Turkey Travel Checklist: Entry Rules, Money, Getting Around and Mobile Data

Turkey is one of the easiest big trips you can take: direct flights from Baku, Prishtina, Tirana and Skopje, beaches, history and food for every budget. A little preparation still saves time and money, from the documents you need at the border to the card you tap on the tram. Here is the checklist.

Entry: passport, ID card or visa

• Visa-free for many visitors. Citizens of Azerbaijan, Kosovo, North Macedonia and many other countries can visit Turkey without a visa for short stays, usually up to 90 days. Rules depend on your passport, so check the official Turkish e-Visa site before you book.
• Azerbaijani ID card. Azerbaijani citizens can travel directly between Azerbaijan and Turkey with the new biometric ID card instead of a passport. This only works on a direct trip between the two countries. If you fly through a third country, take your passport.
• Passport validity. Make sure your passport is valid well beyond your return date. Airlines check this at the gate.
• Travel insurance is not always required for a visa-free visit, but private hospitals in Turkey are expensive without it.

Money

• Currency: the Turkish lira (TRY). Prices change often, so check the rate shortly before you travel.
• Cards work almost everywhere in cities and resorts. Keep some cash for small shops, markets, minibuses (dolmuş) and tips.
• Exchange offices (döviz) in the city give much better rates than the airport. When a card machine or ATM offers to charge you in your home currency, choose lira: the conversion it offers is usually worse.
• Tips: around 5 to 10% in restaurants when service is not included. Rounding up is enough in taxis.

Airports and getting around

• Domestic flights are frequent and often cheap: Istanbul to Antalya or Kayseri takes about an hour and a half.
• Long-distance buses are comfortable and run from every city's bus station (otogar). Overnight buses save a hotel night.
• City transport: Istanbul uses the Istanbulkart for metro, trams, buses and ferries. Antalya has its own Antalyakart. See our Istanbul guide.
• Taxis: in Istanbul use the BiTaksi app or Uber, which books ordinary yellow taxis and shows the route on the map.

Phone and mobile data

Turkey is outside the EU, and roaming there is expensive for most foreign SIM cards. A Turkish SIM card is possible, but tourist packages cost more, you need your passport, and phones bought abroad are blocked on Turkish SIMs after a limited period (currently 120 days) unless you register them and pay a high fee. A travel eSIM avoids all of this: it connects as a roaming line, so the rule does not apply on a holiday.

Prices as of October 2026 on a 5G network. Current prices are always on the Turkey eSIM page. More detail in internet in Turkey.

Useful apps

• Maps: Google Maps works well. Download the area offline as a backup.
• Transport: BiTaksi and Uber for taxis in Istanbul, the Istanbulkart app to top up your card.
• Translation: Google Translate with the camera function helps with menus and signs. Azerbaijani speakers will understand a lot of Turkish anyway.

Customs and etiquette

• Mosques: cover shoulders and knees, women cover their hair, and everyone takes off their shoes. Mosques close to visitors during prayer times.
• Ramadan: restaurants stay open in tourist areas, but eating in public in conservative neighbourhoods during the day is best avoided.
• Bargaining is normal in bazaars, not in shops with price tags.

The checklist

1. Passport, or the biometric ID card for direct trips from Azerbaijan, and the visa rules checked for your passport.
2. Travel insurance.
3. A card that works abroad, plus a little cash in lira.
4. The eSIM bought and installed at home on Wi-Fi with our installation guide.
5. Offline maps of the cities you are visiting.
6. A plug adapter if you need one: Turkey uses the round two-pin European plug (type C and F, 230 V), the same as Azerbaijan and most of Europe.