

Thousands of Australians planning to visit Gallipoli for Anzac Day face a difficult decision after the federal government urged travellers to reconsider travel to the transit city of Istanbul.

Less than a month before Anzac Day, the Department of Foreign Affairs has stiffened its advice for Turkey, urging Australians to "reconsider your need to travel" to Istanbul or the capital Ankara, though the advice for Gallipoli itself has not changed.

Police secure an area in a major shopping and tourist district in the central part of Istanbul following a suicide bombing on March 19. Credit:Getty Images

More than 80 people have been killed in four separate suicide bombings in the two major cities so far this year.

Virtually all visitors to Gallipoli have to go through Istanbul. While the advice did not warn people not to travel to Gallipoli for Anzac Day, it urged them to spend as little time in Istanbul as possible.