How much does a trip to Turkey cost? Daily budget and prices

Turkey is cheap by Western European standards and mid-priced against Southeast Asia. The three tiers below are per person per day, assuming two people sharing a room at mid-range and comfort level. They exclude international flights, domestic flights, balloon rides and museum passes.

Where you are changes the number more than how you travel. Istanbul, Bodrum, Çeşme and the Antalya resort strip cost noticeably more than Konya, Mardin, Trabzon or inland Anatolia. A mid-range day in Istanbul can be double the same day in Kayseri.

Street food and tea are the cheapest part of a Turkish day. A simit from a cart and a glass of çay cost less than a euro together, and a full lokanta lunch of soup, a stew and bread lands around €6–11. Sit-down restaurants with alcohol push a meal well past ₺1,000 per person.

Museum tickets are the surprise. Foreign visitor prices at Turkey's headline sites are set in euros and paid in lira, so they do not drift with inflation the way food and hotels do. Hagia Sophia's upper gallery is €25 for foreigners, and Topkapı Palace with the Harem runs about €55 — check both before you go.

Accommodation is the biggest line at every level, and it swings hardest by season. A Cappadocia cave room or a Bodrum waterfront hotel in August can cost three times the same room in November. Booking coastal and cave stays outside July–August is the single largest saving available.

Transport is cheap if you use the network. Intercity buses are the budget option, domestic flights on Turkish Airlines, AJet or Pegasus are often under €40 one way when booked early, and the Istanbulkart covers trams, metro, ferries and buses in Istanbul. Taxis and airport transfers are where costs jump; agree on the meter or a fixed price before you get in.

Sights are the third line. If you plan to hit several Istanbul museums, the Museum Pass can beat buying separately — check the current price and which sites it covers, because the list changes.

Contactless cards work in most hotels, restaurants, shops and supermarkets, but Turkey still runs on cash for the small stuff: tea houses, market stalls, public toilets, dolmuş minibuses and tips. Carry a few hundred lira in small notes.

Use ATMs from the big banks — Ziraat, İş Bankası, Garanti, Akbank — and always choose to be charged in lira rather than letting the machine convert to your home currency. Withdrawal fees of ₺100–300 are common, so take out larger amounts less often.

Tipping is normal but modest: round up in taxis and cafés, and leave 5–10% in restaurants where service is not already added. Many hotels, tours and balloon operators quote in euros; paying in lira by card is often cheaper than paying the euro price in cash.

Two forces move Turkish prices: inflation and the calendar. Inflation has stayed in double digits, so lira prices for food, hotels and transport rise several times a year — treat every figure on this page as a 2026 estimate and recheck close to departure.

The calendar matters just as much. July and August, the two Bayram holidays, New Year and the April–May tulip season push Istanbul and the Aegean coast to their highest rates. Late September to early November and March to May give the same trip for noticeably less, with thinner crowds at the big sites.

Eat where locals eat. Lokantas, esnaf lokantası canteens and pide or lahmacun shops serve full meals for a fraction of a tourist-strip restaurant, and the food is usually better. Breakfast from a bakery plus tea costs almost nothing.

Move by public transport and intercity bus. Overnight buses between major cities save a hotel night and a flight. In Istanbul, the Istanbulkart and ferries are far cheaper than taxis, and the ferry is also the best sightseeing value in the city.

Travel outside peak season, stay one neighbourhood back from the waterfront or the main square, and pick one paid sight per day rather than buying every ticket. A balloon flight is the one big-ticket item most travellers decide on before they arrive — it is worth pricing early.