Hi friends! In touch, promoter of budget tourism. In this review, I will tell you how to travel inexpensively to Turkey. Find out when it is cheaper to fly on vacation, where to buy a cheap tour or tickets, how to eat sparingly, not spend money on excursions, and at the same time have a great rest in Turkey.
Exchange rate: 1 Turkish Lira (TRY) ≈ 10 RUB.
When is it cheaper to vacation in Turkey
The most precious time is summer and New Year. This is the peak of the season, a lot of people are coming, prices are hitting the ceiling.
Secret # 1. The cheapest way to go on vacation to Turkey is in autumn, winter, spring and June. The velvet season in the resorts lasts from September until the end of October - and it is pleasant to relax, and the prices are lower.
Secret # 2. In the low season, you can boo and take a tour in the steep "top five" half the price of summer.
Secret # 3. On the other hand, in the summer you can buy very cheap last minute tours. In June-July, we flew for 7 nights to Kemer for 33,600 rubles for two. And this is far from the minimum price, we just chose a better hotel. But the cheapest tours to Turkey can still be bought only in the off-season. In winter, there are not many good offers from tour operators, because there are few flights, and some hotels are closed.
Which month is cheaper to fly to Turkey:
How to buy the cheapest tours
Secret # 4. The cheapest tours to Turkey are last minute. They should be caught 2-7 days before departure. We bought our last minute ticket to Kemer 2 days before departure: the tour cost 33,600 rubles for two, there were also options for 21,500 rubles, but we did not like the hotels on the cheapest tours - there were a lot of bad reviews. Find out how much the tours to Turkey cost and what affects the price of the tour in this note.
Secret # 5. Always pay attention to the reviews of tourists, choose a hotel with a rating of at least 4 out of 5 or 8 out of 10. You do not want to fight with impudent staff, fend off cockroaches, fall asleep under the rattling sound of a half-dead air conditioner or dry yourself with one towel for two weeks - in cheap Turkish hotels anything can happen! In order not to run into trash for sure, take tours to new hotels in Turkey.
Secret # 6. Buy tours online, don't let travel agency managers push you nonsense or take you on a more expensive tour - they love it. The last time I bought a tour in a travel agency back in 2012, since then only online. Reliable services where you can buy from any tour operator: Travelata and Level.Travel - I use them myself.
Secret # 7. Read my tips: 7 secrets on how to buy a cheap tour.
The cheapest resorts in Turkey
Why do millions of tourists love Turkey so much? Of course, for cheapness! It will be cheaper to go here than to the resorts of the Russian south. This is no exaggeration: in Turkey it is really cheaper and much more pleasant. In almost any resort, you can relax inexpensively, but there are also exceptions.
Secret # 8. Choose the right resort in Turkey for the price level.
- The most expensive resorts: Belek, Fethiye, Bodrum.
- Middle segment: Side, Marmaris.
- The cheapest resorts in Turkey: Alanya, Antalya, Kemer.
Secret # 9. When choosing a resort, keep in mind the specifics of the contingent of tourists. In some places, the cheapest Turkish resorts are typical Gelendzhik: Russian pop music, tourists red as crayfish, family squabbles on the beach and other quirks of national recreation of people who are not spoiled by education and are not burdened with the norms of etiquette and culture. However, neither in Kemer, nor in Antalya, I have never met tagila - all vacationers behaved culturally. Maybe I was just lucky.
Secret # 10. In the elite resorts of Turkey, sometimes you can also relax cheaply. For example, choosing a hotel far from the sea. And do not be confused that the coast is as much as 5 km, because many hotels have a free shuttle to the beach. The main thing is that the hotel is good and the price suits you.
Secret # 11. Prices in non-resort cities in Turkey are also human. You can go to handsome Istanbul as cheaply as in Antalya: there is a lot of inexpensive food and housing, transport costs a penny, attractions are cheaper than European ones, and you can fly inexpensively from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Krasnodar and many other cities of Russia.
You need to consider! Cheap tours can be sold to some resorts in Turkey, but the rest there will not be the most budgetary due to overpriced food prices. An example of this is Kemer. This is a purely tourist town, so there is almost no catering for the locals. We hardly found such a great place: the staff speaks neither Russian nor English, so they don’t make money on tourists, the food is tasty, satisfying and inexpensive.
How to buy cheap tickets
Secret # 12. Check out 15 secrets of finding cheap flights.
Secret # 13. Search flights for all airlines at once on Aviasales and Skyscanner.
Secret # 14. You can buy the cheapest tickets to Turkey from the low-cost airline Pegasus Airlines - from 6800 rubles round trip. The price includes 8 kg of hand luggage, luggage is paid separately - from 1300 rubles per bag to 20 kg.
Secret # 15. In summer, don't even count on such prices. But at Pobeda you can find tickets from Moscow to Istanbul and back from 12,500 rubles, luggage separately - from 4,000. If you have suitcases, it is better to fly to Turkey on board Turkish Airlines (tickets from 17,000) - this is one of the best airlines in the world ...
Secret # 16. I flew to Istanbul from Krasnodar on Pegasus Airlines for 6,000 rubles one way, from Kazan - on Azal with a transfer to Baku for 3,400 rubles. You can also fly to Turkey cheaply from Mineralnye Vody, Makhachkala, Grozny, Yekaterinburg, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Tyumen, Ufa, Rostov-on-Don - from 9,000 rubles (round trip).
Secret # 17. The cheapest flight is to Antalya. There are Pobeda flights from Moscow - from 7000 rubles in both directions + luggage from 3500 rubles. In summer, these tickets cost from 10,000 rubles.
Secret # 18. You can also buy tickets to Antalya from 11,000 rubles from Rostov-on-Don, Kazan, Yekaterinburg and many other cities where Pobeda flies, but you will have to fly to Turkey with a connection in Moscow.
How to eat inexpensively
Secret # 19. Always try to eat in local establishments - they have the most delicious and inexpensive food. Turks love to eat well, so feel free to be guided by the places they choose. Avoid tourist streets and establishments where you are persistently invited in Russian or English. Only Turkish is spoken in the right places.
Secret # 20. Never go to the Lonely Planet recommendation list - they will be touristy places with horse prices. Don't believe this book.
Secret # 21. In Istanbul, it is cheaper, more atmospheric and tastier to eat in the area of the Egyptian and Grand Bazaars. Find out more about food prices in Istanbul.
Secret # 22. Lokanta is a Turkish canteen with the lowest prices and a huge selection of dishes, including national ones. Be sure to visit!
Secret # 23. Where to taste Turkish sweets? We always buy from small pastry shops and eateries. Giants like Mado and Koska are carefully avoided, as prices are greatly overpriced there.
Secret # 24. It is not easy to have a hearty breakfast in Turkey in the morning - Turks usually get by with tea, sweets, sandwiches. If you need something more satisfying, then take lentil soup (5-7 lire) and omelet (5-10 lire), they are served with a lot of bread.
Our average check for lunch in Istanbul is 400-500, in Kemer - 600-700 rubles for two.
Our total spending on food in a cafe, sweets, groceries, fruits, juices in Istanbul for 10 days is 13,000 rubles for two, in Kemer for 6 days - 11,000.
Excursions
Secret # 25. Never buy excursions from a tour operator - they are the most expensive and dumbest. At the meeting after your arrival, your hotel guides will hang on your ears, praise their excursions and scare you that other companies will deceive you, throw you, kill you, and so on. Tell them a firm no right away.
Secret # 26. We do not take excursions, because we do not like this format, all these guides and walking in a duck formation to the sights. We visit all interesting places on our own - this is more convenient and several times cheaper.You can reach almost any point of interest by public transport or on foot, and all information is easy to get from the Internet, stands or brochures. Check out our self-guided travel guide to the most beautiful places around Kemer, Cirali and Antalya.
Secret # 27. In Istanbul, buy a Museum Pass Istanbul card - with it you will visit all the main sights of the city for half the price. To save on transport, buy Istanbulkart. Find out what is worth seeing in Istanbul.
Secret # 28. Rent a car in Turkey - this way you can easily visit any interesting places and drive along the picturesque coast. A car for a day in local offices costs from $ 40, but on the Internet you can find it cheaper. In low season, prices drop slightly Whatever one may say, it will be cheaper than excursions from a tour operator (especially if you are 2-5 people) and certainly much more pleasant! We rented a scooter for $ 20, but it was sickly, and there is absolutely no choice of motor vehicles in Turkey. So take the car better. In the future, we want to travel all over Turkey in our car.
Money
Secret # 29. Many Turkish ATMs allow you to withdraw money without commission: for example, I usually withdraw from Deniz Bank or Halkbank. In shops and many cafes, I pay with a card - it is accepted almost everywhere. Changing currency in exchange offices is less profitable and troublesome. Abroad, I always withdraw money from the Tinkoff Black card - this bank does not take a commission, and the card can be made multicurrency in a minute, which will make it profitable to buy currency in advance and not depend on rate fluctuations. And new customers who have issued a card are now given 1000 ₽ to their account with a promotion.
Secret # 30. Apply for a bargain All Airlines credit card to get 10% back on your hotel and car rental costs, and get good health insurance for your holidays and travel for free.
Find out more about profitable withdrawals and exchange of money abroad.
Communication
Secret # 31. What is the cheapest way to call from Turkey to Russia? Connect a tariff with favorable roaming before the trip. Tariffs are constantly changing, so I will not list them, find out the current conditions from telecom operators.
Secret # 32. I myself do not usually call from abroad, the Internet is enough for me to communicate. The most favorable conditions, it seems to me, are with Tele2 on the "Premium" tariff - for 1300-1500 rubles I get a large Internet package, which I always have enough.
What can be bought cheaper in Turkey
Secret # 33. In Turkey, especially in Istanbul, you can buy anything you want. Clothes of any quality and price level, furniture, antiques, art objects, sweets, spices, souvenirs and gifts - in general, everything is real! No wonder: Turkey is the East, and the East is the Bazaar. So God himself ordered to go there for shopping. Moreover, in Turkey, almost all of this will be cheaper than in Russia. If you are a shopper, then get ready to have a full blast. In Turkey, we bought some clothes, fabrics, sweets, chess, vinyl and even found a century-old mask from Africa from Istanbul junk dealers. See what is worth bringing from Turkey.
