Travelling to Turkey: the practical side.

Quick answer: British citizens do not need a visa for stays up to 90 days. Your passport must be valid for at least 150 days beyond arrival, have a blank page, and have been issued less than 10 years ago, which is the rule that catches most people out. Standard travel insurance usually excludes elective cosmetic surgery and its complications.

The questions that decide whether you can actually go, rather than whether you should. Visas, passports, how long you need off, and what to expect at the airport.

Do I need a visa for Turkey?

No, not as a British citizen travelling for tourism. The e-visa requirement for UK passport holders was removed, and you can enter for up to 90 days in any 180 day period without applying for anything in advance.

One thing worth knowing: the official Turkish e-visa website still exists, and travellers who don't realise the exemption applies to them sometimes pay for a visa they do not need. You do not need to pay anything to enter Turkey as a UK tourist on a short visit.

Passport rules, and the one that catches people out

This is where UK travellers actually get stopped, usually at the departure gate rather than in Turkey.

• Valid for at least 150 days beyond your arrival date. This is Turkey's own rule and it is stricter than the general advice people assume applies.
• At least one completely blank page for entry and exit stamps.
• Issued less than 10 years before you arrive. Older UK passports sometimes carry extra months added on renewal, and those extra months do not count.
• Not damaged, and not reported lost or stolen, even if you have since found it.

Airlines check this before boarding and can refuse to carry you. Check your passport before you book anything, not the week before you fly.

Note that Turkey is not in the Schengen area, so time spent there does not count toward any Schengen allowance.

Time off work

This depends far more on what you do than on how the procedure went.

Desk work. Many people are back at it the day after they get home. You will look like someone who has had something done, and there may be some swelling, but there is nothing about sitting at a desk that interferes with healing.

Physical work, or anything involving a hard hat or head protection. Two weeks is the usual advice. Anything pressing on the grafts, or heavy sweating, or dust and dirt around a healing scalp, is worth avoiding while the grafts settle. If your job involves any of that, plan for it rather than hoping.

Your surgeon will give you specific guidance for your case, and that guidance beats anything on this page. But if you are working out whether you can do this around your job, those two are the honest markers.

How long you're in Turkey

Three days is normal. Two nights in a hotel, with the consultation, the procedure and a post-procedure check before you fly home.

A full package from a partner clinic typically covers:

• Airport transfers
• Two nights' hotel accommodation
• The consultation before the procedure
• The procedure itself
• The immediate post-procedure check before you travel back

Flights are not included, and you book those yourself. That is deliberate: it means you choose your airline, your airport and your times rather than being routed through whatever the clinic has arranged, and you can see exactly what you are paying for travel.

What is and is not included is stated in writing on your quote, so you are not working it out from a website.

Can someone come with me?

Yes. Partners and friends are welcome. Plenty of people do this alone and manage perfectly well, but there is no rule saying you have to.

Transfers normally cover both of you. The cost does go up, because the hotel room is charged differently for two people, so tell me at the quote stage rather than afterwards and it will be priced properly from the start.

They can't be in the room during the procedure itself, which is normal for any surgical setting. In most cases they can come to the clinic with you, be there beforehand, and be there when you come out. That is usually the part that matters.

Travel insurance

Worth understanding before you book, because the position is not what most people assume.

Standard travel insurance is generally written for holidays, and elective cosmetic procedures abroad are commonly excluded. That can extend to complications arising from the procedure, which is the part that matters. Specialist medical tourism cover exists and is a different product from an ordinary annual policy.

The GHIC does not help here either. It covers state-provided medically necessary treatment, not elective private procedures or their complications.

Read your policy, and if you are not sure, ring the insurer and ask specifically about elective cosmetic surgery abroad and complications arising from it. Get the answer in writing.

Money

Turkey uses the Turkish Lira. Clinic prices for international patients are usually quoted and settled in euros or pounds rather than lira, so you generally are not exposed to exchange rate movement on the treatment itself. You will want some local currency for everything else.

Partner clinics accept pounds, euros and US dollars. You do not need to convert into lira to pay for your treatment, and you are not exposed to exchange rate movement on the procedure itself.

You will want some lira for everything else: coffee, taxis beyond your transfers, anything you buy while you are there.

Flying home afterwards

Less of an ordeal than people expect. Flying home a day or two after the procedure is completely routine, and the airline staff on these routes have seen it many times before. You will not be the only person on the plane who has just had it done.

The clinic sends you home with a post-operative kit, and that includes a neck pillow. It is not a luxury: it stops your head resting back against the seat and lets you sleep without pressure on the grafts.

Expect to look like someone who has recently had something done. Redness and some swelling are normal at that stage. Most people wear a loose hood or a cap once the clinic says it is safe to, though check that with them rather than assuming, because covering grafts too early is not advisable.

Your surgeon will give you specific instructions for the journey. Follow those over anything on this page.

Frequently asked questions