9 Things NOT to do in TURKIYE | Know This Before You Travel

- hello everyone my name is Olga - and my name is Rene 

- we live here in Turkey for a year now  and this video is about things you should  

not do when you are in Turkey - unless you're like me and  

you are rebellious, then you do them

don't sit outside at cafes and restaurants. and  this might seem like a very strange advice, but  

let me explain. in Turkey smoking is allowed  almost everywhere, from my experience. and in  

most of the cafes and restaurants the nicer area  that's outside, the terrace, it will be occupied  

by smokers and many people smoke. so wherever  you sit there, you will be surrounded by people  

smoking. the non-smoking area is usually inside.  and it's actually often combined with the family  

area. so for example if you're single, or if you're  going on a date, or you just want a quiet evening,  

then it's hard to find a good place. because yeah,  you will be sitting with families, and the children  

will be loud. they are children, of course. so that  is something to keep in mind, that if you are a  

non-smoker like me, then it might be a problem for  you to find a good spot where you can sit if it's  outside.

don't take a random taxi from the street.  in my videos I talked about it several times, about  

how to use taxis. but in short, taxi drivers  are the biggest scammers in Turkey. especially  

in Istanbul they can be very vicious towards  tourists. they can charge them the wrong amount,  

they can take them the wrong route. so my  best advice for it, is just ignore them and use  

public transport. it's very good in Turkey. the  trains and buses they go often, they go almost  

everywhere, they are modern, clean and easy to use  with the transportation card. but if you do have  

to use a taxi, look at it, it should be yellow and  on the side there is a license plate number. when  

you get inside show them the destination on your  GPS on your Google Maps, for example. and please  

ask them to go by the meter. if they refuse,  just don't even take this taxi, just get out.  

don't say no when you are offered food. food  is a very important part of Turkish culture,  

the families come together and eat food. food is  used to show the gratitude and the hospitality.  

so for example if you're at a restaurant and they  give you dessert to show their hospitality, 

and for some reason you don't want to eat it, well  my advice is, if you can, accept it and eat it.  

but if for whatever reason you don't want to eat it, you can say that you have, for example, allergy.  

and that can be accepted as a good answer. but  don't be surprised that you might be just brought  

another dish that doesn't have the ingredient you  have an allergy for. so again, if you can eat it,  

just eat it and thank your host for the  hospitality. they do it out of the kindness of their heart.

do not wear inappropriate clothes.  and let me elaborate on that. so in Turkey  

the strict rules about what you should wear are only  for when you go to a mosque. if you want to visit  

it for a prayer or if you want to visit it as  a tourist, there are strict rules. you can not wear  

shorts, It's both for men and women, by the way. and  you cannot have your shoulders open. and you cannot  

wear shoes when entering a mosque. but the rule  that's also for women, but not for men, is of course  

covering your hair. and in popular destinations, for  tourists in Istanbul, for example, if you wish to  

visit the popular very famous Blue Mosque, there  they will actually give you something to cover  

your legs and cover your hair. if it's a smaller  mosque, then you have to have your own cover.  

but everywhere else in Turkey there is no law  that the women should cover their hair. if they  

are religious and their religion tells them  to cover the hair, and they do it by choice,  

they can do it in Turkey. but if you are not,  like me, you don't have to cover the hair.  

more so, most of the Turkish women that I see  living here in Antalya, they are almost always  

not covered. and if we're talking about just the  daily clothes, like, for example, can you have a  

strappy top, or can you wear short shorts? yes  you can, especially in big cities like Istanbul,  

Izmir, Antalya, Marmaris, Bodrum, I can go on.  everywhere, where there are young people especially,  

the students, they wear whatever they like. you  can see everything, especially in the summer  

heat every woman will be wearing as few clothes  as possible, because it's so hot. of course it's  

not everywhere like that in Turkey, and maybe in  smaller, more traditional and more conservative  

towns and cities women cover themselves more. but in general everywhere you go as a foreigner,  

as a tourist, you can wear whatever you like, as  long as you're decent.

do not drink tap water!

in Europe you might be used to the fact that  you can just open your tap and drink the water,  

but here in Turkey you can't do that, you might  get sick from it. you still might be able to use  

the tap water for cooking, for making tea and  coffee. but my personal recommendation is try it  

out first, once, to see if you have any reaction.  and of course if you don't, you can continue.  

don't forget your earplugs and a sleeping mask!  soundproofing is very bad almost everywhere where  

we traveled in Turkey, even in a more expensive  hotel, like DoubleTree Hilton or Radisson Blue  

we had this issue. and don't even get me started  on cheaper hotels and airbnbs. you can hear what  

your neighbors are talking about, you can hear  their television, if they're arguing or if they  

have children, you will hear it all. so I would  say earplugs are essential.

don't disrespect the Turkish flag!

the Turkish flag is used on special  days and you can't insult it. the Turkish flag is often hanged

outside the buildings and all over  the city on special days, on holidays. and it is actually

against the law to do anything bad to  it, like to burn it, or to write anything on it,

or just to throw it down on the floor and step  on it. and I would even go further with this  

and say don't disrespect the president, especially  the founding father of the Turkish Republic Kemal Atatürk. 

he has a special place in every Turkish  person's heart, he did a lot for the country and  

people love him to this day. and in general  in Turkey people are proud of their nation  

and country. that's the culture here. and I know  not in every country it's like that. so for you it  

might seem like too much. but here it's normal and  it's expected. so I think we, as foreigners, should  

respect it and accept it as part of the culture,  even if our views are different.

don't be afraid of stray dogs and cats. in Turkey, especially if  you've been to Istanbul, you know that there are  

so many stray cats. but don't be afraid they  are usually well taken care of. people do bring  

them food and water, and they are generally nice  towards them. so you as a tourist should do the  

same. and for the dogs they can be sometimes  big dogs, especially here in Antalya we have  

them. and they might even bark. sometimes they  can be more aggressive. but in a year that we've  

lived here, I've seen maybe once the dogs became  more aggressive towards a man with a small dog.  

but other than that they are friendly towards  people. they either don't react at all, or  

they can follow you, of course. so be prepared  for that. but in general, especially if you  

see the chip in their ear, that means they've  been taken care of, and there's nothing to be  

afraid of. from Turkish people I heard that the  reason they love animals so much is that if you  

feel bad or stressed you can just pet a stray dog,  or a cat, and they make you release your stress.  

so you see in general the attitude towards  animals is to be kind and nice to them.

don't shop at the local market without bargaining.   I must clarify that this relates to the markets  

that sell to the tourists mostly. so if you are,  for example at the fake market, you won't even see  

the price tags there. and you have to understand  that this fake brand items, the counterfeit items,  

they will not be the best quality. and essentially  what you're buying is a low quality product with  

the famous brand name on it. so the price for that  shouldn't be high. I don't know, 10, 20, 30 dollars  

something like it. I would even recommend if you  do want to buy a counterfeit product, then go to a  

shopping mall for a brand like LC Waikiki (it's a  inexpensive Turkish brand), and take a look at how  

much things are costing there. for example, a pair  of sneakers would be 15 USD, then that's something  

you would pay at the market too for a similar item,  just with a Chanel or Adidas sticker on it. and  

actually if somebody is telling you a price in  USD, or in EUR, or in GBP, then  

you know that they are mostly selling to tourists.  that's why the prices are in foreign currency. and  

to tourists it's always double, triple price.  I myself prefer to shop at shopping malls and  

there are many Turkish brands of clothing, they  are inexpensive and affordable. I have videos  

on my channel going to those kind of malls. and  of course there they have price tags. and there  

you cannot negotiate at all. the price is what  you pay at the cashier, so if you want to buy  

genuine real Brands Turkish clothing, I suggest  go to a good well-known shopping mall. if you're  

struggling and cannot decide to which Turkish city  to go to on a holiday, check out this playlist. we  

went to cities like Antalya, Alanya, Marmaris,  Side, Kemer. and we recorded a video in each and  

every one of them. I hope it will help you  make a decision which city is best for you