Istanbul Ili Travel Forum

HI, ANYONE CAN TELL ME WHAT THE PREFER CURRENCY IN ISTANBUL. WHAT ABOUT THE PRICE FOR GOODS THERE ( SUCH AS SOUVENIR OR CLOTH ). IS IT HIGH?????????

ACTUALLY THIS IS MY FIRST TIME TO MIDDLE EAST.

PLEASE ADVISE ME. TQ

Hi
turkish Money is YTL and you can change your USD and Euros easily aswell any other currency accepted by banks...
ın order to help you about the prices please tell us what is your high price for cloths and souvenirs
your welcome to Turkiye

Salamat datang to Istanbul

YTL. 1 US$ =1,24 YTL 1€=1,95 YTL.It s higher than MYR.
for cloth yo can by a jean from outlet centre about 30USD.Tshirts about 5-10$
You can check my shopping tips.

Also I recommend to you do not think here is totaly like middle east.
A mixure middle east and europe.Some parts of teh Istanbul is not like middle east some part is %100 middle east.

I recommend to you not make shopping in touristy area .Read my tourist traps tips.

Go to shopping centres on markets where locals go.

Cheers

Hi,

regarding your first question, you may want to have a look at my blog Istanbul Trails (http://www.istanbultrails.com/index.php/2008/02/24/hard-currency-plastic-or-turkish-liras/)

About shopping, I second the other reply. Don't go souvenir hunting in typical tourist areas, since you'll always pay more. If you do find yourself in one of those shops, bargain. Turks love to bargain and you'll certainly get something off the price. If you go shopping in the Grand Bazaar, you can only consider having a bargain if you got at least 35% of the initial price.

But as said before, try to avoid the tourist areas when shopping. You also may be tempted to go to shopping malls in the city center, like Cevahir (Şişli), Akmerkez (Etiler), and others. They are very nice, but aren't exactly cheap either. For the cheapest deals, try to go to local shops.

Have a nice holiday.

Cheers,
Max