Turkish Lira for Istanbul

[ivycruise]

Question for all of you who have visited Istanbul. Our May Reflection cruise will overnight in Istanbul and as they are not on the euro, thought maybe a good idea to obtain some Turkish Lira currency prior to leaving. We'll have plenty of euro's for the other stops and would think that many of the street vendor/shops may take that and dollars but with the dollar so strong right now thought I might pick some up if we thought it would be beneficial. Any experience where you actually used lira's?

 

Thanks

[cruza]

Question for all of you who have visited Istanbul. Our May Reflection cruise will overnight in Istanbul and as they are not on the euro, thought maybe a good idea to obtain some Turkish Lira currency prior to leaving. We'll have plenty of euro's for the other stops and would think that many of the street vendor/shops may take that and dollars but with the dollar so strong right now thought I might pick some up if we thought it would be beneficial. Any experience where you actually used lira's?

 

Thanks

 

We used it for the tickets to Topkapi and the other museums in SultanAhmet area. Also you will need Liras for public transportation (tram, taxi) and Bosphorus cruise....

[singlegrandma2]

I have just used American dollars. I will be there again in Sept and the drivers I have hired already requested I pay them in $$$.

[az_tchr]

You will probably use a few Lira if you ride the tram or eat out or buy souvenirs, but the have lots of ATMs and banks in Turkey and other than maybe the tram token dispensers everyone happy with SS or Euros.

[Pushka]

They will take USD but the price you will pay will be higher on an equivalent basis than if you had paid in lira. Use an ATM.

[WisRiver]

We were in Istanbul in October, 2014 on HAL's Prinsendam. We did not purchase any TL until we arrived. We were in Istanbul for two nights and two days.

 

When we got off the ship our first evening, there was an exchange booth and ATM machine. The ATM machine was out of order, so I exchanged $50 US for TL. We asked for small bills. We were using public transportation, and purchased tokens (jetons) at the tram stops. The next day the ATM machine was working and I purchased more TL. The ATM exchange rate was better than the booth's rate. I was not worried about having extra TL in Istanbul since our cruise had four more Turkish port stops before we returned to Athens.

[theborders]

We were in Istanbul for 4 days last year, they are happy to take Euro's US $ £ stirling in most places (shops restaurants museums etc) we only used Turkish Lira for public transport

[Azulann]

I used Lira, euro's and credit cards in Istanbul and other Turkish ports of call.

the private tour guides requested USD.

[ivycruise]

Thanks everyone for the info.

[jewels07]

Last May in Turkey, they preferred anything OTHER than TL....$, £, Euros were all accepted everywhere

[Pushka]

Last May in Turkey, they preferred anything OTHER than TL....$, £, Euros were all accepted everywhere

 

 

But you need to realise that THEIR preference might not be the best choice for YOUR wallet. Ask what the price is in Lira and USD and I'd be very surprised if the Lira price is more expensive once you've taken into account currency exchange b

[Dorset Cruiser]

In Istanbul last October, the smaller shops would only take lira which we obtained from a nearby ATM. They were not interested in euros but we did not try US$.

 

 

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[cruise kitty]

You need Lira for the museums, historic sites, & public transport, there are plenty of ATM's scattered about. We exchanged $20 at our airport ahead of time so we would have money for tram tickets, got the rest from ATM's

[villageneighbor]

Was in Istanbul last July. Read somewhere there was an ATM in the arrival hall, unfortunately there was construction and it wasn't 'there. Ended up turning left out of the port and came across several banks with ATMs, so it was very easy to get lira for tram, markets, museums, etc. In advance let your bank know where you will be traveling to prevent cards from being turned off due to concern of fraud. Also know what charges if any you will incur when using foreign ATMs.

[CathyCruises]

As mentioned you do need YTL for the trams. There's a Starbucks right across the street from the tram stop close to the ship. We just bought two coffees with dollars or euro and got YTL in exchange