Visa Information
Most travelers can purchase a visa
at any port of entry, but you must have cash. They do not accept traveler's
checks or Turkish lira. If you'd like to avoid the delay of purchasing
a visa when you arrive, you can apply online.
Americans and U.K. residents need visas to visit Turkey. Visas are
good for three months and permit multiple entries. U.S. residents
pay $45 and U.K. residents L10.
Americans can reach the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C. at http://www.turkey.org/
or the Consulate General offices in Los Angeles at http://www.turkiye.net/lacg.
There they also have e-mail links to the offices in Houston, Chicago
and New York.
Australians and Canadians do not need visas and may stay for three
months. Australians can reach the Turkish Embassy in Canberra at http://www.ozemail.com.au/~turkembs/
Danes can reach the Turkish Embassy in Copenhagen at http://www.turkembassy.dk/
The Swiss can reach the Turkish consulate in Zurich at http://www.access.ch/tuerkei/
For a list of visa requirements by country go to the Australian Turkish
Embassy pages at
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~turkembs/frontier.htm.
If you don't find your country, you can e-mail to the closest Turkish
Embassy regarding visa requirements. For e-mail addresses for Turkish
Missions Abroad from Abu Dhabi to London to Zurich and for Consulates
General from Berlin to Houston to Zurich go to the Swiss Turkish Embassy's
site
Travel Advisories
The U.S. State Department at http://travel.state.gov/turkey.html
has information on travel safety and precautions.
If you plan to drive a car, they also have an excellent Driver
Safety Briefing at
http:/www./usis-ankara.org.tr/sec/secdsb.htm that includes translation
of road signs.
Street Crime in Istanbul is another excellent resource. You can find
it on the Embassy's home page at http://www.usis-ankara.org.tr/.
Then click on Security Matters and then the topic.
The U.S. State Department encourages its citizens visiting in
Turkey to register either with the Embassy in Ankara or the consulates
in Istanbul or Adana.
The British Foreign Office at http://www.fco.gov.uk/provides
up-to-date information for travelers to Turkey. They offer information
and addresses of British Consular Services Abroad as well as practical
tips and health information. They also offer a new service you can
sign up for that sends you updates on any country you request!
Health Precautions
What immunizations do you need for your trip? The Center for Disease
Control (CDC) at http://www.cdc.gov/travel/mideast.htm
has the answers for you and your physician.
Traveler's Insurance
Absolutely, positively think about travel insurance. Turkish hospitals
and physicians do not operate on the Hippocratic oath, unless you
have cash, a charge card, or insurance! Here are few companies that
offer traveler's insurance on-line.
J.N. Grace Online Travel Insurance at http://www.jngrace.com/
is a U.S. company that offers insurance to anyone, but travel must
originate in the U.S. or Canada.
Travel Guard International at http://www.travel-guard.com/
is another U.S. company.
The Travel Insurance Agency at http://www.travelinsurers.com//
is a British company that specializes in travel insurance. They offer
all types of travel insurance for UK citizens and non-UK citizens
worldwide.
Nomad Travel Insurance at http://www.nomad-insurance.co.uk/frames/idx_policy.html-
is a British company that tailor-makes policies for the backpacker,
student and long-stay traveller. Policies are destination specific.
For people departing from and returning to the United Kingdom, and
those 45 or under at the time of purchase. Insurance for travel of
up to 1 year - anywhere in the world.
BKR Insurance at http://www.bkrinsurance.co.nz/oseas.html
is a New Zealand company.
Tourism Information
For a list of Turkish tourism offices around the world go to Tourism
Offices Worldwide Directory,
go to http://www.towd.com/htgrep.cgi?Turkey
If you live in the U.K., this web site will be of value to you. It's
a site that offers information on all the tourism offices in the U.K.
including Turkey. You can find information for Turkey's Tourism Office
in London at
http://www.tourist-offices.org.uk/Turkey/index.html
Weather
If, you're planning ahead, here's historical information provided
by the Turkish Embassy, Washington, D.C. at http://www.turkey.org/f_tourism.htm
then click on When to Go, then scroll down to Average Air Temperature
for Major Cities.
For a four-day forecast, see CNN at http://www.cnn.com/WEATHER/html/IstanbulTurkey.html
Phoning In and From Turkey
Inside Turkey the cheapest way to call is from a public phone using
a phone card bought at the post office (PTT). If the PTT is closed,
you can usually find local entrepreneurs selling cards at a slight
mark up near the public phones.
Your next challenge is to find a phone that is working. Lift the hand
set and push the language button for either English, German or French
and see what it says. If its says "Welcome," you have a phone that
is working. Insert the phone card according to the arrow and you're
ready to start dialing.
Inside Turkey numbers outside your area code require a 0 + area code
+ number. Bodrum and Datca, for example, are in the same area code
and don't require an O + area code. If you dial an area code when
you don't need it, you'll just get a busy signal.
If you use a Kontrol Telephone at your pension or hotel or
a shop, expect to pay 3 to 4 times the PTT rate. This is not the phone
to use for International calls.
To make a long distance international call you will need at least
one 100 unit phone card. It maybe good for from 2 - 4 minutes. The
card costs around $4.
Travel Gear
As always, travel light when carrying your own luggage! Here are three
companies that specialize in outdoor wear that you may find of interest.
Patagonia at
http://www.patagonia.com is a northern California company with
a good selection of practical travel clothes. They also have stores
in France and Germany (see their Ordering page).
REI at http://www.rei.com/
is another California-based company. They offer worldwide Internet
shipping plus ordering information in French,
German
and Spanish.
They also have a web page in Japanese!
Walk About Travel Gear at http://www.walkabouttravelgear.com/
is based in Utah. They specialize in travel gear, but also have fun
pages that offer message boards, handy tips and more. They also offer
international shipping.
Learn Turkish
The University of Arizona in Tucson offers excellent pages for learning
conversational Turkish. They are located at
http://cali.arizona.edu/ |
