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Travelers who visit Turkey on national
holidays, including Islamic
religious holidays,
have a special opportunity to see the
country as most visitors do not.
You
should not avoid holidays. Rather,
look upon them as an opportunity for
special travel experiences.
Does Turkey close up tight for holidays?
Not at all. You'll have plenty to see
and do, but good planning will be rewarded.
Banks, government
offices and many large
businesses close
completely for national
holidays, as do many shops, but
most museums, archeological sites,
national parks, etc. are open, and
busier than normal.
As for religious holidays, it's a
bit more complicated. Islamic holidays
follow a lunar calendar,
and are therefore celebrated about
11 days earlier in
one year than they were in the last.
They may begin and end on any day of
the week.
On the first day of
a multi-day religious holiday such
as Ramazan
Bayramı or Kurban
Bayramı,
just about everything will
be closed,
but some museums, restaurants, etc.
may only close for the morning, and
will open in the afternoon. Public
transport will run on a special schedule,
perhaps a Sunday schedule, or one unique
to that holiday.
On subsequent days, most museums,
galleries, historic sites, etc. may
open, depending upon the particular
institution, but they will adhere to
their normal weekly closing dates.
So if the first day of a holiday is
Monday, Topkapı
Palace Museum may be
closed in the morning (it was in 2011),
then open Monday afternoon, but closed
on Tuesday because it is always
closed on Tuesday, holiday or no holiday.
Istanbul's biggest tourist markets,
the Grand
Bazaar and Egyptian
(Spice) Bazaar tend to close for
the entire holiday period.
For example, they were closed from
Sunday through Wednesday for Kurban
Bayramı 2011.
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Special
treats for Ramazan:
experience
Turkish holidays!
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