Last Updated
This post may have affiliate links, which means we may receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you!) if you choose to purchase through them. Here's our Disclosure & Privacy Policy for more info.
This post may have affiliate links, which means we may receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you!) if you choose to purchase through them. Here's our Disclosure & Privacy Policy for more info.
Last Updated
Jeanette
Saturday 19th of December 2020
Hi Thom, I was just în Turkey last week (arrived the Sunday of the first weekend lockdown and left on Monday after the second one). Assuming nothing changes, in theory most tourist stuff is "open" during the week,at least in Sultanahmet and Taksim. The problem is more the kind of people it's drawing - almost every tourist I encountered was either straight up a virus denier or at least a skeptic, and a lot were going out of their way to go so far as to intentionally sneeze on people – which is gross even without a pandemic – as if it were a purity test or something. The weekend lockdowns, which I imagine are there to stay for awhile, would also be rather difficult to deal with in terms of food outside of heavy tourist areas such as Sultanahmet if your hotel doesn't have food.
In the end we were planning on staying there for Christmas but moved on to North Macedonia as I didn't want my diabetic partner who was joining me for Christmas to have to deal with the hygiene issues from the other tourists. So far we feel like it's been a good choice, and we do plan on watching as the situation develops and possibly return in January.
Thom
Saturday 19th of December 2020
Thanks a lot for the info and clarifications. I know you update all articles regularly, bus are there any news about new restrictions or extension of the lockdown/curfew? I'm going there mid-january and wonder if the situation will change by then - for the better or for the worse!
Jeanette Brickner
Monday 30th of November 2020
I'm sure ou guys are working on it, but there were new restrictions announced today. I'm flying there on Sunday and I eagerly await your article or update because it's hard to get info at the moment. Thanks for keeping us all up to date on everything!
Leena
Tuesday 24th of November 2020
Is health insurance mandatory for all tourists?
Kashlee Kucheran
Tuesday 24th of November 2020
I don't believe it is required for entry, but everyone should have it during these times
Christian
Sunday 22nd of November 2020
Too bad that Turkey is following the path of many of its European neighbors. Traveling to Turkey without any entry requirement is nice, but quite useless once inside the country when everything is closed. Mexico definitely stands out as the best country to vacation to.