What does this have to do with cars?

However, the period during which you can freely exercise your rights in a country that has signed the Vienna Convention may be limited by the laws of each country. In Turkey, this period is 180 days.

What should I do before the expiry of my driving license in Turkey?

There is nothing complicated. You just need to leave Turkey for any other country and re-enter. The exit time is not limited either from above or below. This means that you can leave even for 1 hour. Just cross the border and re-enter.

Where do I go to restart my driving license?

It depends on which city you are in. For example, in Antalya, everyone goes to the island of Kastelorizo or Rhodes.

Kastellorizo is the closest, fastest and cheapest destination. We go here if we want to get it done in one day.

A trip to Rhodes will take much longer. And the island of Rhodes is much larger. We recommend going to Rhodes for a few days. You can rent a car and spend 1-2 nights on the island.

How do I buy a ferry ticket to Kastellorizo Island?

I recommend buying tickets in advance. The fact is that sometimes the ferry can be full and there may not be enough tickets for you.

The island is located two kilometres from Turkey and the ferry only takes about 20-30 minutes to get there. Registration, border, customs control and boarding take much longer.

There are two ways to buy a ferry ticket:

1. Buy a ticket for Kastellorizo online

This can be done directly at https://www.meisferrylines.com. Buying from this agency is verified and safe. The ticket price for today (September 2024) is 35 euros (and 20 euros for a child).

Their website is bilingual: Turkish and English. However, please note that if you book tickets on the Turkish version of the site, you won ‘t be looking for tickets to Kastellorizo, but to Meis. This is the name of the island in Turkish.

After purchase , you must go to the company counter and get your boarding tickets. The geolocation of the counter is here.

2. Buy a ticket from a travel agent

We prefer this way. Because the price in the agency is the same as online. However, you don’t have to fill in those painful forms and sort out the payment ))

But which agency to choose from? We prefer Anastasia from Hadrian Travels agency: https://hadriantravels.com/. There are several ways to contact her on the website. You can click WhatsApp or Viber and she will reply to you quickly. However it is advised to write in advance. At least a couple of days in advance. If you write a day before the trip , there may not be any places available .

How do I get to Kastellorizo Island?

There are two ways to do it:

1. Drive to the town of Kaş (about 3 hours from Antalya), there take a ferry to the island.
2. Book a sightseeing tour. I will write about the agency that deals with these tours below.

You should arrive at the ferry ticket office (location) by 8:45. The journey from Antalya takes about 3 hours of pure time. But you will probably stop at petrol stations and have a coffee, so I recommend to take 30 minutes to spare. So it is better to leave around 5:15 am. If you leave at exactly 5:00 in September, you will catch the sunrise just on the serpentine road between Finike and Demre. You will be greeted by stunning views. Of course, it is impossible to photograph either the beauty of the sunrise or the beauty of this road.

There are two decks on the ferry – the lower air-conditioned deck and the upper open deck. If you are the last to enter , all seats may be taken. If you are lucky, I recommend taking the air-conditioned seats downstairs. You can go to the upper deck to take photos afterwards.

Get off the ferry first so that you don’t have to wait in a queue at the border control. I recommend going to the exist from the ferry about 10 minutes before arrival.

Application for travelling without a car

It is very important not to forget that if you have temporary imported a car with foreign licence plates into Turkey, then in case you leave for another country without the car, you must write a declaration to Customs, in which you undertake that no one else will use your car while you are away.

Unfortunately, many people forget about this and then receive huge fines for violating the customs regime. Fines can be up to 25% of the estimated value of the car. Read more in this article.

You can make an application for travelling without a car directly at the ticket office. When you return from your trip, I recommend that you go to them and pick up a copy of the application form with customs marks. You may need such a copy in case of any problems.

About the island of Kastellorizo

Less than 600 people live on Kastellorizo. The island has an area of 12 km² and is only 6 kilometres long. It may not seem like such a small island for hiking. However, this shouldn’ t actually scare you off. The populated part of the island that we are interested in is a few neighbourhoods in one small bay (I have highlighted it with a red rectangle in the photo).

You can walk through this area in a couple of hours at a leisurely pace.

International relations

Turkey does not officially claim the island of Kastellorizo, which belongs to Greece, but the island is at the centre of disputes between Turkey and Greece regarding its territorial waters, exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and airspace in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Kastellorizo is located very close to the Turkish coast (only 2 kilometres) , creating tensions over the definition of maritime boundaries. Turkey argues that small islands such as Kastellorizo, should not have a significant impact on the EEZ and territorial waters in the region. Greece, on the other hand, argues that the island, as part of its sovereign territory, is entitled to a full 200-mile EEZ under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The disputes are thus not about the sovereignty of the island, but over rights to use resources, such as the underwater oil and gas reserves in the area.

Perhaps that’s why, as you approach the island, you can first of all see a rather large warship, and only after that the yachts and the houses.

Despite this, Turkey and Greece are resolving their differences in a civilised, diplomatic way. Not the way imperialistic Russia does.

Do you need a visa for Kastellorizo?

If you are a citizen of Ukraine, you don’t need a visa, as the island belongs to Greece, which is part of the Schengen zone. However, if your country does not have a visa-free regime with Greece, you will need a visa.

Theagency that sells the tickets also makes single entry visas under a simplified system for visiting the island. As I understand, this service is available for Turkish citizens. I am not sure if there is such a simplified system for citizens of other countries, but you can check. You need to submit your visa documents at least 4-5 working days in advance. However, the cost of such a visa is 80 euros for an adult and 20 euros for a child, which in my opinion is a lot. It may be easier for citizens of such countries to consider a plane ticket to any other visa-free country.

What to do on the island of Kastellorizo?

Although the island is very small, you won’t be left without things to do.

• Restaurants. You can also have a great time in the local restaurants, take a break from Turkish cuisine and eat authentic European specialities.
• The sea. The island is rocky. There are no sandy beaches. But almost all around the perimeter of the island there are stairs from the pier into the water. The water is quite clear and very warm. Many hotels can offer you sunbeds. You can sunbathe or just sit in the shade and look at the sea. There is also a wild beach. Ask the locals, they will tell you where it is.
• Mini-island-beach. For just only 5 euros, boatmen can take you to a small island-beach with sunbeds, cafes, good water and beautiful scenery. The entrance to the water is also by stairs. If you go to the blue cave, the boatman can drop you off at this mini-island-beach on the way back for free. Then you don’t have to pay separately for the trip to the island.
• Blue Cave. One of the biggest attractions on the island is a trip to the blue cave. The trip costs 15 euros (for kids too). We were picked up directly from the restaurant by the owner’s husband and brought back to our seats. But keep in mind that a boat can’t always get into the cave. If the tide is low, the distance between the water and the vault at the entrance to the cave is very small. Then you have to swim in. I recommend not refusing even then, as the cave is stunningly beautiful. If you have a return ferry at 16:00, I recommend sailing to the Blue Cave no later than 12:30-13:00 so that you can still walk, eat and shop afterwards.
• Shops. There are small shops on the island where you can buy goods not available in Turkey. This includes pork products and cheeses. We have seen some of people buying pork and cheeses and taking them to Turkey. But keep in mind that it is forbidden to bring pork into Turkey. But some people smuggle these products with them illegally, because the customs checks are selective. Personally, we didn’t do that 🙂
• Duty Free. How could you do without them? The shop is right at the exit of the ferry and offers alcohol and other products at prices lower than in Turkey. Turks therefore usually stock up on large bags of duty-free goods.

Also, we recommend looking in the water near the restaurants. A large number of huge loggerhead turtles (Turks call them Caretta-Caretta) swim up here.

Don’t be in a hurry to give the waiter the leftover fish from your table.

But don’t do as shown in this photo either. Although the turtles here are very friendly, they are still animals. The bite of such a turtle can be very strong.

Restrictions on import of goods to Turkey

As a reminder, you can bring into Turkey the following quantities of some goods per person:

• 1 litre of strong alcohol (available from Duty Free).
• 2 litres of wine. I also recommend filling thermoses with draught home wine from local restaurants.
• 2 litres of olive oil. You’d have to be a gourmet, I guess.
• 1 carton of cigarettes per 1 adult passport.
• 1 block of hits per 1 passport.
• The importation of pork is banned altogether.
• The importation of cheese is banned altogether.

Customs can check bags selectively. They can check thoroughly or superficially. So yes, some tourists hide their pork in wet towels. But I recommend just getting full on pork at a restaurant and not breaking customs regulations.

Kash

The town of Kaş, from where the ferry leaves, is also of tourist interest. The town is very picturesque and is situated in a stunningly beautiful location.

There are many non-Russian-speaking foreigners in the city and almost all Turks speak English (that’s where they hid!).

Hotels in Kaş are located on the side of a mountain, so you can see stunning sunsets from the hotel pool. Sunsets are especially appreciated by those who live in Antalya, which is devoid of sunsets (the sun in Antalya sets behind the mountains before it even gets its specific sunset colours).

We stayed at the Sunset Butik Apart Hotel for 110 euros two bedrooms, kitchen, living room and two pools. We loved it. But stock up on water and snacks. It ‘s a long way from the hotel to the city centre. And if you have already had a beer, it will be a bit far without a car. We walked down with a 7 year old child, but back to the hotels there are steep roads up. But back to the hotels there are steep roads upwards. So we took a taxi on the way back.

The food in Kash is much tastier than in Antalya. Even the usual pizza is NORMAL here!

What to do after a trip to Kastellorizo?

Antalya is a delightfully beautiful place! Therefore, on such an occasion, it is necessary to mark this event with a beautiful photo shoot.

Photo shoots can be held here in many locations. There are ruins of ancient cities, waterfalls, canyons, colourful narrow streets of the old town, roofs of houses, like in this photo, the lavender fields of Isparta, and many, many more stunning places!

There are more questions!

Not everything is clear or is your case more complicated? Contact me in the comments below. I am always happy to respond as soon as possible.