Turkey Trip Cost from Canada: Flights, Packages and Extras

From Canada, a Turkey trip costs your return flight to Istanbul plus a land package that starts at US$1,048 per person for 8 days. That entry price covers Istanbul and Cappadocia with domestic flights and hotels. A 10-day group tour through Istanbul, Cappadocia, Pamukkale and Ephesus is from US$1,410 per person, and a private 8-day tour of the same regions is from US$2,250. The flight is the line that changes most. It depends on whether you leave from Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver or a city with no nonstop, and on the season. The other lines are easier to pin down, and a good first quote to compare is our 8-day Istanbul and Cappadocia package.

Below, the budget is split into the four lines a Canadian traveller pays for. After that come the extras to set aside, the entry rules that affect your paperwork, and the choices that lower the total.

The four lines in a Canadian budget

Every Turkey trip from Canada comes down to four costs. If you price them separately, quotes are much easier to compare.

1. The flight to Istanbul. You book it yourself on our packages, so you choose the airline, the Canadian departure city and the dates.
2. The land package. Hotels, domestic flights inside Turkey, transfers, guided touring and entry tickets. This is the part we quote, in US dollars.
3. Extras in Turkey. Dinners, drinks, tips, optional activities such as a balloon flight, and personal spending.
4. Costs at home. Travel insurance, and any fees your bank or card charges on a US-dollar payment.

Lines 2 and 3 depend on the trip you choose. Lines 1 and 4 depend on where in Canada you live and how you pay.

Flights from Canada: which city you leave from matters

Three Canadian airports have nonstop flights to Istanbul Airport (IST):

• Toronto Pearson (YYZ): Turkish Airlines and Air Transat.
• Montréal-Trudeau (YUL): Turkish Airlines and Air Transat.
• Vancouver (YVR): Turkish Airlines. It is the only nonstop from Western Canada.

From Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Halifax and other cities, you connect. The usual options are a domestic flight to Toronto, Montréal or Vancouver, or a one-stop routing through a European hub. Pricing a connection can change the total more than the choice of package does. So before you book, compare a through-ticket from your home airport with a separate cheap domestic flight to a nonstop gateway.

What moves the fare:

• Season. July, August and the Christmas holidays are the busiest periods. November to March, apart from the holidays, is usually quieter.
• Nonstop or one-stop. A nonstop saves hours but is not always the cheapest option.
• Two airlines from Toronto and Montréal. Two carriers on the same route give you more dates and fares to compare.

The time difference also costs you a day. Türkiye stays on UTC+3 all year. Istanbul is 7 hours ahead of Toronto and Montréal in the Canadian summer and 8 hours ahead in winter, and 10 or 11 hours ahead of Vancouver. Most eastbound flights from Canada are overnight and land the next day. Plan day one as an arrival day with nothing else in it. All our packages start that way, with a transfer from the airport and a free evening. Our flights to Istanbul from Canada page has the full route details.

Paying in US dollars from a Canadian card

All our package prices are in US dollars, which is standard for tours in Turkey. That affects a Canadian budget in two ways:

• The exchange rate moves. A price fixed in US dollars costs a different amount in Canadian dollars depending on the rate on the day your card is charged. Check the current rate when you compare quotes, and add a margin.
• Your card may add a fee. Many Canadian credit cards charge a foreign transaction fee on purchases in another currency. Some cards waive it. Check your card's terms before you pay a deposit or the balance.

In Turkey itself, everyday spending is in Turkish lira. Cards are widely accepted in cities, and ATMs are easy to find. Carry some lira for small shops, tips and village stops.

Land costs by trip length

The table shows starting prices per person for the land part of a trip, taken from our current tour prices. "Group" means you share the guided days with other travellers. "Private" means the guide and vehicle are yours alone.

Two things stand out. First, adding days costs less than you might expect: the 10-day group tour is only US$124 more than the 7-day one, because the extra nights are hotel nights, not extra flights. Second, private touring roughly doubles the land cost. That buys you your own guide and car, more flexibility, and on our private routes more of the meals and activities.

What is already paid inside these prices: hotel nights with breakfast, every domestic flight in the itinerary (with 15 kg checked and 8 kg cabin baggage on the group routes), airport and tour transfers, licensed guides on touring days and the entrance fees listed in the itinerary. The group tours include the lunches marked in the programme. The private 8-day tour includes lunch on every touring day, plus a Bosphorus cruise and the Red and Green Tours in Cappadocia.

Extras to set aside in Turkey

These are the items our inclusion lists mark as not included. Most Canadian travellers pay for some of them:

• Dinners. Most group packages include breakfast every day and lunch on guided days, but not dinner. Evenings are your own.
• Drinks with meals. Not included on the group routes, even when the lunch is.
• The hot air balloon in Cappadocia. Optional, weather dependent and the largest single extra. See our balloon price update for current ranges, and remember that flights are cancelled in strong wind.
• Cleopatra Antique Pool at Pamukkale. Swimming there has its own entrance fee, separate from the Hierapolis ticket.
• Tips for guides and drivers. A matter of choice, not an obligation. Some of our private packages list them as excluded.
• Optional add-ons, such as an ATV ride, a Turkish Night Show on routes where it is not included, or a hammam.

For a wider view of what a day in Turkey costs once you are there, see our general Turkey trip cost guide.

Entry rules and paperwork for Canadians

The good news for a Canadian budget: there is no visa fee. The Government of Canada's travel advice for Türkiye states:

• No visa for tourism. Canadians do not need a tourist visa for stays of up to 90 days in a 180-day period.
• Passport validity. Your passport must be valid for at least 150 days from the date you enter Türkiye.
• Travel insurance. Get insurance that covers medical evacuation and hospital stays. Provincial health plans may pay little or nothing for care abroad, so treat insurance as a fixed line in your budget, not an option.
• Cash. There is no limit on the foreign currency or lira you bring in. You cannot leave with more than the equivalent of US$5,000 in cash without proof that it came from authorised banks.

Work, study or longer stays need a visa or a residence permit. If someone in your group travels on a non-Canadian passport, check their rules separately. Our Turkey visa requirements update covers other nationalities.

Ways Canadians lower the total

• Choose a gateway, not just a date. If you live in Calgary, Ottawa or Halifax, price a separate flight to Toronto or Montréal against a through-ticket. The difference can be larger than the gap between two packages.
• Travel in the shoulder seasons. April to early June and September to October bring good touring weather and avoid the summer peak. See our best time to visit Turkey guide.
• Add days rather than regions. The table shows that a 10-day group tour costs little more than a 7-day one. Fewer flights also means fewer early pickups.
• Pick group touring for the big sites and go private where it matters. Many travellers take a group package and add one private Istanbul tour day, from $199 per group.
• Budget the balloon separately. Decide in advance whether you will fly, so the decision does not upset the rest of the budget.

If you are flying from the United States instead, our Turkey trip cost from the USA page compares 7 and 10-day trips for American travellers. Our Turkey tour packages from Canada page lists routes built around arrival from Canadian gateways.

Tours that cover this

• Istanbul and Cappadocia Tour Package: 8 Days with Domestic Flights: from $1,048 per person.
• Istanbul, Cappadocia, Pamukkale and Ephesus Tour, 10 Days with Flights: from $1,410 per person.
• Turkey Tour Package 8 Days, private: Istanbul, Cappadocia, Ephesus and Pamukkale: from $2,250 per person.
• 12-Day Turkey Tour Package from Istanbul with 3 Domestic Flights: from $1,748 per person.

More routes are on our multi-day trips page and in the Türkiye destination guide.

Frequently Asked Questions