Turkey Jet Lag Calculator

A gap this size is a weekend problem, not a week problem: Ankara mornings feel early at first. By day three or four in Turkey, your body has caught up. Two Turkey specifics compound the shift: Ankara sits at 938 m (altitude makes poor sleep feel worse), and Western Asia sits on the Asia travel circuit most Turkey itineraries follow.

Subtract your home UTC offset from Turkey's 3 and the remainder is the shift your body clock must absorb. Reference frame for Turkey: Ankara keeps UTC+3 and sits 938 m above sea level in Western Asia, with that same offset in every season.

Three levers run the Turkey recovery: light, sleep timing and hydration. Start with pre-flight drift for Turkey — 30–60 minutes per day toward Ankara time. Hold the line in the air for Turkey: water instead of wine.

Caffeine before noon only, and set the watch to Ankara time, UTC+3. Each eastbound zone costs about one recovery day, each westbound zone about two-thirds of a day — so the London–Ankara leg (eastbound, 3 hours) bills you about 3 days, while flying the opposite direction would cost only 2. Dry cabin air quietly drains you on the way to Turkey; an extra 500 ml of water per 3 hours in the air keeps the Ankara arrival day survivable.

Applied to this Western Asia trip: 3 hours east from London to Ankara maps to about 3 reset days, so a Turkey itinerary should front-load outdoor time on days one to 3.

A 10-minute warm shower an hour before bed speeds the core-temperature drop that starts sleep — a real head-start on the first jangled Turkey nights in Ankara. If Turkey wakes you at 4am on night one in Ankara, stay dark and still — checking the clock anchors wakefulness.

Cool, dark and quiet wins in Turkey: 16–20°C in the Ankara room, a proper mask against dawn light, and no screens in the last hour before bed. Practical baseline: lights out in a dark 16–20°C Ankara room (938 m, UTC+3), and no evening alcohol for the first two nights while the Turkey clock settles.