Irrespective of the nature of your visit to Turkey - short break, holiday or longer stay - a comprehensive travel insurance policy is a must. Medical care, especially in the cities and resorts is of exceptionally high quality - but in Turkey private healthcare is very expensive indeed. The most imortant point to remember when choosing your insurance policy for your trip to Turkey are firstly - avoid insurers who do not classify Turkey as Europe: Most insurers add Turkey and Egypt to the usual EU countries but some don't - and don't always make that obvious. Even the names we know and trust can be guilty. Mid way through 2011 The Post Office European travel insurance policies stopped including Turkey.

The knock on effect is twofold: Worldwide policies are normally far more expensive than European ones and also those who assumed Turkey was still part of their European cover would possibly only find out it isn't when their claim is rejected in full. All suggested insurers on this page include Turkey in their European cover products.

Also be entirely clear that nearly all travel insurance policies do not cover you for activities considered dangerous or irresponsible. In Turkey this is often obvious activities like white water rafting and paragliding but also the not so obvious - accidents while using quadbikes are fairly common in Turkey and are often severe and nearly always not covered by UK Travel Insurance Policies. Another one to watch is unlicenced airport transfers - always use a registered (called TURSAB) transfer or shuttle service. Your hotel or someone on a website or forum for example may offer to do it cheaper but should you have an accident, your travel insurance will not pay your hospital bill.

Below we suggest insurance companies based on cover type for Turkey: