Asking for your Holiday/ Traveller Tips.

[whocanbebothered]

I am in my 30s and in two weeks I am off on my first "real" holiday abroad. Going for a week in the sun with my DP (Turkey, incase it's relevant to anyone's advice). I haven't ever been abroad without my parents so I am SO excited!

I know the basics; clothes, suncream (but how much do I take?!), paracetamol!

I'd appreciate your pearls of wisdom for what you pack for holidays, what things are invaluable, what entertains you on the plane (we have 5 hrs in the sky), any little things that aren't really "necessary" but makes life easier whilst there etc. Any massive do's and don't when you are travelling? Go on, give me your combined knowledge please MN

Probably should have Googled that one first - apparently you don't have to any more. This thread is useful.

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g293969-i367-k11754063-L10_entry_fee-Turkey.html

Oh, and no need for the English tenner, that was donkeys years ago and was for your visa on arrival.

I second travel lightly.
Years of experience has shown me you don’t need eg a different dress each night and take a dress that you could double up for breakfast / day out plus evening wear. Get more than one wear out of things where possible.

I have gone a bit mental with the holiday clothes buying, so the packing lightly might be tricky, but I'll do my best

We have 15kg hold luggage and 8kg hand luggage (each), so I'm sure I will be fine weight-wise. DP will take about 6 pairs of shorts and some flip flops, so I can always hijack some of his case if needs be!

If you have any Turkey specific question feel free to ask me. I'm in my sixth year of living here and happy to help in any way.

@professionalnomad That's awesome, thankyou.

We are visiting Marmaris, not sure if that is anywhere near where you are. If it happens to be, we are keen to do a couple of the excursions, do you happen to know any that you would recommend?

Also, some people above have mentioned taking our passports & visas with us when we are out and about, as is the law. Is this often checked? I'm now really worried about this as I can make a safe bet I would lose it (I lose stuff ALOT!). I would like to weigh up the strong change of me losing my passport against the chances of it ever being asked for!

Any massive "Do Nots" that I should be aware of?

@professionalnomad I have also seen some ambiguous info online re. the currency; I have read that English notes are taken, as is Euros and Lira. Not sure what I should be converting my GBP into? I was thinking of getting £100 English, £100 Euros and £100 Lira, and lifting the rest from ATMs as & when required.

I have ordered a Monzo card thanks to the helpful advice on this thread, so that should minimise any charges for lifting money!

Take 2 bottles of good factor 30 sun lotion & 1 bottle of after sun.

For the plane you may like to take a neck pillow, headphones/ ear buds & music on your device (I like to block out the drunks etc) a book (for any delays).

I would say make sure you know the official exchange rate and watch out for the rate used if paying in a currency other than Lira.

There was a post a few weeks ago where someone managed to spend ONE HUNDRED POUNDS on pick and mix in a country where they don't use the euro (an Eastern European one, can't remember which) and part of the issue was that there is an apparently common scam where shops and restaurants use their own exchange rate that is massively in their favour (airlines also do this, btw).

It was something like 28 things of local currency, lets call it 30, you get 4.5 things to the pound, lets call it 3, so that's £10 please, when simply dividing 28 by 4.5 which is what you should do, comes out at £6.20, so of course they are happy to accept pounds and euros, because you will be giving them more money.

So when you pay for things in your Monzo, pay in Lira only, and then you get the official exchange rate. Or use it to withdraw some Lira and use cash.

Loads of excellent advice and tips on this thread.
Thought I would add that if either of you has prescription meds, make sure you carry them in your hand luggage (in their original packaging) in case of luggage loss or delay. Also, be sure to check that all said meds (despite being available in the UK) are legal in Turkey. I always carry a copy of my prescriptions along with my meds.
I also second splitting your clothes 50/50 between 2 suitcases - better safe than sorry.
Another thing I always use on longer flights is a product like Vicks First Defence or Boots own label similar. Plane cabins are an absolute breeding ground for colds etc, and there's nothing worse than a bad cold on holiday. Have a lovely time!

Packing cubes are amazing!!! Use them every holiday so know where everything is.

Pack a bikini and spare underwear in your hand luggage in case bag gets lost so you won’t be totally lost whilst they sort it.

Been to Marmaris twice this year and didn't carry our passports with us once there. Reps didn't mention that either.
We took a couple of cruises from the marina. Very reasonable and lots of fun.
We took Sterling, but lots of places wanted Euros.

@whocanbebothered
I'm outside Istanbul but have visited the coast numerous times. Marmaris is lovely - you'll have a good time. It is very very used to British tourists so don't worry about communication or anything like that. I would recommend doing a boat tour for a day for sure - it's definitely worth getting a smaller boat. You also aren't far from Dalyan - worth doing a river boat, seeing turtle beach and enjoying the hot springs there. A good day trip.

You can also visit Rhodes for the day so two countries in one trip! Plenty of ATM machines everywhere - only pay in TL and BARGAIN! Make sure you check your bills and don't buy anything without asking the price first including food in restaurants. They can be a wee bit cheeky which is understandable as we are experiencing a pretty horrendous economic crisis at the moment. Enjoy it! Turkey is a wonderful country and people are very nice. The landscapes are beautiful and the food is nice too.

And I forgot to say - don't need to carry your passport - if you are feeling nervous - just take a photo of it on your phone. That's what I have for emergencies but anyone stops you I'll be very very surprised.

Email a copy of your documents to you (photocopying is old school but still works).

Make sure you use the hotel safe otherwise your valuables are not protected.

Be careful around the resort/pool when its wet as the tiles can be slippery.

Take aqua shoes as the Turkish resorts are often pebble beaches.

Be careful when the men when having a massage, they can be inappropriate and rub side boobs. You'll notice as the doors in the rooms are often open due to this issue.

Drink plenty of water, especially if drinking alcohol during the day.

Find a Facebook group for the hotel you’re visiting, they’ll have loads of specific information for the hotel and nearby places and excursions.
If I recall correctly we ended up just taking pounds to Turkey, which were happily accepted everywhere we went.

If you're only going for a week, you'd be hard pushed to fill a 20kg case which I assume you and your partner both have with your ticket.

We just went to Portugal for 10 days and took all toiletries, clothes, many pairs of shoes etc and each case weighed about 13kg at check in so never worry about the weight unless you're taking loads of books or packing your case with weight lifting equipment 😂

OP, please read the foreign office advice, you MUST carry your passport and a copy of your visa with you at all times. You asked previously how likely you would be stopped but unfortunately no one has the psychic ability to be able to answer that question with any certainty. Whilst I was on holiday in a resort near marmaris out local bus was stopped twice for i.d checks, if that helps weigh up the probability of it happening to you? Should you fail to comply two things will happen; firstly, you will be taken to the local police station where you will remain until someone can go to your hotel to gather the appropriate documents and secondly, you will be issued with a fairly large fine (if I recall correctly, around £100). Do you really want to run the risk of having a potentially upsetting experience ? Probably the most sensible advice to offer would be, buy a bum bag and give yourself some peace of mind!

Pack a spare bikini, shorts and dress in your hand luggage so you will be ok if your luggage goes missing.

If you think you might be over on your hand luggage weight then buy a meal deal from Boots and add your kindle etc to this bag as this is extra and not counted in the overall weight

Be lovely to check in staff. This got me and ds free extra leg room seats with Thomas Cook in May.

And if you want to try the local food in Marmaris you must must must go to a restaurant called Ney on a hill overlooking the marina. The guy who runs it is the waiter, the chef and the welcome party and the food is really amazing!! (Check out Trip Advisor for more info)

If you've got 15kg hold baggage each you can share the 30kg between you as long as one case is not over 23kg.
Tui rules, but check your airline.
Handy for us as we took one big case and one small.

Thanks all, very helpful info here. When it comes to currency, can I just pay in Euros, Pounds or Lira as & when I see fir, or do different places demand different currencies?