Turkey during Ramdan?
 

I just realized that the whole month of September is Ramadan. Has anyone traveled in Turkey during this time? I'd be going probably to Istanbul, Izmir, Cappadocia, and maybe Kas, the more touristy areas. Will transportation and museum/historical monuments hours be limited?

Thanks,

Heather

If you're not a muslim you'll hardly notice. Turkey is pretty secular (and proud of it).

The only thing to watch out for is to try to avoid restaurants at sundown - as they will be full of ravenous turks.

Yes, I was in Istanbul in October 2006 during the last days of Ramadan and in my opinion, could not have been luckier to have been there at that time. It was a marvellous period to observe, especially as sunset neared each day and the faithful throngs lined up patiently at the large outdoor eating areas waiting for the call of the mullah to break their fast while mouth-watering aromas and piles of delicious steaming food waited to be served out. The tables each have neatly arranged plates of dates waiting to be eaten to break the fast.
There is a sense of joyous celebration every evening when the fast is broken with a carnival atmosphere around the makeshift stalls and booths set up around the periphery of the larger mosques. Crowds picnic in the twilight on any grassy spot to be found while families laugh and play while eating together. This lasts from around 6.00 pm to 2.00am each day by my observances in Istanbul. Stroll around and take in the craft booths, the music, dancing, performances, food and often, fireworks as 'Bayram' (the 'Eid' celebration marking the end of Ramadan) approaches.

I didn't notice any limitation in visitation hours to interesting sites during this period, though bear in mind that the mosques will be crowded in the evening.

Great. thanks so much. i did read that the last three days are very celebratory, but wasn't sure about the rest of the month.

Here's my experience with Ramadan in Turkey:
We flew from Istanbul to Skopje and when we arrived in Skopje, there was NO luggage on the plane. The explanation was "the luggage handlers were too weak to load luggage since they had not eaten all day!!" We were stuck in Skopje for 3 days without luggage.

JaneB,

Crap..that does suck. How long ago was that?

2007 Ramadan

Anything else good or bad? Was it difficult to find places to eat during the day? Were hotels less open?

Thanks,

Heather

No trouble finding eating places during the day, as not everyone is obligated to fast.
Some restaurants (not many) may serve food in an enclosed area for privacy in respect of those fasting, but it is not prohibited to serve or consume food during the day. In the main areas of Istanbul and other major towns and cities, the restaurants operate as normal to my eye.

The hotels were no less open than usual, and no reason not to be.

Half my time in Istanbul was during Ramadan (beginning of November - it was chilly) - the only "bump" I encountered was not being able to have wine with my lunch at a fairly nice restaurant. Besides that - the food vendors around the Blue Mosque were great. September should be delightful.