Turkey vacations 2024 & 2025

In Turkey, you can explore well-preserved Greco-Roman cities and ornate mosques, visit spice markets and bazaars, tour the Gallipoli battlefields, learn to cook traditional cuisine in a local home, or relax along the Turquoise Coast.

Turkey offers a myriad of immersive experiences, whether you’re interested in history, geology, art, food, or nature. You can hike to hidden monasteries, Greek amphitheatres, and medieval castles, take a hot air balloon flight over the fairy chimneys and rock-cut churches of Cappadocia, or watch the whirling meditations of Sufi dervishes.

Along the coast you’ll find sheltered beaches at the foot of pine-clad hills, vineyards producing excellent wines, and traditional wooden gulets to sail you from cove to cove.

In Turkey, you can stay in luxurious boutique hotels, stylish, modern townhouses, local guesthouses, and even a cave hotel. You’ll find a wide range of options in Istanbul and on the Bodrum Peninsula, with sleek beachfront hotels as well as urban retreats offering pools, a choice of restaurants, and well-tended gardens.

In Cappadocia, you could stay in a rock-cut hotel for a touch of local character, while on the coast you could opt to take a private cruise on a traditional Turkish gulet. For more ideas, browse our collection of places to stay in Turkey.

Most visitors to Turkey combine a visit to the coast with time in Cappadocia, Istanbul, or Antalya. Set on the meeting point of Europe and the Middle East, Istanbul is a fascinating place to explore, its Byzantine and Ottoman-era architecture showcased in the Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, and Blue Mosque.

You’ll find more historical interest in Greco-Roman Ephesus, one of the best-preserved classical cities in the Mediterranean, and in Antalya where the narrow, cobbled streets are flanked by grand Roman-Ottoman buildings.

By contrast, the fairytale landscape of Cappadocia with its monasteries, cave dwellings, and frescoed churches feels almost otherworldly. You’ll also find UNESCO-protected travertine terraces in Pamukkale, vineyards and olive groves in Şirince, and clear, warm waters, golden sands, and Greek ruins along the Turquoise Coast.

It takes around 11 hours to fly from the East Coast of the US to Turkey and around 13 and a half hours from the West Coast.

The time zone in Turkey is UTC+3 hours. Turkey does not observe Daylight Savings Time.

The best way to get around Turkey is to combine car journeys with domestic flights. We will arrange for you to have a driver-guide who will take you from city to city and help you gain further insight into the places you visit. For long distances, such as Istanbul to Cappadocia, an internal flight is fast and efficient. For more local journeys, the public bus system can take you to popular sights and attractions close to your hotel.

US nationals do require a visa for Turkey. This can be obtained online before your trip on the eVisa Application System. This visa can then either be printed and brought along as a paper copy or shown electronically on your phone.

Your doctor can provide you with immunization advice for Turkey, but you should also ensure you’re up to date with the recommended vaccinations for your home country. You can also check the recommended vaccinations by visiting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

Your passport should be valid for a minimum of six months from the date of entry into Turkey and should have at least one full page free.

In Turkey, you should wear long, loose clothing that covers the shoulders and knees, especially when visiting more conservative rural areas. It’s also a good idea to bring some warmer layers if you’re planning to visit Cappadocia. Beachwear is fine along the coast, but you should cover up in public everywhere else.

You can visit mosques in Turkey, but you should follow some basic rules when doing so. It’s essential to dress respectfully and wear clothes that cover your shoulders and knees. Women will also be expected to cover their heads. You’ll also need to remove your shoes at the door.

Turkey’s mosques are often the most impressive buildings in any town or city and generally welcome visitors. However, they’ll be closed to non-Muslim visitors at prayer times.

During Ramadan in Turkey, you should be respectful of others fasting and not eat or drink in public during daylight hours. Although some restaurants will close or change their opening hours, many remain open, and you can eat here during the day as normal. The iftar meal, when observant Muslims break their fast, is often a communal, open-air gathering of friends and families and is a lively part of the day with lots of people sitting outside to eat in parks or public places.