Acraven was kind enough to post the new 25 euro entrance fee to the Hagia Sophia effective 1/15/24 for everyone. Brace yourself folks because entrance fees to many of the attractions doubled and tripled on the 15th as well. For example:
Galata Tower 650TRY (Turkish lira) $22 usd
Cistern 600 TRY $20
Dombachie Palace1050 TRY / $35
Topkapi Palace 1500 TRY / $50
Wow, that’s going to take a bite out of my kebab fund. It’s about triple what I paid for those places two years ago.
On the positive side, Americans no longer have to pay $50 for a visa.
Those new prices are at least double what they were.
If the Turkish lira continues its downward slide and in a year becomes worth half what it is today, then we’ll be back to the same prices before the hike!
It may pay to postpone that trip to Turkey…
Galata Tower 650TRY (Turkish lira) $22 usd
I paid 130 TRY / $8.12 in May, 2022.
So the price in Turkish Lira has gone up by 5x, while the USD equivalent price has gone up by 2.75x. As mentioned above, if the exchange rate falls by the same 2.75x, the USD price will be back to $8.12.
Interesting to note that the entry fee for hagia sophia is listed in Euros, while the others are priced in TRY
Minimum wage also went up for 2024. I view this as a positive and will gladly pay a bit extra.
A 65% annual inflation rate does take its toll after a while.
(I was lucky to visit before prices could catch up to the rapidly tanking lira.)
