With the LIRA drop is now the time for Turkey??
Feb 23rd, 2001, 10:22 PM
#2
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It won't make much difference. Due to the inflation, hotel prices are pegged to the dollar. As for the rest of economy, most things in Turkey are already reasonable priced. As for the weather, the south of Turkey is nice even in winter. As for the north, which includes Istanbul, it can still get pretty chilly in march, but it should be OK.
Feb 24th, 2001, 07:36 AM
#3
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As to hotels, last year virtually all our Turkish hotels quoted their prices in US dollars, so the exchange rate really doesn't make much difference. The only problem with that is they quote you an amount in US dollars, then charge it on your credit card in Turkish Lira according to their current exchange rate, then on your credit card it is converted back to US dollars at the current credit card company's rate. Sometimes this works in your favor, sometimes not. Turkey is the one place I traveled with US travelers cheques as several places told us they would give us a 10% discount if paying in US cash or travelers checks. But on the other hand, meals and other expenses will of course be better bargains the higher the dollar goes. Turkey is an incredible bargain any time, and especially out of season as March would be. We even got rates at less than half price in the southern resort areas during June, the seasonal top rates don't go into effect until July.
Feb 24th, 2001, 08:52 AM
#4
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If I recall from other postings, Patrick had booked all his hotels in advance. We arrived in Turkey for a week last September and found our hotels as we went along. None of our hotels were quoted in USD, all were quoted in Turkish lira. That caused some confusion the first time around - with all the zeros, we weren't sure if it was a good deal or a bad deal! We also were staying in less expensive hotels and pensions - at that time they were in the 12M - 15M lira range, so $27 Canadian dollars to $33 Canadian dollars. Since that included the taxes and breakfast, we thought that the rates were extremely reasonable. One of those places even took visa, which we didn't expect. <BR> <BR>We loved our time in Turkey and will definitely be going back. We had planned a week there and 2 weeks in Greece. I could easily have spent all 3 weeks in Turkey. <BR> <BR>
Feb 24th, 2001, 11:32 AM
#6
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Susan, actually we stayed at two hotels on the spur of the moment, driving the coast. Both of those places had their prices printed and posted in British pounds and German Marks only. They mainly get people from those two countries. When I said we'd pay in Turkish Lira, they literally had to look at a current chart and do a calculation for how many lira that would be at the current exchange rate. I thought it was quite weird, but that's the way it was.
