Driving in Turkey as a UK visitor: essentials

A hire car transforms a villa holiday on the Turkish coast. It's also the single most anxiety-inducing part for guests who haven't driven outside the UK before. Here's the honest brief.

Licences

Your UK photocard driving licence is valid in Turkey for stays up to six months. You don't need an International Driving Permit for short holidays. The hire desk will want to photocopy the card and ask for the paper counterpart — you can check endorsements online at gov.uk and email yourself the code if needed.

Which side of the road?

Right. Almost all hire cars are left-hand-drive automatics. Give yourself the first ten minutes in the rental car park to adjust the mirrors, find the indicator stalk (it's on the left, which feels wrong at first), and do a slow loop.

Speed limits

• Urban: 50 km/h (often enforced with fixed cameras)
• Open road: 90 km/h
• Dual carriageway / motorway: 110 km/h (some stretches 120)

Speeding fines arrive at your hire company weeks after your flight home, with a ~£30 admin fee on top. Drive to the limits; Turkish traffic police take them seriously.

Motorways and tolls

Many Turkish motorways use electronic tolling (HGS / OGS). Your hire car should come with an HGS tag pre-installed — check at pickup and confirm with the desk. If you somehow end up on a toll road without a tag, you have 15 days to pay at a PTT post office; missing it escalates the fine fast.

Coastal Turkey uses relatively few toll roads — Antalya to Alanya has stretches, and the Istanbul–Izmir O-5 has tolls, but day-to-day villa driving in Fethiye or Kalkan rarely requires them.

Mountain roads

The coast between Kalkan and Kaş is all switchbacks, as is the drive down to Çıralı. Go slow. Use the lower gear setting (D2 / manual downshift) on descents to save your brakes. You will meet buses coming the other way on blind bends — they'll be doing 60 km/h.

Fuel

Petrol is sold as 95 (kurşunsuz / unleaded) and 97. Diesel is "motorin" or "dizel". Almost all stations are full-service — hand the attendant your card, say "full please" (doldurun lütfen). Tip 5 TL if they clean the windscreen.

Parking

In most resorts, parking is free and easy outside the peak summer months. In August, Kaş, Kalkan and Bodrum centre can be rammed; parking attendants (usually older men in hi-vis) will guide you into an informal space for a small tip — 10–20 TL is fine.

Insurance

Book comprehensive insurance with a zero excess. Local brokers will sell you cheap cover with a €500+ excess in Turkish lira; not worth the saving if you scrape a wall reversing out of a Kalkan old-town alley (easier than you'd think). Many UK-issued credit cards include hire car excess cover globally — check before paying for duplicate insurance at the desk.

Air-conditioning

In July and August, a car without working A/C is dangerous, not just uncomfortable. Test it at the hire desk before you drive off.

Villa parking

Most private villas have a drive or a reserved space nearby. A few in old-town Kaş, Kalkan and Alaçatı have no parking on-site — the listing will say so clearly, and there's always a public lot within five minutes' walk. Your owner will give you exact directions.

Our advice

Book a category up from the car you'd book at home — roads are narrower and rougher, and summer luggage (including pool floats and travel cots) expands to fit any boot you give it.