Just Landed in Turkey? Your First 7 Days

Turkey has fast, cheap mobile data with strong 4G and expanding 5G across the big cities. Buy a tourist SIM at the airport or an official store for convenience, or wait for a much cheaper resident package once you have a tax number and address. Remember the 120-day IMEI registration rule for imported phones, which is strictly enforced and cannot be avoided by simply changing SIM.

Typical cost: Tourist SIMs run 800-1,500 TRY for a limited-validity bundle; ongoing monthly resident packages with generous data and minutes cost roughly 400-700 TRY, with home fibre from Türk Telekom or Superonline around 500-900 TRY per month.

The lira is volatile, so many prices track a euro or dollar reference, especially rent and larger purchases, and figures shift noticeably over the year. Card payments are widely accepted in cities and contactless is ubiquitous in chains and malls, but cash remains essential for markets, taxis, small shops, barbers and tips.

Opening an account: İş Bankası, Garanti BBVA, and Ziraat Bankası are the most foreigner-friendly, and Enpara (QNB) offers a straightforward digital option. You need your passport, a tax number, and usually proof of address; some branches insist on a residence permit, so if the first branch refuses, try a larger city-centre branch or a different bank rather than giving up.

Cash: Cash is king outside malls and chains. Keep small notes for taxis, the weekly pazar (street market), and neighbourhood bakkals, many of which give a discount or round down for cash. ATMs are everywhere, but stick to bank-branded machines and decline their on-screen conversion offer.

Tipping: Tipping (bahşiş) is customary but modest: leave 5-10% in restaurants if a servis charge is not already on the bill, round up for taxis, and give a small note to hotel porters and barbers. Tipping is not expected in fast-food or self-service settings.

Foreigners staying beyond their visa or visa-free period must obtain a residence permit (ikamet) and register their address, and this is a genuine legal requirement rather than a formality. Your registered address is tied to the permit, forms the basis of your official residence record, and must be updated within 20 working days if you move. Note that some districts in Istanbul and elsewhere are periodically closed to new foreign address registrations to manage population density, so check current status before committing to a neighbourhood.

Deadline: Apply for the residence permit before your legal stay (visa or visa-free period) expires; address changes must be reported within 20 working days of moving.

Where: Provincial Directorate of Migration Management (Göç İdaresi) via the e-ikamet online system (e-ikamet.goc.gov.tr), followed by an in-person appointment where you submit documents and biometrics.

Istanbul's metro, tram, ferry, Marmaray and Metrobüs network is extensive and cheap with an Istanbulkart, and a single card fare sits around 27-35 TRY with steep discounts on transfers. Traffic is heavy and unpredictable, so rail and ferries usually beat cars across the city. Licensed taxis are yellow, blue or turquoise and are legally required to run the meter, though many resist.

From the airport: From Istanbul Airport (IST), the M11 metro links into the wider network, or the HAVAIST bus runs to Taksim and other hubs for roughly 130-300 TRY. From Sabiha Gökçen (SAW) on the Asian side, take the HAVABÜS shuttle or the M4 metro extension. For taxis from either airport, book through BiTaksi or Uber, or insist on the meter, as fixed 'fares' quoted at the rank are usually inflated.

Most newcomers rent through sahibinden.com or hepsiemlak.com, or via an emlakçı (estate agent) who covers a specific neighbourhood. Furnished short-term flats are common in Istanbul, Antalya and Izmir and suit a soft landing, while unfurnished long-term leases are considerably cheaper but require you to buy white goods and sometimes even light fittings.

Typical rent: A one-bedroom in central Istanbul (Şişli, Beşiktaş, Kadıköy) runs roughly 25,000-45,000 TRY per month, while further out you can find one-beds from around 12,000-18,000 TRY; smaller cities and Anatolia are cheaper again.

Deposit norm: One month's deposit (depozito) is standard, plus one month's rent in advance. Estate agents typically charge a commission of one month's rent plus VAT, and many landlords write leases in a hard currency or index rent to inflation, so read the escalation clause carefully.

Turkey has a strong public system (SGK) and modern, affordable private hospitals, and the standard of care in the major private chains such as Acıbadem, Memorial and Medical Park is high. Public hospitals and family health centres (aile sağlığı merkezi) handle routine care once you are insured; private hospitals offer faster, English-speaking service for a fee.

How to access it: Residence-permit holders can voluntarily enrol in the public SGK scheme after one year of legal residence, paying a monthly premium; employed workers are enrolled through their employer from day one. Until you qualify, use private hospitals paying out of pocket or through a private policy, and remember pharmacies handle minor ailments cheaply.

Insurance: Residence-permit-compliant private health insurance is mandatory to obtain most residence permits for applicants under 65. Local insurers such as Allianz, Anadolu Sigorta and Axa offer permit-compliant policies from roughly 4,000-10,000 TRY per year depending on age and coverage, and the cheapest compliant plans have limited networks.

• Remove your shoes when entering a home; slippers are usually offered at the door and going in with outdoor shoes is a real faux pas.
• Accept tea (çay) when offered and expect it constantly in shops and offices; refusing outright can seem cold, so accept even if you only sip.
• Greet with a handshake, and let women signal first whether they wish to shake hands; between friends, a cheek kiss on both sides is common.
• Dress modestly when visiting mosques: cover shoulders and knees, remove shoes, and women should carry a headscarf.
• Use both hands or your right hand when giving and receiving money or gifts, and stand to greet older people as a sign of respect.
• Expect and accept hospitality graciously; hosts will insist you eat more, and a genuine offer to pay a bill is often a warm ritual rather than a literal expectation.
• Learn a few Turkish courtesies (merhaba, teşekkürler, afiyet olsun); even a little effort is met with real warmth.

• Public criticism of Atatürk, the Turkish state, or sensitive political topics can cause genuine offence and, under insult laws, real legal trouble.
• Ramadan alters business hours, and eating, drinking or smoking in public during daylight is frowned upon in conservative areas.
• Do not photograph military sites, police, or people (especially women) without asking first.
• Be tactful about the Armenian question, the Kurdish issue and Cyprus, which are highly charged; listen more than you opine.
• Avoid loud displays of intoxication; drinking is legal and common but public drunkenness is looked down on outside nightlife zones.