# Travelling to Istanbul for a Facelift

> Canonical (HTML): https://muhsinyilmaz.com/en/travelling-to-istanbul

By Muhsin Yilmaz, MD, FEBOPRAS · Last reviewed September 2026

Having a facelift in Turkey means planning a trip around an operation rather than an operation around a trip: you arrive a day or two before surgery, stay in Istanbul until I am satisfied that you are safe to fly, and go home with a follow-up plan rather than with a discharge letter. This page explains how that trip is arranged for my international patients — the practical side, not the surgery itself.

## What Travelling for Facial Surgery Actually Involves

Patients come to Istanbul for facial surgery for one reason above the others: they want a particular surgeon, and that surgeon is here. [A facelift in Turkey](https://muhsinyilmaz.com/en/deep-plane-facelift) is not a different operation from a facelift anywhere else — what differs is that the consultation, the surgery, the early follow-up and the flight home all have to be planned as one sequence rather than as separate appointments near your house.

That sequence is what this page describes. Most of my patients fly in for surgery, and almost all of them arrive having already had an online assessment, a written plan and a quote. If you are still deciding whether surgery abroad is right for you at all, the honest questions to ask are about the surgeon and the aftercare, not about the destination — and the safety and accreditation side is covered on its own page, [safety and standards](https://muhsinyilmaz.com/en/is-turkey-safe-for-plastic-surgery).

If you would rather start with the patients themselves than with the logistics, the [before & after gallery](https://muhsinyilmaz.com/en/results) and my patients’ own [accounts of their treatment](https://muhsinyilmaz.com/en/testimonials) are the two pages worth reading first.

## How Long You Will Stay

There is no single number, and I am wary of clinics that publish one. How long you stay depends on which operation you are having, how you heal in the first days, whether drains or sutures need to come out before you fly, and how far you have to travel home — a patient flying to London and a patient flying to Sydney do not have the same schedule.

What I can tell you is how the number is decided: your plan sets an expected range before you book, the range is confirmed once we have examined you in person, and the final date is confirmed at your last check. Each treatment page carries the expected time in Istanbul for that operation, and the patient coordination team builds your travel dates around it rather than around a fixed template.

## Before You Travel: Photographs, Assessment and Your Quote

Everything starts with photographs. You send them over WhatsApp or through the form, I review them myself, and you receive an assessment of what your anatomy actually calls for — which is sometimes a smaller operation than you asked about, and occasionally no operation at all. If surgery is appropriate, you receive an itemised quote and an expected length of stay before anything is booked.

Where it is useful, we arrange an online consultation so that you can ask questions directly rather than through a coordinator. Your medical history, medications and any previous surgery are collected at this stage, not on the day you arrive — that is what makes the in-person examination short and the surgical plan final.

## Hotel, Transfers and Booking

The clinic arranges hotel and airport transfers for patients who would rather not organise them, and works with hotels close to the clinic on Bağdat Caddesi. You are equally free to book your own hotel and travel — many patients do, particularly those coming with family — and choosing to arrange it yourself changes nothing about your care.

What the clinic does not do is bundle your surgery and your travel into a single undifferentiated arrangement. You are having an operation with a surgeon, and the accommodation around it is a convenience, not part of the treatment.

## Who Should Come With You

I recommend bringing someone, and I do not require it. In the first days after facial surgery you will be swollen, tired and less independent than you expect, and having a familiar person to help with meals, medication and getting to appointments makes the week easier — for many patients that is the difference between a stressful stay and a calm one.

Patients who travel alone are looked after: the coordination team accompanies you to appointments and is reachable throughout your stay. If you are travelling alone, say so when your dates are being planned, so the follow-up visits and transfers are arranged with that in mind.

## Arrival and the Days Before Surgery

You arrive one or two days before your operation. That first visit to the clinic is an in-person examination and the final planning conversation: I look at your face in person, we go over the plan we agreed on your photographs, and we confirm what will and will not be done. Pre-operative blood tests and any assessments your history requires are done in this window.

If the examination changes the plan, we say so before surgery rather than after. It is rare, but it happens — and it is far better than performing an operation that the photographs oversold.

## Your Days in Istanbul After Surgery

You spend the night, or nights, in hospital that your operation requires, and then recover at your hotel with scheduled visits back to the clinic. Those visits are where [dressings, drains and sutures are managed](https://muhsinyilmaz.com/en/your-surgery-timeline) and where I see how you are healing — they are the reason the stay is as long as it is.

What each day feels like, the swelling, the bruising and when you look like yourself again is covered in detail in my [facelift recovery guide](https://muhsinyilmaz.com/en/facelift-recovery). This page is about the logistics around those days rather than the healing itself.

## Flying Home — and Who Decides When

I decide, at your final check, and only if everything is as it should be. Fitness to fly is a medical judgement about swelling, wound healing, and the risks that come with a long flight after surgery — not a date chosen by an airline booking or by how long a hotel was reserved for.

Book your return flight as changeable if you can. Most patients fly home on the day we planned; the point of confirming it at the last check is that when a patient needs two more days, those two days are available rather than argued about.

## After You Fly Home

Your follow-up does not end at the airport. You stay in direct contact with the clinic, send photographs at agreed intervals, and I review your healing remotely — this is the part of care that distinguishes a surgeon who treats international patients from one who simply operates on them.

If something concerns you at any point, you contact us and get an answer from the team that operated on you. Where a local doctor needs to be involved, we provide the operative details they need.

## Practical Matters

**Passport and entry:** entry requirements depend on your nationality and change from time to time, so check the official [Turkish e-Visa system](https://www.evisa.gov.tr/) before you book rather than relying on what a clinic tells you.

**Money and language:** the clinic works in English throughout, and payment arrangements are set out in your quote before you travel.

**Getting around:** the clinic is on Bağdat Caddesi in Kadıköy, on the Asian side of Istanbul; transfers are arranged from either airport.

**Time of year:** there is no wrong season for surgery, though patients who dislike heat often prefer spring or autumn for the recovery days.

## What This Trip Is Not

It is not a holiday with an operation attached. You will not be sightseeing, you should not plan a coastal trip for the week after surgery, and the sun is the last thing fresh scars need. Patients who plan a holiday around their recovery usually enjoy neither.

It is also not the cheapest way to have a facelift, and it is not meant to be. Patients travel here for a specific surgeon and a specific operation; if the deciding factor is price alone, the honest advice is to keep looking rather than to book with me.

## Frequently Asked Questions

**How long do I need to stay in Istanbul?**

It depends on the operation and on how you heal, so I do not publish a single number. Your plan gives you an expected range before you book, it is confirmed after the in-person examination, and the final date is set at your last check — each treatment page carries the expected time in Istanbul for that operation.

**Do I need someone to travel with me?**

It is recommended, not required. Having someone with you makes the first days after surgery considerably easier, but patients who travel alone are accompanied to their appointments by the coordination team and are looked after throughout their stay.

**Do you arrange the hotel and transfers?**

Yes, for patients who would rather not organise it themselves — the clinic arranges accommodation near the clinic and transfers from the airport. You are equally free to book your own hotel and travel, and doing so changes nothing about your care.

**When can I fly home after surgery?**

When I confirm at your final check that you are fit to fly, and only if everything is as it should be. That judgement is about swelling and wound healing rather than about your booking, so book a changeable return flight if you can.

**Is it safe to have a facelift in Turkey?**

The question that matters is not the country but the surgeon, the hospital and what happens if something goes wrong. Accreditation, the hospital setting and how complications are handled are covered in detail on my [safety and standards](https://muhsinyilmaz.com/en/is-turkey-safe-for-plastic-surgery) page.

**Do I need a visa to travel to Turkey?**

That depends on your nationality and the rules change from time to time. Check the official [Turkish e-Visa system](https://www.evisa.gov.tr/) when you plan your dates rather than relying on any clinic's summary, including mine.

**Can I have my consultation before I travel?**

Yes — the assessment happens before you book anything. You send photographs, I review them personally, and where it is useful we arrange an online consultation so you can ask your questions directly.

**What happens if I have a problem after I go home?**

You stay in contact with the clinic and send photographs at agreed intervals, and I review your healing remotely. If a problem arises, you get an answer from the team that operated on you, and we provide any details your local doctor needs.

**Can I combine the trip with a holiday?**

I would not plan one. The days after facial surgery are for rest and follow-up appointments, sun is bad for fresh scars, and patients who try to do both usually enjoy neither. Come for the surgery; see Istanbul on a later trip.

## Start Your Assessment

If you are considering travelling to Istanbul, the first step is not a booking — it is photographs. Send them over WhatsApp or through the form and you will receive an honest assessment of what your anatomy calls for, an expected length of stay and an itemised quote before anything is arranged.

[Request a personal review](https://muhsinyilmaz.com/en/contact) [See how care works, start to finish](https://muhsinyilmaz.com/en/patient-journey)

*Every enquiry is reviewed personally by Dr. Yilmaz; scheduling is handled by the patient coordination team.*

## About Dr. Muhsin Yilmaz

Written and reviewed by Muhsin Yilmaz, MD, FEBOPRAS — Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeon. Last reviewed: September 2026.

Dr. Muhsin Yilmaz is a **double board-certified plastic surgeon** (FEBOPRAS and the Turkish Board of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery) practising in Istanbul, Türkiye. His practice is focused on facial and neck rejuvenation, centred on the deep plane facelift, performed at Acıbadem Kartal Hospital. He is a member of TSPRAS and ISAPS, and is registered with the Turkish Ministry of Health for international health tourism. Read his [full profile](https://muhsinyilmaz.com/en/about-us).