Using dollars in Turkey?

Even if you do find a few businesses willing to take your dollars, only a small percentage of them will give you a fair exchange rate. You're much better off putting your money in a bank account with a VISA or Mastercard ATM card attached and drawing Turkish lira out as you need it.

US dollars were probably considered a more desirable currency twenty years ago. Today, not so much.

Seriously, though, you won't be able to use foreign currency except perhaps in resort areas like Kusadasi. Even then, you will pay more than you would in lira. ATMs (bankomat) are everywhere in Turkey, so getting lira is simple and convenient. Don't leave the country with a lot of it, though, if you're going soon. As of January 1st, there is a new currency being phased in. "Old" New Turkish lira are still going to be accepted for a while, and you are likely to get them back in change even after January 1. But at some point in the not-too-distant future, they will become worthless. So, unless you plan a follow-up trip to Turkey soon, make sure you spend down your lira on the way out.

There is something about not using the local currency that makes me uncomfortable. If you will be in Turkey on a tour, be respectful and do not expect the US dollar to be happily accepted. Acquire some lira.

re turkish lira
I thought they just got the New YTL
are you sure of the facts that they are ridding those and changing to something else?
is it euros?
we went to the currency exchange here before our trip and got the new YTL so is this going to be worthless soon?
info please?

Yes, there will be a new currency introduced next year. The current currency, confusingly called the New Turkish lira, was issued in 2005--at that time, they scrubbed off 6 zeroes, so no more million lira tea breaks! This time, the currency will stay the same in terms of value, but new notes will be issued. Between January 1 and December 31 2009, either the current "YTL--new Turkish lira" and the new "Turkish lira" will both be accepted. As of the end of next year, YTL become worthless unless exchanged at the Central Bank of Turkey (which you can do for 10 years, though it is hardly convenient.)

I think you can google a website that shows what the new and old bills look like.

I fully agree that one should use the local money wherever possible. However, when we were in Cappadocia, our guide advised us that US dollars would be accepted in most places. Which came in handy once. Our lunch at a restaurant was included in our tour, but drinks were not included. Our 2 sodas came to only about 6 YTL or 4.80 USD. The restaurant did not have change for the larger YTL bills that we got from the ATM. But they had no problem taking a $5 American bill. Point being, it wouldn't hurt to take a small stash of 1's, 5's and 10's.

With ATM's available everywhere these days, you respectfully should use the local currency. It was a bit of a pain for us in 2007 when my sister and I visited St. Petersburg, Helsinki and the three Scandinavian countries in one two-week period (we always were debating how much to obtain from the cash machine so as not to have any left before we moved on to the next country), but you should not have any expectation that American dollars are an acceptable form of payment. If it is, you definitely will lose out on the exchange rate because the person taking the US money will have to pay extra to get Turkish lira he can use.

Two sodas for 5 dollars?! No wonder they were willing to take US dollars--that's a gross rip-off. Another reason to be skeptical about a lot of tours--those "free" lunches may well gouge you on drinks.

Other than places that a tour group would take you to, I don't ever remember anywhere in Cappadocia that would take foreign currency. Some resorts in Kusadasi, Antalya, and Bodrum advertise that they take pounds sterling and euros--probably they would take dollars too. But other than places catering specifically to package tours, I really doubt you need to or would benefit by taking any US currency--except to have a few bucks for eating in US airports on your way to and from Turkey.

Thanks for all the comments - we had planned to just take Turkish lira/get some from an ATM (as we usually do when traveling abroad), but Dad's suggestion made us think that perhaps we should also take more dollars than we usually do. Thanks also for the heads up on the new currency release!

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