Make your trip to Turkey easier, fun, and stress-free with these super helpful travel apps!
Planning a trip can be one of the most fun parts of a trip — but actually executing that plan and juggling all the logistics is a different story. 😅
There are so many things to deal with when actually on your trip, from finding the right ferry timetables to communicating with locals, navigating unfamiliar streets, staying connected with friends back home, and even finding pharmacies during after-hours.
But fear not, travel buddy! We’ve scrolled through our phones, surveyed our friends, and searched far and wide to come up with the ultimate list of must-have apps for a trip to Turkey.
The following apps will help you navigate Istanbul’s public transportation, find the best places to eat, hail a taxi, easily communicate with locals, stay connected, and much more.
However, these apps are more than just recommendations — as two locals living in Turkey (Istanbul), the apps mentioned are all apps we use on a daily basis. We’ve also added a few comments here and there, especially our personal thoughts and any useful travel hacks.
We hope this list of the best Turkey travel apps will be a helpful (and useful) companion on your trip!
İyi yolculuklar! (Have a nice trip!)
Essential Travel Apps for Turkey
Airalo
If you want to stay connected during your trip but don’t want to bother with the complexities of buying a SIM card (language barrier, having your passport photocopied, paying for extras you don’t need), there’s a better option: Airalo!
Airalo is a digital SIM card (also known as an eSIM) — all you need to do is download the app, choose your package, pay, and voila! Just make sure that your phone is unlocked, and install your eSIM before you get to Turkey, since it requires a stable WiFi connection. 🙂
Besides being super convenient, Airalo is typically cheaper than buying a SIM card at Turk Telekom or Turkcell (the two biggest telecom companies). Honestly, the prices for a SIM card at Istanbul Airport is highway robbery — at the time of writing this blog post, the cheapest SIM card package was 1,200 TL ($40 USD / 35 EUR 😭).
Meanwhile, Airalo packages start at $4.50 USD (for a 1GB package) and go up to $26 USD (for 20 GB). We recommend Airalo to friends who come to visit us, and they’ve all been very pleased with the service (and the money they save lol).
Click here to see current eSIM packages in Türkiye and use the code “AWL3011” to get $3 off!
Speaking of SIM and eSIM cards… We also have an Ultimate Guide to SIM & eSIM Cards in Turkey: Everything You Need to Know (Prices, Where to Buy, Coverage, etc) – click here to read! →
Booking.com
Booking.com is one of our favorite sites of all time and the one that we use to book 99% of our accommodations, so naturally, we want to recommend it to you as well. There’s thousands of accommodations listed on the site, including hotels, apartments, hostels, bungalows, resorts, guest houses, and… the list goes on. 🙂
We especially love how most places have a flexible cancellation policy, and if you’re a Genius member, you’ll also get complimentary perks like free breakfast, a complimentary room upgrade, or a discount on some places.
Note: If you’re already in Turkey and trying to book a hotel in Turkey through Booking.com, you’ll need to use a VPN first.
Kiwi
If you’re planning to travel domestically in Turkey, there’s a pretty good chance that you’ll use Pegasus Airlines, the country’s most popular domestic airline. Unfortunately, their payment system isn’t the most friendly towards foreign cards (I’ve had my Citi card blocked a few times when trying to take advantage of those juicy travel deals!)
If you want to avoid this route, I recommend booking via Kiwi or another OTA website instead. We’ve only had good experiences with Kiwi, and surprisingly, they usually have better perks than booking direct (i.e. we’ve had better baggage allowances on Kiwi than on Pegasus’ official site).
You can also check Kiwi.com on their desktop site →
Transportation Apps in Turkey
Google Maps
No list of travel apps would be complete without the legendary Google Maps! Honestly, it’s one of the most helpful apps for traveling in Turkey, and for so many reasons.
First and most obviously, it does a pretty good job of helping you navigate the city. This is especially helpful in Istanbul, since you can see how high of an elevation you’ll need to walk (as the legend goes, the city was built on seven hills — and some of them are steep!).
It does a fairly good job of showing you the available transportation options (we use Google Maps when visiting new neighborhoods in Istanbul or other parts of the country), although sometimes it’s a little wonky when listing ferries in Istanbul. For that, we recommend the Şehir Hatları app (see below).
Secondly, you can use Google Maps to help you plan your perfect trip. You can check the opening and closing hours of attractions, get real-time navigation, find the perfect restaurant (we’ve even written a blog post exclusively on this topic!), and even read some helpful travel tips in the reviews section.
Finally, you can download maps for offline use, which is really helpful if you don’t have internet (or don’t want to spend your data)!
CityMapper + Moovit
To fill the gaps in Google Maps, we recommend CityMapper and/or Moovit. Both apps are fairly similar so we grouped it under one heading. 🙂
CityMapper —CityMapper’s advantage is its hyper-focus on cities— it’s only available in Istanbul at the moment, but it does its job very well! The app is fantastic for Istanbul’s public transportation, as it shows you step-by-step walking directions (there’s an interactive map), exactly how many stops to ride, and there are even live notifications (i.e. “get off at the next stop”).
The user interface is easy to read and you can clearly see all of the available routes, prices, and travel time. There’s also a neat way to filter the routes, with options like Walk Less (least walking), Simple (fewest transfers), and Price (most budget-friendly option).
Moovit — Compared to CityMapper, Moovit has a much broader reach (i.e. instead of Istanbul, it shows you public transport in all of Turkey). As a more general app, Moovit covers all of Turkey, making it ideal for exploring smaller destinations.
For example, I tried to find a very niche bus route in Datça for our upcoming trip, and only Moovit showed us the exact route. Meanwhile, CityMapper doesn’t work in Datça, and Google Maps said there was no public transportation available (when there actually was!)
Maps.me
Another good alternative to Google Maps is Maps.me, which is known for having the best offline maps. Be sure to download the maps beforehand so that you can access them when you don’t have internet — it’ll show you points of interest, directions, and even hiking trails!
Şehir Hatlari
Istanbul’s official ferry company has its own app! Although the app is very basic, that’s exactly what makes it great. Instead of getting confused over all the different routes, you simply input your departure and arrival, and the app tells you which routes serve those locations. The result page tells you the departure time, arrival time, and the name of the ferry route.
Martı
Martı app lets you rent an electric scooter via your phone, which is perfect for those “in-between” journeys that’s too short for public transport but too far to walk comfortably.
Martı is easily one of the most popular apps on a typical Istanbullite’s cell phone (these scooters are really popular here!), and we like to use them to cruise along the Kadıköy waterfront or when ‘commuting’ to our favorite cafe. 🙂
The set-up is fairly easy — you register with your phone number, confirm your identity, and you’re ready to rent an electric scooter. Of course, be sure to follow driving rules, pay attention to cars and traffic, and properly park the scooter when finishing your ride.
BiTaksi
If you prefer the comforts of a taxi instead of public transportation (or electric scooter 😁), be sure to download BiTaksi. The app has a very similar interface to Uber, where you plug in your destination, choose your car, and order a taxi. There are different types of taxi classes to choose from (regular yellow taxis, oversized for large groups, luxury, etc.) and also multiple payment options. It also works in major cities and smaller towns as well!
BiTaksi is definitely a better option than flagging a random taxi down the street (we have an entire blog post dedicated to popular taxi scams in Turkey), and best of all, you’ll see the approximate price beforehand (no surprises!).
Communication Apps
Google Translate
First and foremost, we’d like to nominate Google Translate as the most essential app you need when traveling to Turkey. While Turkey is a very popular tourist destination, not all of the locals speak English — which is where this app really helps.
Google Translate instantaneously translates text, images, and speech, making it easy to decipher menus, chat with locals, ask for directions to the ferry station, bargain in the Grand Bazaar, and so much more.
Our favorite feature is the ‘Conversation’ mode — just tap a button, let the person speak, and the app will instantly translate what they said (no need to furiously tap on your phone while the other person is awkwardly standing there!). If you want to reply, just tap the microphone again, speak in your language, and it’ll translate to Turkish. How awesome is that? 🙂
If you need to get in contact with a local, WhatsApp is the communication app of choice for Turkish people. Practically everyone uses WhatsApp in Turkey, including the guy who installed our curtains, our local minimarket owner, and even our entire apartment building has a group chat where we discuss our monthly dues and when the elevator is broken. 😅
Oh sorry, what were we saying? WhatsApp is a super useful app when traveling to Turkey because you’ll be able to communicate with your transfer driver, hotel, food delivery guy, the hamam that you booked a relaxing spa session, and much more. It’s really easy to use, and you probably already have it on your phone!
Sesli Sozluk
Literally translated as Dictionary With Sound, this neat little app will help you translate words and listen to their pronunciation. The app has more than 2 million Turkish words that are translated into English, German, Italian, French, Spanish, and 6 other languages. You can also check out our 200+ Essential Turkish Travel Phrases for Tourists (with Pronunciation!) blog post →
Useful Local Apps
Trendyol Go + Yemeksepeti + Getir
If you’re too tired to go out and eat at a restaurant, then you’re in luck — Turkey has three popular food delivery apps!
Similar to your country’s UberEats/DoorDash/Grubhub/Glovo/Deliveroo, these three apps practically serve the same purpose (food and grocery delivery), which is why we put them all together. 🙂
Some notes:
🧿 You’ll typically need to have a local Turkish number to sign up for an account on Yemeksepeti and Trendyol Go, but you can use an international number for Getir. When ordering, make sure to write your WhatsApp number in the notes so they can contact you just in case (i.e. they ran out of something).
🧿 Some of these apps don’t accept international credit/debit cards. If this happens, you can choose ‘pay cash at the door / upon delivery’
Trendyol Go: Food and grocery delivery. This is our favorite app, since they usually have ‘Flash Deals’ (if you order within 15 minutes from the selected restaurants, you’ll get a nice discount). You can also pay when ordering (no need to worry about your card not working upon delivery or fumbling for cash! :))
Yemeksepeti: Food delivery. Yemeksepeti also has quick deals (but they call it ‘Joker Deals’ for some reason lol). We used to use Yemeksepeti all the time, but switched to Trendyol Go because sometimes our credit card wouldn’t work when we paid on delivery.
Getir: Food and grocery delivery. At some restaurants, you can choose between ‘Getir Delivery’ and ‘Restaurant delivery’ — choose ‘Restaurant delivery’ and you’ll be able to pay on delivery (either credit/debit card or cash).
KarDes
One of our readers recommended the KarDes app, and we had to add it to this list — it’s super neat! The app is like a free personal tour guide in your pocket and was developed by a local Turkish agency so that visitors could discover the country’s multicultural legacy.
The KarDes app currently works in three cities (Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir) and has over 1,000 points of interest in its database. There are two ways to use the app: on the ‘Discover’ tab, you can simply click the point of interest and read about its history, or go to the ‘Tours’ app and take an entire self-guided tour!
Each tour tells you the duration, length, and route ahead of time — all you need to do is click each point and either read the text or listen to the audio guide. There are currently more than 20 tours available, including popular areas like Sultanahmet, Galata, Pera (Beyoglu), Balat, Kadıköy, and more.
Honestly, for a free app, KarDes is absolutely amazing! It’s full of historical facts, interesting stories from locals, retro photos, and so much more. We decided to test the app by going on the Kadıköy Moda tour and the Karaköy tour, and were very impressed (and learned a few new things! ;)).
MuzeKart
Speaking of history… If you’re planning to visit museums during your trip to Turkey, this app will come in handy.
MuzeKart was developed by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism (the people in charge of most museums in the country) and has everything you need to know about museums in Turkey. You can buy a variety of touristic MuseumPasses (which gives you unlimited access to museums in different regions) or single tickets to attractions (like Pamukkale, Ephesus, Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, etc).
While the app is still in development (some descriptions are in Turkish while the rest of the app is in English), it also has a ton of useful information, such as ticket costs, opening/closing hours, a map of the location, and so on.
Bu Gece
If you’re one of those travelers who loves to take part in local events during your trip, then Bu Gece is definitely for you.
Literally translated to “Tonight,” this app is a one stop shop to the best concerts, nightlife, and music events in Turkey. The company typically focuses on electronic music, but there’s plenty of other genres as well. You can find what music events are happening soon, buy tickets, and more through the app. 🙂
Nöbetçi Eczane
Honestly, this app is a lifesaver! Especially when your throat decides to start composing its own symphony of coughs and wheezes at 11pm (not that we know… *ahem*)
In Turkey, pharmacies are generally open from Monday to Saturday, from 9:00 in the morning to about 19:00 in the evening. However, what happens when you get sick outside of these hours? Nöbetçi Eczane to the rescue!
Nöbetçi Eczane, which literally means ‘pharmacy on duty,’ is an app that shows you a map of all of the pharmacies that are open outside of normal business hours. In most neighborhoods, there are usually one or two pharmacies that take turns being “on call” or “on duty” outside of the regular hours. They typically work from 19:00 until 9:00 the next day (i.e. overnight).
Anyway, back to the app. There are a few Nöbetçi Eczane apps, but we use the one with the pink background and clouds (see photo above). The user interface is really easy, and we especially love how you can click on a pharmacy and it’ll open Google Maps to give you directions. There’s also the option to toggle between ‘Open at Night’ and ‘All’ — the latter option is especially helpful if you need to find a pharmacy nearby during regular hours.
Apps We Don’t Recommend
Although we want you to have the best trip to Turkey, there are some apps that we just don’t recommend. Whether they’re redundant (i.e. the website version works just as well) or not that great, we’ve listed them below. This list will be especially helpful if you’re running out of space from taking too many photos of cats (😍) and need to save memory.
Any currency exchange app — To be honest, you really don’t need a stand-alone currency converter app when traveling to Turkey — just use Google instead! 😉 You can type in “___ TL to USD” (or EUR, GBP, AUD, etc) and it’ll show you the latest exchange rate.
Uber — While we love using Uber abroad, it’s just very meh in Turkey — and BiTaksi does a better job.
Flixbus — Did you know that Flixbus works in Turkey as well? The app partners with one of the biggest local transportation companies in Turkey (Kamil Koç) and has routes across more than 300 cities. If you already have the app, great. If not, then no worries — their website also does a great job.
Biletix — Similar to Bu Gece, Biletix is an app that shows everything that’s happening nearby (i.e. concerts, theater shows, sporting events, family events, etc). However, we found the app to be very glitchy and not user-friendly — it’s best to stick to their website instead.
