currency


Istanbul is the large city of Turkey with a population of about 13 million people which makes it one of the large cities in Europe. The city sits on both Asia and Europe that makes it arguably the merely city that is located on two continents. Istanbul used to be the capital to Byzantine Empire until it was suppressed by Ottomans in 1453. The date is seen in Modern history to be the end of Middle Ages. The Modern day Istanbul is very unlike than what is used to be and confronted many changes and challenges since the end of Ottoman Empire during the beginning of 20th century. Due to its arrant location, Istanbul throughout centuries has ne’er lost its significant status as a port of commerce and an ethnic center. As Turkey’s economy has late began to burst again in the last few decades, the city has again began showing changes of travelling backward to its glamourous days. Istanbul is one of the nine candidates for the approaching 2012 Summer Olympics and it besides hosts many unlike external conferences and exhibitions throughout the year.

ATM’s are widely available throughout Istanbul and you should have no problems if you land in the city with nothing but a credit card. Credit cards, however are usually not accepted by most of the government agencies, public museums or other historic places run by the government. You may frequently have to run into an ATM and withdraw some cash to cover for such expenses. Visa and MasterCard are two of the most popular credit cards and they are accepted by almost every merchant that has a processing machine. However, you may have difficulties at some places if you are carrying an American Express Credit Card. Most of the touristic places, larger shops and hotels will accept American Express but still you have a better chance carrying a Visa or a MasterCard with you rather than running into a merchant that does not accept AMEX. If you are traveling to the suburbs, you may want to stop by an ATM and withdraw some cash while you are still in the city. Citibank branches provide the option of making withdrawals in multiple type of currencies such as US Dollar or Turkish Yeni Lira.

Exchange bureaus are identical popular in touristic areas and usually are easy to spot. They exchange almost all currencies and charge no commission while offering good exchange rates. The change bureaus at the airport or most of the hotels do usually not charge a fee either but they offer worse exchange rates. You should try to hedging exchanging the bulk of you currency at the airport. Instead, try to exchange an amount that you think will be enough for a day or two and save the rest to the city.