Turkish Lira

[kare8ear]

Hi:

 

I was wondering how you obtained Turkish Lira. ATM? Do they only accept the Lira?

 

We are on the Grand Princess stopping in Istanbul and Kusadasi.

 

Thanks for any advice!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

You're going to want to get some lira, because you will want to buy things, for sure. Istanbul is a great place to shop. Credit cards may work most of the time, but since barter is the essence of shopping there, cash may work to your advantage. There are abundant ATMs, some of which worked for us, and some didn't--once we found a "brand" that worked, we continued to use that brand.

 

Not sure what your Istanbul itinerary is, but in the old city, there is a bank of them close to the Blue Mosque, beside the hop-on-hop-off bus stop. If you are on the other side of the Golden Horn, don't know, but I am betting they are plentiful.

[Mike Andrews]

As above you can use an ATM or you will find money exchanges offering very good rates with no commission charges.Make a note of the exchange rate before you leave.

[dpalmquist]

I was on the grand in june and we never used turkish money. They took euros and u s dollars. This was in Kusadasi.

[MJfromCA]

We were in Istanbul last weekend on Galaxy and never needed to change money. They take euros, dollars, and credit cards without any problem.

[aqua]

Just a word of caution using a credit card. When I received my credit card bill for a rug purchace, there were fees for a cash withdrawl. Mastercard told me that it is not uncommon for merchants in Turkey to billl your credit card for cash instead of credit. I had no idea that the rug merchant had done that. Mastercard did credit the fees, but it made me mad that the merchant had done that.

[PINEY10]

When we were in Turkey about 5 years ago, I found the merchants were generally be receptive to US dollars--certainly more valuable to them than the lira. It also gave a great advantage to bargaining. We also found some could give change in dollars as well. This worked well even in the Grand Bazaar.

[Host Karen]

In Kusadasi in June, every place seemed to accept euros and credit cards. Just make certain to ask for any change in euros rather than Turkish lira.

 

Karen

[sbc98grad]

We were in Istanbul about two weeks ago and everyone accepted US dollars. Be sure to specify that this is the denomination you are using when bargaining, though.