Significant Admission Price Increases

Considering the inflation in Turkey I'm not surprised.

Yep. Turkey is suffering from very high inflation. It makes a trip there significantly more expensive than it would have been a year ago.

Ouch! Thanks for sharing. I am saddened but not surprised with the inflation rates in Turkey.

Bad timing on our part as we are visiting in October. Oh well, can’t be helped now.

If it helps any, today, with no foreign transaction fees your Visa card will cost you about $52.50 for those Hagia Sophia tickets. I am curious about other costs though. I always enjoyed Istanbul and the cost was one of the attractions.

Wow.

For comparison, in May of 2022 I paid 300 Lira for admission to Dolmabahçe Palace. At the time, that was $18.75.

I just checked two very nice hotels that I have stayed at in the past. One a 4 star, one a 5 star, both in the Sultanahmet. Dates in June, so no early discounts, but cancelable and breakfast included. 3 nights for $350 at the 4 star and $790 at the 5 star. The 5 star was not their cheapest room, but was what was available. When you calculate in those sorts of costs then the $56 tickets are not a deal breaker at all. I also checked the current prices for a few restaurants I was familiar with. Yup, more than I remembered but not more than Western Europe. So, still a very good destination I believe. Maybe the increase in cost will keep the city from becoming Barcelona. That would be good.

Mr. E.

I avoided June since it was previously reported that the first trial for the mayor of Istanbul would occur during that month. Since his arrest resulted in 300,000 protestors, I wasn’t sure what a conviction would look like. I’d rather eat breakfast at home rather than to be confined to either a small area of town or even a luxury hotel.

You missed the point, but okay

I just checked the prices on a few hotels where I have stayed in Turkey in recent years. The room sizes/types are comparable to the rooms I rented and the prices are about a month out.

• The hotel in Istanbul has more than doubled since I was there in late 2021 (and quadrupled since I was there in 2017).

• The (resort) hotel in Antalya has more than tripled since late 2021. (Some of that might be seasonal variation.)

• Another (boutique) hotel in Antalya has remained about the same since 2022.

• The hotel in Sagalossos is up 50% since I was there in 2023.