Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
If you buy a local SIM card and use it in your mobile from home without registering the
phone, the network will detect and bar it within a week or two.
If you purchase a phone in Turkey, you won't need to register it. Just put in the SIM card
and ask the dealer to organise the activation for you. You may need to show your passport.
The account should activate within an hour or two.
There are plenty of shops selling phones in the streets opposite the Sirkeci Railway Sta-
tion. Starting models cost around 100.
Time
İstanbul time is East European Time, two hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time
(UTC, alias GMT), except in the warm months, when clocks are turned ahead one hour.
Daylight-saving (summer) time usually begins at 1am on the last Sunday in March and
ends at 2am on the last Sunday in October.
Turks use the 24-hour clock.
Tourist Information
formation offices or booths in the city; a fifth is scheduled to open at some stage in the fu-
ture inside the Atatürk Cultural Centre on Taksim Meydanı (Taksim Square). Frankly,
none of them are particularly helpful.
Tourist Information Desk - Atatürk Airport
(
212-465 3451; International Arrivals Hall,
Atatürk International Airport;
9am-10pm )
Tourist Information Office - Karaköy
(Karaköy International Passenger Terminal, Kemankeş
Caddesi, Karaköy ;
9.30am-5pm Mon-Sat)
Tourist Information Office - Sirkeci Railway Station
(
212-511 5888; Sirkeci Station,
Ankara Caddesi, Sirkeci;
9.30am-6pm mid-Apr-Sep, 9am-5.30pm Oct-mid-Apr)
Tourist Information Office - Sultanahmet
(
212-518 8754; Hippodrome, Sultanhamet;
9.30am-6pm mid-Apr-Sep, 9am-5.30pm Oct-mid-Apr;
Sultanahmet)
