Two Months in Turkey – Our Expenses

Turkey 2024 – Part 1

We spent approximately two months in Turkey between March and June. Our first visit was 6 weeks including an overnight layover on the way to Georgia. Unfortunately, we did not go the most budget-friendly route as we had a one-way rental car for 35 days. Additionally, we had 3 other rental cars for 10 days total in Rize/Trabzon and Istanbul.

Also, we had a few shorter stays that were not as cost-effective as they could/should have been. Therefore, our housing costs were significantly higher than we wanted. However, they were still fairly reasonable considering several locations were more touristy and it covered our housing for 6 weeks. Our housing for 18 days in Fethiye was reasonably priced at $540 for a 2-bedroom apartment in a great location.

Due to my sister and her husband joining us in Istanbul, we needed a larger place to stay. Since it was her first visit to Turkey we chose an area closer to attractions and public transport near Taksim Square. This is a more expensive area and we could only find a 3-bedroom apartment with free parking. We had planned to visit Şile on the Asian side for a day before we all left for South Africa. Free parking in Istanbul is rare, so this offsets some of the almost $ 200-a-night apartment costs. We had the apartment for 6 nights, which is about 40% of the total housing cost in less than a week.

There was also an expensive taxi ride from the Georgian (Sarpi) border to Rize to get our rental car for the weekend in Trabzon, this was over an hour’s drive and was $70.

Itinerary Part 1

* indicates where we stayed at least one night

Day 1

Istanbul * (layover on the way to Georgia)

Day 2 -5

Trabzon *

Day 6-23

Fethiye *

Day 24-30

Bodrum *

Day 30-32

Ayvalik *

Day 32-39

Çanakkale *

Day 39-44

Istanbul *

Day 45

Şile *

Part 1 Budget (estimated)

Turkey 2024 – Part 2

We spent 12 days in Antalya to take care of some medical appointments we had booked during Part 1. Due to the heatwave that hit the Turkish coast in June, we didn’t go out much. We only ventured out after 7 PM if at all. The high temperatures hit 111F/43C for several days. Since we didn’t have a rental car, we had to rely completely on public transportation, taxis, and Uber. The buses were fine until it became hot (104F/40C at 10 AM) and the air conditioning could not keep up. Additionally, the buses were very crowded as people used them instead of walking making them uncomfortable to ride in.

Therefore, we used Uber to get from the apartment to appointments. This added cost as each visit was roundtrip. I counted at least 14 Uber trips over 12 days, which is a lot considering we also took about 10 bus trips (most were for 2 people). However, the cost wasn’t excessive even with almost a dozen bus rides and 14 Uber trips.

Part 2 Itinerary

Antalya 12 days *

Istanbul 1 night *

Part 2 Budget (estimated)

Medical/Dental Expenses are not included in the totals above.

Totals for Part 1 and 2 (estimated)

Please check out my videos on YouTube from this and other trips.