The Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar in Istanbul are popular tourist attractions and can be very crowded at times attracting up to 400,000 visitors a day during peak time.
Some online travel sites have comments that the Grand Bazaar is a rip off and should be avoided. We found it to be an interesting experience with the shop keepers in jovial moods and not pushy like markets in Thailand or China. Many of the items on sale were repeated but with over 5000 stalls in 60 streets, there was a large variety of items . It was just a matter of saying "no" if we didn't want to buy a particular item. Bargaining was required and most prices could be decreased by 50 to 60% off the starting price.
Also interesting was the mosaics on the ceilings of the various domes in the covered market as well as the tea sellers delivering cups of tea on silver trays to the various stall owners.
The Spice Bazzar was a colourful and vibrant market selling a huge range of spices as well as Turkish Delight or Lokum in many varieties. Many of the premium Lokum was made with honey and had the addition of nuts or dates and could be sampled before trying to make a hard decision of which flavour to purchase. The spices could be purchased in small quantities and were vacuumed sealed for traveling.
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Entrance to Grand Bazaar |
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Mosaics on the domes and arches |
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One of the main streets in the bazaar |
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Colourful lights on sale |
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Ceiling of the Grand Bazaar
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Spices at the Spice Bazzar |
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Copper cookware |
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Tea and coffee sets |
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Spices |
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Turkish delight |
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