Thanks for all the Odessa flight advice. What do the experts say about the Istanbul international airport? Are there rooms available--a transit hotel,within the international transfer area--for resting for 6 hours or so in between connections, like the airports in Singapore and Bangkok have?

The answer is a simple no. IST has no big international transfer traffic to necessitate this kind of hotel.

Closest hotels to the airport are
Polat Renaissance Hotel (4km)
http://renaissancehotels.com/dpp/Pro...rshaCode=ISTRN

Holiday Inn Marina (8km)
http://www.basshotels.com/holiday-inn?_franchisee=ISTTU

Crown Plaza Istanbul (8km)
http://www.basshotels.com/crowneplaza?_franchisee=ISTCP

[This message has been edited by rozy (edited 04-09-2001).]

balaram -- You can explore a possibility of getting a lounge pass.

Istanbul advice wanted! My folks are taking a cruise out of Istanbul in a few weeks. What are their best options for their currency needs while in Turkey? Any idea how much travel is involved between the airport and where the cruise ships dock?
Thanks for any help you can give! (They are going to be visiting a few Mediterranean islands, Egypt, and end up in Greece I think).

There are a couple of points that cruise ships may be assigned berths along the bosphorus, but as it is early in the season and not many cruise ships will be in IST, it will probably be the centrally located cruise terminal which is about 1/2 hour from the airport in good traffic.

Money can be exchanged at the airport, at the cruise terminal or on the ship but don't exchange too much as the Turkish Lira is a rather "soft" currency, small denomination US dollars or any EU currency will also probably serve them well(expect turkish lira as change however)and remember nearly everything is negotiable!

Leisuremiles is correct, keep most of your cash in hard currency. The Lira has been fluctuating between 950,000 and 1,200,000 to the dollar the last few weeks. It is very unstable.

You can exchange currency just about anywhere. There are currency exchange stands it seems every block. Their rates seem to be usually a bit better then banks, and the transactions go much faster. Turkish banks can be quite slow to process even the simplest transaction. Travelers cheques can sometimes be a downright pain.

In major tourist cities such as Istanbul, Izmir, and Kusadasi, the US dollar or German Mark is just as acceptable as Lira. My favorite negotiating stategy when looking to buy something in a tourist store with Lira, is to get far enough into the transaction that the merchant realizes you are ready to buy. Once you think your offer is about 10% below the merchant's best price, switch your offer into dollars. I've found often the merchant will cut his price to get your hard currency. Inflation in a good year runs 50-70% per annum (in Lira).

For the cruise, the distance isn't the major factor, it's the traffic. It can be a nightmare when it's bad, about 30 minutes or so when it's good.

As to currency, you can exchange dollars into their Lira just about anyplace. Expect very long lines if doing it outside of the airport, as many people there are turning their lira into dollars. When we were there a couple of years ago (cruise), it was no problem getting money converted, and many many places will take dollars, as others above have said, sometimes at some very good discounts.

The dollar goes an incredibly long way there, so don't exchange as much as they think they will need.

The exchange rate is over a million lira to a dollar now, and on some of the bills the last three zeros are a different shade, so make sure they get the right amount of money. The currency places were fine, but sometimes the little local stores were a bit less concerned with making the proper change for tourists.