If you plan on travelling to Turkey for a holiday or on business, it’s always a good idea to use the checklist below. This way, you can be sure that you aren’t missing any important things.
The most important things to remember when travelling to Turkey are your passport, your payment pass and your visa. Turkey requires that you carry your passport with you at all times. It also needs to be valid for at least 150 more days from the moment of arrival in Turkey. Sometimes, you need to unblock your payment pass for usage outside of the European Union. The visa needs to be applied for online in advance.
Checklist for your trip to Turkey
Passport: valid until after your trip to Turkey
While staying in Turkey, you need to to be able to identify yourself at all times. This means having your passport on your person at all times. Take note: your passport needs to be valid for at least 150 more days from the moment you enter Turkey. If this is not the case, you might be denied entry to Turkey.
Turkey visa
You are required to apply for your Turkey visa online before departure. The process is very simple; you simply fill in the online Turkey visa application. You will then receive the visa likely the same day. Make sure to travel with the passport you used to fill in the Turkey visa application form. This passport is electronically linked to your visa. If you loose your passport and acquire a new one, you will likewise need to apply for a new Turkey visa.
Unblock payment card for use in Turkey
In Turkey, generally you won’t face any problems when paying with your payment card. In fact, it is often cheaper to use a credit card when paying in Turkey. All commonly used payment cards in the UK work in Turkey. However, beware that you might need to unblock your debit card for usage outside of the European Union. Some banks have this limitation in place to avoid fraud when abroad. Generally, this can be cancelled with the click of a button. Keep in mind to reinstate the block once you return back home.
Using credit cards in Turkey
Most credit cards used in the UK are MasterCard, Visa of American Express. These variants can all three be used in Turkey.
Bring important documents
Aside from your passport, your visa and your payment card(s) you should also bring the following documents: your insurance pass, flight tickets and hotel reservations. It can also be important to bring a number of supplementary information: the phone number of your travel organisation (if you are using one), phone numbers of your insurance company and the address information of the place where you are staying.
Copies of all important documents
It is highly recommended to bring additional copies of your most important documents on your trip to Turkey. It can always happen that you accidentally misplaced the original documents. Having copies of them can be very helpful in those situations. To avoid losing both the original and the copies, it’s best to store them separately. Make copies of your passport, your visa, your itinerary, your hotel reservation and your flight tickets.
Summary of important things to bring, and other useful items
Below follows a quick summary of the most important things to bring to Turkey, as well as a few supplementary items to make your trip as comfortable as possible:
- Passport
- Credit card/debit card
- Turkey visa
- Flight tickets
- Hotel reservations
- Itinerary
- Insurance cards
- Driver’s license
- Copies of important documents
- Housekeys
- Phone, tablet or laptop
- Additional batteries and charges
- Travel guide
- Sunglasses
- Sunscreen
- Contacts
- Clothes for different weather
- Reading material
Please note: this news article about the visa for Turkey is more than one year old. It might contain outdated information and advice, and no rights can therefore be derived from this article. Are you going on a trip soon and do you wish to do know what rules currently apply? Read all about the up-to-date information about the visa for Turkey.