What currency should I take to Turkey?

PompeyPete

wallbash wrote: »

I will continue to use the Euro in Turkey , it might cost me ........ a few pence , saves me a lot of hassle .
Will continue laughing while others stress out saving less than a daily paper over the whole holiday.
Yes the local Dolmus uses the Lira , but back in July , I was not going to stand in the sun waiting for a bus, took air conditioned Taxi's , prices quoted in the ....... Euro.

Can't see where hassle comes in.
If you pay by Euro, what does the trader give you in change? Lira, no doubt!
So, like it or not, you're going to have the official currency of the country in your pocket. Or, do you tell the trader to keep the change? Or, has the price already been hiked up to the nearest 5 Euros, or do you keep a pocket full of Euro coins?
I can understand day trippers from Rhodes wanting to use Euros, but not people entering the country by air.
The main reason why many traders (especially in the tourist traps) accept a foreign currency is because they might otherwise miss out on a sale. And for many traders a sale is a sale, that they can't afford to lose, irrespective of the currency it's made in.
My bottom line is that I'm in a massive foreign country, with it's own perfectly good currency, which is easily obtained and disposed of.
Part of the experience of that country is dealing in it's own money:p

wallbash

The main reason why many traders (especially in the tourist traps) accept a foreign currency is because they might otherwise miss out on a sale. And for many traders a sale is a sale, that they can't afford to lose, irrespective of the currency it's made in.

Its not the English tourist who has bought this 'problem' to the fore. If the shopkeepers displayed in the Lira , there would be no conflict...... but they do display in the Euro. Do I accept the Lira in change , of course not , Shop keeper does not want to to do business my way , move on to the next shop.
Has the Price been hiked in the Euro , of course it has, BUT its also been raised in the Lira , hence the 'not paying ' the displayed price!
The Turkish Lira is a perfectly good currency , but the shopkeepers ......... still display in the Euro.

lwc86

Hi
I got back from Gumbet, Bodrum on Tuesday and i found everywhere took sterling or euro, we changed our money to lira b4 we went only to find the shops all saying thats £20 and having to say oh no where paying in Lira, which is no problem as they will take anything.
The exchange rate on tuesday in gumbet was 2.31 everywhere all tho we didnt need to change any extra.
If you are going to Gumbet at any point check out Jacks place the service & food there was amazing well worth a visit.We also found Dennys to be very good value for money(£65)for five adults 2 kids n lovely food to.:beer:
Hope that helps.

RaiderHammer

Are there banks / currency changing places in Bitez? Pleanty of places?

Thanks.

RaiderHammer

What are the costs like in Turkey now... Same as UK?

Bottle of beer?

Lunchtime burger snack meal etc?

lwc86

Along Gumbet beach the breakfasts ranged from 7-9 lira for a english cooked breakfast with a orange juice/tea/coffee
Lunch-we didnt eat as we was full up from breakfast
Dinner- they would give you free bread as starter,Chicken fajitas were around 19-25 lira most places, chicken kebabs 20-25 lira, pizza 12-18 lira, childrens meals were mainly 7 lira.
But as you walk past the the waiters try to get you in & give offers like free kids or 15% off your bill on the evening meals (we found they charged us full price on breakfast) we also found that the first night we got really good discount then if we went back a second night they would charge us full price, so i would advice not going to the same place again if you want a good discount.
A large beer was 5 lira everywhere,in our complex the cocktails were 10 lira each but in the town they were 7 lira , 4 lira for a small pepsi a twister ice lolly was 2.50 lira, a small ice cream on the beach front was 4 lira,a large double waffle with chocolate sauce on the beach front was 10 lira but he discounted it to 7lira as he had not fresh fruit for the topping

there was plenty of places the change money in Gumbet, dont no about anywhere else as we just stayed in Gumbet
the bus was 2.50 lira each
Hope that helps

thomsonnick

NO, definitely not, Turkey cheaper then UK, much cheaper, I'm not sure how much is the beer, but it's cheap, they have their own beer Effes (p.s it's a good one and cheap).
and about the currency, it's better to change euro or sterling in Lira, cause turkish men can deceit you and you wouldn't even notice that if you pay in euro, it's less possibility to be screwed up by these foxy people)))

lwc86

Loads of shops selling fake uggs/bags/pursers/sunglasses/trainers/dvds we found we could always knock the price down to half what they orgainally asked for, we also found they can be rude and shout abuse at you if you dont buy something or try to knock them down to much i got called many names a gypsy being 1 of them :shocked: the 1 even shouted argh you english people make me mad :mad: when i said the most id pay for his fake juicy bag was 60 lira.
Be careful with you change also we was given a old 5lira note in a bar called molly mallones we didnt realise till we tried to buy something with it.i no its only £2.50 but its not the point.

Hope u have a lovely time the weather was between 28-32 when we was there,now bk to this horrid english rain

Chrissy1981

Don't forget to take a £10 note each for your visa when you get there. I went to Turkey about 2 years ago and we needed a tenner each to enter the country!

zzzLazyDaisy

And don't assume you can give a £20 note for two people - you need two £10's and they don't accept scottish notes