How expensive is a trip through Turkey? What is a travel budget for Turkey? In this blog we answer the question how much money a backpack trip through Turkey costs. We also tell you what a realistic daily budget for Turkey as a backpacker and how high the prices in Turkey are!
Is Turkey a budget destination?
I was pleasantly surprised at how low the prices in Turkey are. It is certainly not as cheap as Southeast Asia, but for a few euros you can eat delicious food and accommodation is not expensive. If you travel by public transport and eat mainly at local restaurants, a trip through Turkey is certainly doable on a small budget!
Turkey is a surprising location anyway. Outside of the standard beach resorts, the country has so much to offer, beautiful culture, very varied landscapes and delicious food! This is certainly not the last time we will visit Turkey, I am already looking forward to the next trip through this beautiful country!
What is a realistic daily travel budget for Turkey?
As a backpacker, a trip through Turkey is realistic for an amount of 35 euros per person per day. This daily budget for Turkey includes travel by public transport, sleeping in hostels and cooking as much as possible.
Do you have a larger budget? Then 60 euros per person per day is a large daily budget for Turkey. For this, you sleep in nice hotels and B & Bs, eat outside and travel by plane.
What does a trip through Turkey cost?
If you travel as a backpacker for two weeks through Turkey with a daily budget of 35 euros per day, you will lose an average of € 490 euros per person. For a tour through Turkey with a slightly larger budget, you spend an average of € 840 per person.
Note: these daily budgets for Turkey do not include airline tickets.
How much do airline tickets to Turkey cost?
Flying (from Europe) to Turkey can be very cheap if you book on time. Click here for the best flight deals to Turkey!
Read on to see our exact expenses during this holiday in Turkey and to find useful budget tips to make your holiday to Turkey cheaper!
How much money did we spend in Turkey?
First, a disclaimer: Everyone travels in his or her own way and has other priorities. That’s completely fine, but keep this in mind when you read through our costs. It can always be more expensive or cheaper.
We travelled through Turkey for two weeks. The reason to visit Turkey was because of a wedding of close friends in Antalya. In addition to Antalya, we also visited Istanbul and spent four days in Cappadocia.
Things to do in Istanbul: what you should not miss when visiting Istanbul!
Quick facts on our travel budget for Turkey
Number of days: 15
Total spent in Turkey: ₺8,629 / € 1,362.87 / $1,501.40
Expenses per person: ₺4,316 / € 681.44 / $750.95
Avg. spend per day in Turkey: ₺575.32 / € 90.86 / $100.10
Our budget for Turkey: ₺696.51 / € 110 / $ 121.18
Days on or under budget: 11
Days above budget: 4
All expenses are for two people and are calculated based on exchange rates during the trip. This does not include our airline tickets. The currencies shown are: Turkish Lira (₺), Euro (€) and USA Dollar ($).
How expensive are hotels in Turkey: 46.9% of total travel budget Turkey
Total spent: ₺4,049 / € 639.40 / $ 704.39
Number of nights: 14
Average overnight stay for 2 people: ₺289.18 / € 45.67 / $ 50.31
Most of our expenses were on accommodation. In Istanbul as well as in Cappadocia we slept in very simple hostels (no more than € 35 per night). But in Antalya we slept in the beautiful Akra hotel. This is also where the wedding for which we came to Turkey took place. Akra hotel is at €78 per night a lot more expensive, but how nice it was to sleep in luxury!
If you are traveling on a budget, keep in mind that the accommodation can be much cheaper! There are many nice hostels and guesthouses in Turkey.
Below you will find the hotels where we stayed at in Turkey:
Istanbul: Jumba Hostel
Cappadocia: hotel Gordis Evi
Antalya: Akra hotel
How expensive is transport in Turkey: 20.8% of the total budget Turkey
Total spent: ₺71,794 / € 283.46 / $ 312.27
Taxi: ₺6386 / € 60.97 / $ 67.17
Domestic flights: ₺831183 / € 186.90 / $ 205.90
Public transport: ₺225 / € 35.59 / $ 39.21
Because we visited three different places in Turkey in two weeks and did not want to waste too much time on traveling, we took the plane three times. Domestic flights in Turkey are very cheap, we paid less than 100 euros per person for these three flights. Furthermore, Uber in Istanbul is very cheap (unless you come from the airport, both airports are far outside the city). Public transport is also inexpensive.
Tip 1: Are you flying to Istanbul? Then it is best to take the Havabus to travel to the city centre. This bus is cheap and doesn’t take much longer than a taxi.
Tip 2: Buy an Istanbul Kart for less than €1.50, with this you travel for much less money with public transport. You can buy this card at small kiosks on the street. If you hand in the card, you will also get the purchase amount back.
Must read before visiting Cappadocia: highlights Cappadocia blog!
How expensive is food and restaurants in Turkey: 24.8% of the total budget Turkey
Total spent: ₺2,137 / € 337.55 / $ 371.86
Of which from food and drinks: ₺1,867 / € 294.9 / $ 324.87
Including groceries: ₺270.06 / € 42.65 / $ 46.99
I love the Turkish cuisine!!! So much fresh and healthy food, with a lot of taste and local products. We ate out most of our time in Turkey. Sometimes very extensive dinners, other times easy and cheap. You already have a nice Turkish meal for less than 5 euros per person!
How expensive are activities in Turkey: 1.9% of total travel budget Turkey
Total spent: ₺163 / € 25.82 / $ 28.44
Most of the activities we did in Turkey were free. We hiked a lot in Cappadocia, in Istanbul we visited several beautiful neighbourhoods and in Antalya, we enjoyed the nice weather. The costs we incurred in terms of activities were mainly in museums such as the Hagia Sofia.
Tip: we bought our Hagia Sofia tickets online in advance. This saves a lot of waiting time in line! Click here to also book tickets and a tour.
Hot air balloons in Cappadocia: The best locations to spot them!
Other: 5.6% of total budget Turkey
Total spent: ₺ 485.28 / € 76.64 / $ 84.43
Of which on a SIM card: ₺164 / € 25.98 / $ 28.62
Beauty products: ₺83 / € 13.16 / $ 14.50
Of which visa: ₺237 / € 37.50 / $ 41.31
A SIM card and credit in Turkey is not cheap. We chose a SIM card from Turk Telekom with 10 GB internet and 750 calling minutes. The cost of this? Just under 26 euros. This is the cheapest telephone provider.
Nowadays you need a visa to enter Turkey. We bought this visa online in advance.
Read all about our Turkey itinerary in this blog!
What are the costs of food in Turkey?
Below you will find the prices of food and othing things you would buy when backpacking in Turkey
- Kilo of apples: ₺5 / € 0.79 / $ 0.87
- 500 Ml olive oil: ₺21 / € 3.30 / $ 3.66
- Bag of chips: ₺5 / € 0.79 / $ 0.87
- Kilo of bananas: ₺8.49 / € 1.34 / $ 1.48
- Yoghurt (0.5L): ₺4 / € 0.63 / $ 0.70
- Bread: ₺3 / € 0.47 / $ 0.52
- Kilo of avocado: ₺16.95 / € 2.67 / $ 2.95
- Milk (1L): ₺5 / € 0.79 / $ 0.87
- Bottle of Coke (1L): ₺3.5 / € 0.55 / $ 0.61
- Nutella (750 ml): ₺17.90 / € 2.82 / $ 3.12
- Water (1.5L): ₺2 / € 0.31 / $ 0.35
- Wine in supermarket (750 ml): ₺35 / € 5.50 / $ 6.10
- Beer in the supermarket: ₺11 / € 1.73 / $ 1.92
- Bottle of shampoo: ₺13 / € 2.04 / $ 2.26
- Cappuccino: ₺13 / € 2.04 / $ 2.26
- Glass of wine in restaurant: ₺20 / € 3.15 / $ 3.48
- Local beer in a restaurant: ₺15 / € 2.36 / $ 2.61
- Simple lunch / evening meal (1 person): ₺35 / € 5.50 / $ 6.10
- 1 Liter diesel: ₺6.9 / € 1.09 / $ 1.20
What is a realistic daily budget for backpacking in Turkey?
A realistic daily budget for Turkey is 35 euros per day per person when you are backpacking. You will sleep in hostels or guesthouses, eat at local Turkish restaurants and mainly travel by public transport.
Our daily average was a bit higher at 45 euros per person, but that was mainly because we flew a lot and because of the luxury hotel where we stayed in Antalya. Had we not flown and stayed in a budget hotel every night, our average would have been €32.53 per person per day.
Click here for all my blogs on Turkey
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