Culinary Backstreets of the Bazaar Quarter
- 5h 30m
- Free cancellation up to 24h before
- Guided in English
- Mobile ticket
Highlights
The area around Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar is a maze of historic hans, workshops and tiny eateries serving the merchants and artisans who work here every day. On this full-day tour, we’ll explore its backstreets through the food and people that keep the neighborhood’s traditions alive. We’ll begin with tea and pastries in the courtyard of an 18th-century religious school before sitting down for menemen with sweeping views over the Grand Bazaar. From there, we’ll taste döner at a tiny kiosk and seasonal home-style dishes at a neighborhood esnaf lokantası. As we continue through Ottoman-era trading inns and craft districts, we’ll meet traditional artisans and taste freshly baked flatbread, kokoreç and other local specialties. We’ll finish with a milk-soaked cake with Albanian roots — a sweet ending to a day spent discovering the Bazaar Quarter beyond the storefronts.
Inclusions
What's included
- Soda/Pop
- Lunch
- Snacks
- Breakfast
- Coffee and/or Tea
Itinerary
Istanbul’s Bazaar Quarter is one of the world’s biggest open-air commercial centers and a historic center of small craftsmen who still carry on their tradition in the atmospheric caravanserais. On this 5-hour Grand Bazaar food tour, we will eat with these craftsmen.
Cancellation
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.
Reviews
5.0
- 5134
- 43
- 30
- 20
- 10
Ratings come from 137 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.
Know before you go
- Meeting point
- We will meet at the entrance of Çorlulu Ali Paşa Medresesi, just off Yeniçeriler Caddesi. Look for the main archway entrance that leads into the tea garden area.
- Pickup
- Everyone meets at the starting point; there is no pickup.
- Ticket type
- Mobile or paper ticket accepted
- Group size
- Up to 7 travellers
- Operated by
- Culinary Backstreets Walks
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
How it compares in Istanbul
- Its from-price is close to the median of the 126 food tours we list in Istanbul.
- It is longer than most of them.
- By number of reviews it ranks 16 of 126.
- The operator lists free cancellation on it.
About Istanbul
Istanbul straddles Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus, with Byzantine and Ottoman monuments, busy bazaars and ferries crossing between continents.
The historic peninsula holds the greatest landmarks. Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the Hippodrome face each other in Sultanahmet, the Basilica Cistern lies beneath the streets, and Topkapı Palace spreads across the hill above the Golden Horn. A short walk away, the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar have traded for centuries, and Süleymaniye Mosque, built by the great Ottoman architect Sinan, crowns one of the city's seven hills.
Top-ranked sights in Istanbul: Dolmabahce Palace (Dolmabahce Sarayi), Bosphorus, Bosphorus Bridge (Bogazici Koprusu).
Special offers in Istanbul
Was/now prices come from the operator, never from us.
