.80 US. They didn't have change for the large Lira bills we had gotten from the ATM. They were willing to take a $5 US bill. That was close enough for both of us.
Posted by
Seattle, USA
990 posts
ATM's are everywhere in Turkey. Or at least, anywhere an organized tour is likely to go! You might ask your tour operator if they expect any need to have US dollars or euros--I've heard some places that are set up to cater to package tours prefer to be paid in foreign currency. But that would very much be the exception rather than the rule.
Be sure you have 20 dollars per person in US currency for your visa as your arrive at the airport. You can only use foreign currency to get the visa--US dollars, pounds sterling, or euros only.
Posted by
Seattle
4637 posts
Don't get TL here in the US. Bad exchange. ATM in Turkey has the best exchange. But ATM is not everywhere. As I remember there was no ATM in Mustafapasha, Guzelyurt and I am not sure but I think not even in Pammukkale. All were overnight stops on Rick Steves tour.
Posted by
OP
San Antonio, TX, USA
2 posts
Thank you all for your helpful info.