Send Flowers to Turkey from the UK: Times, Cards, Tips

Whether it's your Turkish in-laws in Izmir, a friend who retired to Fethiye, your grandmother in a village near Kayseri or a neighbour who looks after your holiday flat in Didim, plenty of people in the UK have someone in Türkiye they want to surprise. This guide covers what is different when you send flowers to Turkey from the UK: the cut-off in UK time, paying with a British card, the Mother's Day mix-up, writing an address that a Turkish courier can find, and a few lines of Turkish for the card. For the full step-by-step process, see how to send flowers to Turkey from abroad.

How it works, in one paragraph

Nothing leaves the UK. You order online, a local florist near your recipient hand-ties the bouquet and delivers it in person, and you get a photo of the delivery by email and WhatsApp. No customs, no parcel, no days in transit. We cover all 81 provinces of Türkiye, from central Istanbul to small villages, down to neighbourhood (mahalle) level.

The cut-off in UK time: 11:00 or 12:00

Orders placed before 14:00 Türkiye time are delivered the same day. Türkiye stays on UTC+3 all year and never changes its clocks, while the UK switches between GMT and BST. So the gap changes twice a year:

• Winter (GMT): Türkiye is 3 hours ahead, so the same-day cut-off is 11:00 UK time.
• Summer (BST): Türkiye is 2 hours ahead, so the cut-off is 12:00 UK time.

In practice: if you order over your morning coffee, the flowers can arrive the same afternoon. If you order in the evening after work, it is already late evening in Türkiye, and the bouquet goes out on the next delivery day. Choose the date with that in mind.

You can also pick a delivery time slot. Slots are set in Türkiye time:

• Morning 09:00–13:00 Türkiye time = 06:00–10:00 GMT (07:00–11:00 BST)
• Afternoon 13:00–18:00 = 10:00–15:00 GMT (11:00–16:00 BST)
• Evening 18:00–21:00 = 15:00–18:00 GMT (16:00–19:00 BST), with a surcharge shown before you pay

There are no deliveries on Sundays or Turkish public holidays. These include 1 January, 23 April, 1 May, 19 May, 15 July, 30 August, 29 October and the Bayram days. They are not the same as UK bank holidays, so a Monday that is a bank holiday in the UK is usually a normal delivery day in Türkiye, and a Turkish holiday may fall on an ordinary UK weekday.

Paying with a UK card

Prices can be displayed in pounds sterling, converted at the Central Bank of Türkiye rate so you can compare easily. Your card is then charged in Turkish lira (TRY). What that means for you:

• Your statement shows a TRY amount. Your bank converts it to pounds at its own rate on the day it processes the payment, so the final figure can differ slightly from what you saw on screen.
• Watch for a non-sterling transaction fee. Many UK debit and credit cards charge a percentage on foreign-currency payments. Several app-based banks and travel credit cards don't; check your card's fee table if you send flowers to Türkiye often.
• Expect a 3-D Secure check. Your bank will ask you to approve the payment in its app or with a one-time code, just like other online purchases. Keep your phone to hand.

Visa and Mastercard debit and credit cards issued in the UK normally work without any problem. A full breakdown of every cost element is in how much it costs to send flowers to Turkey.

Mind the Mother's Day gap

This catches out a lot of UK senders. Mothering Sunday in the UK falls in March (7 March in 2027), but Mother's Day in Türkiye (Anneler Günü) is the second Sunday of May (9 May in 2027). If your mum or mother-in-law lives in Türkiye, a bouquet in March will be a lovely surprise, but May is when everyone around her will be celebrating.

Because we don't deliver on Sundays, Mother's Day flowers in Türkiye arrive on the Saturday before. The same applies to Valentine's Day in 2027, which falls on a Sunday: choose Saturday 13 February or Monday 15 February. Order early for both, as florists are at their busiest.

Other occasions UK senders choose

• Birthdays and anniversaries: colourful mixed bouquets and roses are always safe.
• Get well: hospitals are a common destination; add the ward and room number.
• Condolences: Turkish funerals usually take place very quickly, often the next day. Read condolence flowers in Turkey before you order.
• Bayram: if your partner's family is Turkish, a bouquet before Ramazan Bayramı or Kurban Bayramı is a thoughtful gesture.
• Thank-yous for teachers: Teachers' Day on 24 November is a much-loved Turkish tradition.

Colour and number meanings can differ from the UK; our guide to Turkish flower etiquette explains them.

Where UK senders send to

Most orders from the UK go to Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, to family villages across Anatolia, and to the resort towns where many British people live or own homes: Fethiye, Kalkan, Bodrum, Didim, Marmaris and Alanya. Find any area on our delivery areas page; you can type names without Turkish characters, so "Calis" finds Çalış.

One note for families with Cypriot roots: we deliver within Türkiye's 81 provinces only, so we can't deliver to Northern Cyprus.

Writing a Turkish address

Turkish addresses run from large to small, the opposite of a UK address:

1. İl (province), e.g. Muğla
2. İlçe (district), e.g. Fethiye. The delivery fee is based on the district and shown in the cart before you pay.
3. Mahalle (neighbourhood) or köy (village), e.g. Çalış
4. Cadde or sokak (street), building number, daire (flat) and, in gated complexes, the site name and block

For a holiday complex or hotel, add the complex or hotel name and the flat or room number. In villages without house numbers, a phone number and a landmark such as "next to the mosque" or "opposite the school" make all the difference. Dates are written day/month in Türkiye, just like in the UK, so there's no risk of a US-style mix-up.

Card message: a few lines in Turkish

Your card can hold up to 300 characters. Write in English and we can add a hand-written Turkish translation free of charge, so an older relative can read it without help. If you'd like to add a line in Turkish yourself:

• "Anneler Günün kutlu olsun." – Happy Mother's Day.
• "İyi ki doğdun!" – Happy birthday! (literally "so glad you were born")
• "Geçmiş olsun." – Get well soon.
• "Seni çok seviyorum." – I love you very much.
• "Yeni eviniz hayırlı olsun." – Congratulations on your new home.

Sign with the name your recipient uses for you, for example "Gelinin Sarah, Manchester" (your daughter-in-law Sarah, Manchester).

Quick checklist

1. Area chosen down to mahalle or village
2. Delivery date is not a Sunday or Turkish public holiday
3. Ordered before 11:00 GMT / 12:00 BST for same-day delivery
4. Recipient's phone number added
5. Card ready for a 3-D Secure check, ideally one without a non-sterling fee

Questions before you order? Message us on WhatsApp or write to info@flowerturkiye.com. To see today's prices in pounds, browse the bouquets.