For submitting a new event or a guide item, please
email us.
Shopping
Shopping in Istanbul is certainly not an easy matter because of the huge variety of shops, boutiques, bazaars, mini malls or stands on the street. You can find nearly everything from international brands to manufactured clothes in the backstreet, souvenir shops or carpet sellers offering you a synthetic apple tea while trying to get you into their shops. “Pasaj” are the arcades of the city. They are a sort of small malls or individual department stores which are located all over Istanbul. The Grand Bazaar or the Spice Market near the Galata Bridge is a good place to start a shopping tour. Usual shops can be found in Istikal Caddesi in Beyoglu, the boutiques in Nisantasi and Tesvikiye and a big shopping centre in Etiler.
Every Sunday from 8 am you have a ecological street market in Lala Sahin Street where you buy biological products. The variety of food is enormous – fruits, vegetables, eggs, honey, olive oil, rice, dried fruits, tea and fruit juices. You can also buy biological cosmetics and textiles. A separate section offers wooden toys for kids.
Curkurcuma is the heart of the antiques district while Istiklal Caddesi in Beyoglu has plenty of shops for clothes, music and books. Nevertheless, the more fashion-stylish part of the city is Nisantasi where you can find shops of Gucci, Armani, Hugo Boss and some fancy department stores. Bagdat Caddesi on the Asian side offers a wide range of fashion boutiques and department stores. But there are also impressive shopping malls in different parts of the city such as Akmerkez, in Etiler.
Favourite goods in Turkey are gold jewellery, carpets and leather wear. Also water pipes or ceramics are popular gifts to bring home. The gold has a very good quality in Turkey; the prices for such products are depending on the gold prices on the international finance markets. Most of the time jewellery is made in local factories; therefore the prices for jewellery are not that high. You will get a certificate for any product bought. Carpets are made with different material. You can get them made out of silk, wool or synthetics. You have to be careful when buying as sometimes shop men pretend synthetics to be silk and you go off with a higher price than the carpet deserves. Leather wear can also be found in a lot of shops. Even if you don’t find the right style people offer you to make a complete new piece for you. But before agreeing, compare the prices between shops and always try to bargain. Never accept the first price you are offered and don’t feel obliged to buy anything only because you were offered a free tea!
Dear tobook.com visitor, you also can contribute to our city guides with
events and articles. Do you want to inform our readers with an upcoming
event or do you want to publish your article, please
email us at guide. We would welcome personal stories about your experiences
in Europe as a great addition to our city guides.
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version
