All right, let's talk Turkey! If you're thinking of planning a trip to Turkey, and you don't know
where to start, Gokce and I, we're kind of experts on the subject. She's grown up here and this
is like my 10th time visiting. So, we're going to give you the 10 things you must know before
coming to Turkey to make sure that your trip is as enjoyable as possible we were actually going to
air out our next video about Ephesus, but since we received a lot of questions after our latest video
about corona virus in Turkey, we decided to jump in and answer all those questions. So let's get
started with everything you need to know before you arrive to Turkey. So the first thing you're
going to want to know about it is going to be the currency. Turkey uses the Turkish Lira and
currently it's about eight liras for one us dollar a little over nine Liras for one euro. We actually
approach it by taking money out of any ATM here in Turkey, they charge about a five percent fee for
the amount of money that you take out but our bank refunds us in the US, Charles Schwab. So if you
could find a bank just like that invaluable and if not we recommend going into a bank and getting an
exchange there. It's going to be easier and less of a hassle than the currency exchanges. And the
plugs are actually same as Europe, so before you take off maybe you can buy one on Amazon or when
you get here you are sure that you will be able to find a converter for as little as a couple
dollars or so and as far as cell phone service is concerned, you could buy a sim card while you're
here from a company like TURKCELL it's about 150 liras and it's good for up to 30 days you get 20
gigabytes worth of data and 200 minutes of talking and all of your messaging through WhatsApp and
similar apps like it are completely for free. We actually use Google FI though from America and we
definitely recommend it to everybody else, because you are able to go to over 170 countries just like
Turkey. And in terms of the most important and most frequently question that we always receive
is the safety of Turkey. I'm not going to answer this question as a Turkish person, because I don't
want to be biased. So I'm just going to leave it up to you. I guess I'm slightly less biased as
I've mostly come to Turkey as a "visitor" quote on quote, but I've even brought my parents here and
they've felt safe the entire time be aware of your surroundings and just be smart while you're
traveling and you should have no issues whatsoever visiting Turkey. If you're feeling safe about
going to New York, Paris, and other big cities in the world, it is the same thing here. There are
good neighborhoods, bad neighborhoods. I think the next question I'm going to handle as well,
because people are curious about, if they need a visa to arrive in here or not. As an American,
you do! You got to pay 50 US Dollars you'll have a visa for 180 days and within that 180 day period
you could stay in Turkey for up to 90 days. Some European countries as well as some other countries
actually are now being integrated into this visa free program for the same 90-day and 180-day
period we're going to link the foreign ministry of Turkey link down below in the description so
that way you can check out your own country and of course they offer e-visas so you could go on to a
website which will also link in the description below and get that taken care of before you
even land you can also obtain your visa once you arrive here it will be slightly more expensive but
it will be still easy and you should not have any problem. Another frequently asked question is about
the weather, people assume that it is actually Summer like all year round in Turkey, but it's
not the case. Turkey goes through four seasons. The south of Turkey doesn't feel the winter as much as
Istanbul, but Istanbul has every season. So you need to dress accordingly. If I can convince Steve this
winter, I'm planning to take him to the ski resorts in Turkey. I'm not a skier, but we'll see about that
the other big thing to keep in mind for visiting Turkey is probably to bring a comfortable pair of
shoes if you're coming to Turkey that's actually must have. A lot of ancient sites and sightseeing
and places that you would like to visit in Turkey have hillsides, so it's gonna get very hilly you
have to wear comfortable shoes otherwise you won't be able to get around much. Even Istanbul is
known as seven hills city, there are seven hills here there's gonna be always walking
up and down! So the next question is how easy is it to get around and communicate here in Turkey.
Unfortunately, we have to say there definitely can be a language barrier at a lot of points
from the very moment when you get to the airport, you're going to be witnessing the situation where
there are not many English speakers around, once you actually try and put the effort they will
appreciate it and be more welcoming. Even if I didn't have Gokce you know the opportunity
to learn a few words in Turkish before you get here, puts a smile on people's faces and I don't
want you to think that the language barrier is going to stop you from enjoying your time here
Turkish people by in large are just incredibly friendly and will go out of their way to try to
help you even if they can't fully understand you, so unfortunately until April 2021 there's no metro
connection. So you may have to be looking into exploring different options of transportation
like Havaist or cabs. From the airport a Havaist to Levent (the main business district), or Sultanahmet
(the old town). It's going to run you about 30 liras, so if you're two people or less definitely
look into taking the Havaist bus, it's going to be more economical. If you're a larger group
look into a taxi cab, of course, with the yellow cabs you're gonna run into that same situation
we were just talking about before, a lot of the yellow taxi drivers unfortunately can't
speak English well and if you're not familiar with Istanbul at all for the first time, just like New
York City, unfortunately, you might face drivers who are willing to kind of drive around a little bit
so just be prepared for that. If you prefer to take a private transfer, you can as well, those will just
run you from 30 to 35 or even over 40 Euros, but of course the convenience of knowing that there's
going to be a driver waiting for you might be worthwhile. There is, of course, an application
it's not Uber, but Turkey has their own. Yeah, it is called BiTaksi, you may actually see the advertising
even at the airport. In order to use the BiTaksi application, which is very similar to UBER, you
have to have a Turkish phone number. So once you land to a Turkish airport, you can obtain a new
Turkish phone number, it works exactly the same as UBER. You can either pay cash or credit card
this helps you not to have to communicate with your cab driver. Now that you have gotten your
transportation down pat from Istanbul airport, the next thing you're going to be thinking about is
where the heck do I stay? Now, of course, if you're coming to Istanbul for the first time
you're going to want to stay in old town Sultanahmet area, we're going to recommend like two to
three days there maximum. You definitely can't see all the sites in one day Gokce and I tried to do
this yeah. And it's just it's way too much and then you can explore more of istanbul
and I'm going to let go give you some ideas where because she lived here, I didn't. you can actually
stay in the Asian side. There is Kadikoy, Moda and Caddebostan area which are very safe and
really nice neighborhoods that we highly suggest you to stay, and on the European side of Istanbul
you can explore options around Harbiye, Nisantasi, Etiler, Levent area, because it's very central the
metro line goes everywhere. And also you can see the much modern face of Istanbul compared to the
old town. You really could spend like a week here or more and it's just such a huge city and there's
so much to do and see now that you know exactly where to stay, how do you get around in Istanbul
and for us the simple answer is the Metro System. Istanbul central has an amazingly
built out metro system and that all starts with the IstanbulCard and it's a flat fee 3.50 Turkish liras
within the main city area you could also use it to take buses metro buses ferries and
a few other things as well and it's all "tap to pay" and some of those things of course are
going to cost more money. We highly suggest you to take the ferries as much as possible, the sceneries
are amazing and if you don't do Asian -Europe side ferry at least once, you're not really experiencing Istanbul
You never get tired of that view so if you're looking for places to visit outside
of Istanbul, you want to stay for a longer period of time, the obvious ones, of course, are Antalya
in the south which like Gokce mentioned stays a bit warmer during even the winter months and
they have those all-inclusive resorts where you can stay on the property and have your reveal of
everything really. And elsewhere, you're looking at Natural History and beauty of Cappadocia, Pamukkale
Ephesus... Those are some of the beautiful historical sites in Turkey that highly recommend visit but
of course, if you want to see more of local side of Turkey, Gokce and I could recommend some of those
places as well. And of course, we have some videos on the local spots coming up so let's talk about
getting out of Istanbul... We definitely recommend flying to most places a lot of the domestic
flights are on the inexpensive side, so it's going to be a bit easier than taking a bus which can
take an extremely long time especially during Covid times, you really don't want to be stuck
on a bus for 11-12 hours. If you want to take a bus, the buses in Turkey are just like flights actually
not the speed wise, but the quality wise. You won't have a bathroom on the bus but at the same time
you will have someone to serve you tea, coffee, and some snacks and there are very clean. They mostly
have their own TV System behind the seats, so you will feel very comfortable and also
the service is really good. If you have to take the bus, don't hesitate. They make stops for bathroom
and other needs during the way as well. And you even get ice cream, which I love! I know...
it's way better than taking a bus in the US. Definitely recommend it if it's three to four hours but for
example Istanbul to Kapadokya is 12 hours. And, you know, finally of course you could also rent a car
while you're here. The international chains are here like AVIS, Budget, and all those. We've rented from
an agency called Central Car, and they have a lot of English speakers and they're a national Turkish
chain but just some things to keep in mind when you're driving in Turkey, look out for really small
signs on the side of the road, they're going to be your speed signs they're also going to say things
like EDS, which is going to be these speed detector signs, Turkey radar enforces everywhere really so
try your best to stick within the speed limit if you're going to be renting a car, you could find
a rental car especially during non-busy times for as little as 150 liras a day, but guests and tolls
could be on the more expensive side. We would suggest you to stick to the bigger car rental
companies because you may not know the procedures of the local companies so last but not least at
this point the Turkish food, I love it! I can't say anything bad about Turkish food. Just be open to
have different kind of tastes and don't get stuck with the eating kebab and baklava please try to
explore more stuff try stuffed mussels, try Kokorec, the lamb intestines, try different things,
do not limit yourself with just only a few options. Every city has their own food, every place has
their own special dishes, so don't hold yourself back, but definitely bring your appetite and size or two
larger pants with you because you're gonna be gaining a lot of weight! Yeah, at this point
I've tried a whole host of different things even drinks, Ayran, I love it! Salgam Suyu, carrot juice..
not so much for me, but try them! Just try them all, you won't regret it. I love Turkish food and
I can't highly recommend it enough. So now, just a quick bonus, if you're a remote worker or
a content creator and you're thinking of coming to Turkey, one thing to keep in mind is the WI-FI situation
Wi-fi is not very strong all over the country, you will find wi-fi, but it won't be working as
fast and strong as in the big cities. So for example, when we were traveling around the southern
part of Turkey, we had a little bit of uh hiccups, but it still worked out! So just wanted to let you
know that you may get frustrated at times but in Istanbul we don't anticipate you to have any issues
and finally if you're thinking of bringing a drone here to Turkey, it's 500 gram rule anything above
500 grams you have to register with the Turkish Government in order to get a permission to fly
anything below 500 grams like the original mavic air, mavic mini, and things like that you don't have to
get permission you can just fly them but be careful where you fly them there's a lot of
no-flying signs, especially in ancient cities and historical places to keep in mind, because the fine
is up to 9000 liras, and we've seen somebody get their drone confiscated and fine before so
right in front of us!
yes glad we didn't fly before him. Hope you enjoyed the 10 things you have to know before
you come to Turkey! But, if you still have more questions, let us know in the comment section
below happy to answer them and don't forget to subscribe to our channel because we have more
of Turkey coming out soon, we just completed our travels around the southern part of turkey and
we can't wait to share them all with you! So see you in the rest of Turkey, see ya!