Culinary Backstreets of the Bazaar Quarter

Our guide, Gonca, led us through an unforgettable experience discovering the real life of the Grand Bazaar. While tourists are overwhelmed by the many shops and products, we were weaving in and out of the bazaar, exploring hidden corners and climbing terraces we would have never found on our own. You could visit the Grand Bazaar many times but you’ll never get to know it until you do this tour. A big thanks to Gonca for sharing her knowledge with such clarity and warmth!

My husband and two daughters (7 and 11) had the most memorable, tasty, interesting day with the fantastic Gonca - our tour guide. It’s a day we will remember forever. Gonca was so warm, knowledgeable and so fun. And all the stops were so unique - we would have never found them on our own. I would highly recommend doing this!

We enjoyed our tour of the Bazaar with Remziye very much. Her knowledge and sophistication and warmth made the day a pleasure. The pace, the amount of food and meeting the people who make the Bazaar such a dynamic space and place in history and modern life was perfect. Learning where the locals eat and how they do it and why was fascinating. From how and why Turkish Tea is served in glass and how it fuels the merchants was informative and fun to then notice the custom every where we went in Turkey. The tour gave us a huge appreciation for the importance tea has in daily life and enhanced our trip. Meeting artisans creating their products from silver art work to pides was interesting and fun. The knowledge we gained in a few hours enhanced our entire trip. Don't miss this tour when in Istanbul.

What a brilliant way to spend a morning. Ugur was a fantastic guide and took us to places I would never have found on my own. The food was delicious, and the conversation flowed. Highly recommended.

Our guide Ugur was incredible! Not only we tasted so many kind of typical food at very local restaurants but we also learned so much of the culture! It is our 3rd food tour with Culinary Backstreets and will never use an other company! They are the best!

This 5 1/2 hour expedition through the Bazaar Quarter offered more than a glimpse into Istanbul food. Expertly led by Kadir, the tour provided a look into life, history, and culture in this world capital. But, let's start with the food. We visited seven or eight food emporia--from a tea room just inside the Grand Bazaar's gate, to a cafe overlooking a Byzantine courtyard to a doner stand built into the corner of a building. Each stop offered succulent and distinct food and each was frequented by local citizens and not tourists. I cannot remember a single stop where we were with other travelers. Instead, we got a real sense of how Istanbul's citizens live and play. For that, we are extremely grateful to our guide Kadir. With his abundant good will and irrepressible smile, he led us through the Grand Bazaar. More importantly, he guided us down back alleys and up ancient stairways to reveal spectacular views of the city, hidden workshops, and architectural smiles. He seemed to know half the people we passed along the way, all of whom seemed thrilled to see him. The price makes this tour a bit of a splurge, but you should splurge away. You will be glad that you did.

Gonca is a brilliant tour guide, and I had a wonderful time! The food was amazing, and so much of it... But it was about more than just the food, she also introduced us to the culture of the Grand Bazaar behind the scenes, and took us round places I would never have seen otherwise. We visited arcaded courtyards and roof terraces hidden up small stairways, went past what at first I thought was a small riot but turned out to be the gold-trading area, and met people who work in the Bazaar. Also we were all given a small book about Istanbul eating places, which I found useful in the rest of my trip. I visited Istanbul ten years ago and left the Grand Bazaar after about ten minutes, frightened away by the confusion and all the approaches from sales people, but after going round with Gonca now I know I could visit again with no trouble. I highly recommend this tour.

Thanks to our brilliant guide, Gonca, this tour was such a special experience and a highlight of our trip to Istanbul! A true culinary exploration of the Bazaar backstreets, we tried so many authentic Turkish foods in places we would have never found on our own, and experienced such warm hospitality from the culinary masters and vendors. We have done many food tours with Culinary Backstreets and other providers across the globe and this has to be our all-time favourite experience. Thank you Gonca for sharing this pocket of İstanbul through your eyes - we will carry these memories and tastes forever.

Astounding tour. Great food choices and extremely informative guide. We learned a lot about different sections of the Grand Bazaar and met mamy inreresting vendors.Highly recommended!!!

I always love to start a visit to a new city with a walking food tour and this one did not disappoint! My friend and I had a tour to ourselves and our guide was so knowledgeable and fun and really took his time with us going well beyond the scheduled time. We tasted many delicious dishes and met interesting people along the way. Our tour guide even went above and beyond to help with some banking issues we. had encountered. It was liking visiting teh city with a friend showing us around to teh best Istanbul has to offer.