Turkey is still cheaper than a holiday in Spain or Portugal for food, drink, transport and hotels, but it is no longer the bargain it was. Budget travellers can get by on roughly £35–50 a day, a comfortable mid-range trip runs £80–130 a day, and the big-ticket items (museum entry, balloon flights, Istanbul hotels) are now priced in euros at Western European levels. This guide gives you the real numbers in pounds for 2027.
When we checked on 6 November 2026, £1 bought about ₺67 (Turkish lira). The lira loses value against the pound every year, so lira prices on menus climb constantly while the pound cost stays roughly flat. That is why we quote everything in £ below. If you see a lira price, divide by roughly 65–70 to get pounds. Check the live rate before you fly; it will have moved by the time you read this.
Two things to know up front. First, the Turkish government now charges foreign visitors in euros at state museums and palaces, and many Istanbul hotels and Cappadocia balloon companies quote in euros too. Second, cards are accepted almost everywhere, but you still need lira cash for taxis, small cafés, markets and tips. See our money guide for cards, ATMs and avoiding bad exchange rates.
These are per-person figures for a two-person trip, excluding flights. Solo travellers should add 20–30% because rooms are the biggest cost and you are not splitting them.
| Style | Per person per day | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Backpacker | £35–50 | Hostel dorm or basic pension (£10–20), lokanta and street food, public transport, one paid sight a day |
| Mid-range | £80–130 | Three-star or boutique hotel (£45–90 per room), sit-down meals with a drink, a taxi or two, museums and a hammam |
| Comfort | £150–250 | Four or five-star hotel (£130–300+ per room in Istanbul), restaurant dinners with wine, private transfers, guided tours |
| All-inclusive resort | £60–120 | Package price per night typically covers room, meals and local drinks; add money for excursions, extras and tips |
Istanbul and Bodrum sit at the top of each range. Antalya, Fethiye and inland Turkey sit at the bottom. Cappadocia is cheap until you add a balloon flight, which can double a day’s spend on its own.
Eating is where Turkey still wins. A proper lunch in a lokanta (a cafeteria-style local restaurant) costs £5–9 and is better than most tourist-strip dinners. The figures below are typical ranges we collected for 2026 from Istanbul and the Antalya coast; tourist-trap locations in Sultanahmet and marina fronts charge more.
| Item | Typical price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Simit (sesame bread ring) | £0.30–0.50 | Breakfast on the go |
| Çay (tea) | £0.50–1.00 | Often free in shops |
| Turkish coffee | £1–3 | Cappuccino £3–4 in Istanbul chains |
| 1.5 litre water (supermarket) | £0.20–0.40 | Restaurants charge £1–2 for a small bottle |
| Döner wrap / dürüm | £2–5 | Up to £6 in resorts |
| Lahmacun | £1–2 | Order two |
| Turkish breakfast (serpme kahvaltı), per person | £8–15 | Usually a shared spread; two people can share one |
| İskender or main kebab in a restaurant | £7–13 | |
| Efes 50cl in a bar | £3–5 | £5–7 in beach clubs and rooftops |
| Glass of rakı or wine | £4–9 | Alcohol is heavily taxed |
| Cocktail | £9–13 | Bodrum and Istanbul rooftops higher |
| Dinner for two with drinks, mid-range | £25–50 | £45–70 with wine on a Bosphorus view |
Hotel prices are the cost that has risen fastest. Istanbul’s Sultanahmet and Galata have moved firmly into European big-city territory, and a decent double with breakfast is now £60–110 in mid-season, £130–300 for anything with a Bosphorus view. Cave hotels in Göreme run £55–110 for a mid-range room and £180–450 for the premium ones with the balloon-view terrace. On the coast, a good three-star in Fethiye, Kaş or Side is £35–70 a night, and all-inclusive packages from the UK are often cheaper than booking room-only and eating out, especially in Antalya. See where to stay in Istanbul for neighbourhood advice, and search our hotel listings.
Getting around is cheap once you are there. Istanbul’s public transport runs on the Istanbulkart; a single full fare is ₺46.20 (about £0.70) since 20 July 2026 on metro, tram and bus, with Marmaray and ferries priced by distance. Read our Istanbulkart guide before you arrive. Istanbul taxis have a regulated meter: from 20 July 2026 the flag fall is ₺71.94, then ₺47.92 per kilometre, with a ₺230 minimum fare, so a 5 km ride costs roughly £4.50–5. Overcharging is the problem, not the tariff; see our scams guide. Airport transfers are a bigger line: budget £15–25 by taxi from Istanbul Airport to Sultanahmet, or under £3 by Havaist bus and metro (details in Istanbul Airport to the city centre).
This is the budget line that surprises people. Foreigners pay a separate euro tariff at state sites, and it is steep. Figures are from the Ministry of Culture’s muze.gov.tr and the National Palaces where we could verify them; others are the prices listed when we checked and should be confirmed before you go.
| Sight | Foreign visitor price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hagia Sophia (upper gallery visit) | €25 | Verified on muze.gov.tr; open daily 09:00–20:00, not in the Museum Pass |
| Topkapı Palace with Harem and Hagia Irene | ₺2,750 (about £41) | Official National Palaces price, November 2026; closed Tuesdays. See our Topkapı guide |
| Galata Tower | €30 | Open 08:30–18:30; confirm price on muze.gov.tr |
| Istanbul Archaeological Museums | €15 | |
| Dolmabahçe Palace | about €35–40 | National Palaces; not in Museum Pass |
| Museum Pass Istanbul (5 days) | €105 | Listed price when we checked, reported to rise in April 2027; confirm on muze.gov.tr |
| Göreme Open Air Museum | €15–20 | |
| Cappadocia balloon flight | €150–250 | Premium small-basket flights €200–350 |
| Hammam with scrub and massage | £35–80 | Historic Istanbul baths at the top; see our hammam guide |
Two adults doing Hagia Sophia, Topkapı, Galata Tower and the Archaeological Museums will spend around €200 on tickets alone. Whether the Istanbul Museum Pass saves you money depends on how many state sites you visit in five days; our pass guide does the arithmetic.
| Trip | Per person, 7 nights | Breakdown |
|---|---|---|
| Istanbul city break, mid-range couple | £650–900 | Hotel £300–450, food and drink £200–280, sights £150, transport £40 |
| Istanbul plus Cappadocia, mid-range | £900–1,300 | As above plus flight £60, cave hotel £180–300, balloon £150–220, tours £60 |
| Fethiye or Kaş, self-catering couple | £400–600 | Apartment £200–300, groceries and meals out £150–220, boat trip and sights £50–80 |
| Antalya all-inclusive | Package price plus £120–250 | Excursions, drinks outside the hotel, tips, souvenirs |
Add return flights: London to Istanbul, Antalya or Dalaman typically costs £120–280 return outside school holidays, more in late July and August. Irish travellers should budget a bit more; there are fewer direct flights from Dublin.
For eating, drinking tea, public transport, taxis, markets and mid-range hotels on the coast, yes, clearly cheaper than the UK or Ireland, often by half. For hotels in Istanbul, museum entry, alcohol, balloon flights and anything priced in euros, no, you will pay what you would in Lisbon or Rome. The right way to think about it: your flights and sightseeing cost European prices, and your day-to-day living costs are where you save. Travellers who ate out three times a day, took taxis and visited a museum daily in 2016 and now find Turkey expensive are mostly feeling the euro tariffs and Istanbul hotel inflation.
Timing also matters. Late April to mid-June and mid-September to October give you good weather at shoulder-season prices; see best time to visit Turkey.
For a mid-range couple staying in pre-paid hotels, £350–500 per person covers food, drinks, transport, a few sights and tips for seven days. Backpackers can manage on £200–300. Add museum entry in euros on top if you plan to do several state sites.
Take a fee-free card and withdraw lira from bank ATMs in Turkey. Bring a little euro cash if you have it; hotels and tour companies that price in euros accept it, and it keeps its value. Pounds are accepted at exchange offices but you will lose on the double conversion.
Hotels and nightlife, yes, by a wide margin. Food and transport are similar or cheaper in Istanbul because you can eat where locals eat and use the Istanbulkart instead of taxis.
Rules vary by site and the discounts listed on muze.gov.tr are mostly for Turkish citizens. Assume you pay full foreign price for anyone over about 8 unless the ticket office says otherwise.
Because the lira is volatile. Euro pricing lets the ministry hold prices steady for foreign visitors. You can pay by card in lira at the equivalent rate.
Money in Turkey · Tipping in Turkey · Istanbul Museum Pass: is it worth it? · Is Turkey safe? FCDO advice
Prices and rules checked on 8 November 2026 against official sources and change often; always confirm before you travel. Sources: muze.gov.tr (Hagia Sophia), muze.gov.tr (Galata Tower), Pound Sterling Live GBP/TRY, EY: Türkiye accommodation tax, gov.uk FCDO Turkey.