On our Grand Bazaar food tour, we’ll start the day with a full breakfast celebrating the best of the dairy highlands in Eastern Anatolia, followed by an unusual wedding soup from Konya. Then we’ll make our way through the garment district to a cluster of Ottoman-era hans (traders’ inns), home to a guild of traditional craftsmen in their tiny workshops. There we will have an unforgettable, freshly baked pide before grazing our way in, out and around the Grand Bazaar, taking in a perfect kebab, a bite of Edirne-style liver, and a spread of seasonal, vegetarian mezes. We will drink tea and Turkish coffee in out-of-the-way places, while the sweet notes on this route begin with kadayıf, an Arabian-influenced love letter from the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep, and end with a delicious milk-soaked cake that made its way from Albania to the Istanbul. It’s Istanbul’s Bazaar Quarter as it’s never been seen — or tasted — before.
Posted By : mdmci
Kadir was a terrific guide; interesting, knowledgeable and engaging. We had terrific insights into the local food, craftsman through exploring the “backstreets” including above the Grand Bazaar where James Bond Skyfall scenes were filmed and visiting a cafe with an incredible view of the Golden Horn.
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Posted On : 2024-07-05 05:57:20 
Posted By : Colleen S
We booked a private tour with Ugur, which was one of the highlights of our entire two-week trip. The food we sampled was delicious, and of course it was wonderful to also get a sense of some Turkish history and customs along the way. And while I was briefly worried the 17-year-old and 19-year-old in our group might not enjoy it as much as the adults, they loved it, and continued to talk about the tour for days to come. Highly recommend!
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Posted On : 2024-06-17 11:19:35
Posted By : G3149WRjamesd
The tour was the best possible start to our stay in the city. We were fortunate enough to have an outstanding guide in Remziye, who was friendly, charming, and extremely knowledgeable. All of the food we tried was excellent, and it was woven in expertly with cultural and historical context of the Bazaar and the wider city. I couldn't recommend the tour enough, especially as a way to find all of the places to go back to for the rest of a trip.
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Posted On : 2024-06-14 10:42:47
Posted By : Traveler829511
amazing culinary adventure. Great walk around istanbul and sampling of street food we could never have devised independently.
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Posted On : 2024-06-02 04:05:43
Posted By : LouiseinCham
Amazing! Interesting! Fun! We saw thin gs we would have never, ever seen without this trip and the wonderful Esin. I can't recommend this tour more (and we normally don't like tours!) Really a great experience. Bring an empty stomach!
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Posted On : 2024-05-22 06:51:07
Posted By : margaretgE9800RB
This was our third Culinary Backstreets tour in Istanbul. it was amazing. Our guide, Katerina was delightful and completely knowledgeable of the area. We tasted many foods and learned about traditions around the Bazaar. We never could have found these out of the way places to eat on our own.
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Posted On : 2024-05-05 15:42:21
Posted By : Mike_D
Ughur was an excellent guide and we visited amazing “back street” eateries! Great intro to Turkish cuisine.
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Posted On : 2024-04-30 07:37:29 
Posted By : Brittany_C
Absolutely outstanding! The guide was very knowledgeable about the history of the food as well the best locally owned places to eat. I've taken tours in 20+ countries and this tour was one of my very favorites!
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Posted On : 2024-04-27 14:57:39
Posted By : PeterRoger
The tour we did was fantastic, we left so full of delicious food that we wouldn’t have known to try or order. The whole day went smoothly with Remziye guiding us and showing us different pieces of history and talking to locals along the way. Really loved knowing we were supporting local families and people who have a long history trading their delicious foods. She was incredibly accommodating and friendly, we got along so well and everything we tried was interesting and delicious. Definitely not a “touristy” food tour which is exactly what we wanted. Overall fantastic experience and cannot recommend enough!
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Posted On : 2024-04-20 12:20:05
Posted By : NabeelMH
Yet another great Culinary Backstreets experience, this time focusing on the Sultan Ahmet area.
It started at the last train station for the Orient Express railway, where a simple, yet delicious Turkish breakfast started the day.
Then we walked through the Spice Bazaar area and sampled some old restaurants favored by locals, then explored some hidden areas around the Mahmoud Basha street (between the Spice Bazaar and Grand Bazaar), visiting shops managed by fifth generation families, finding some very interesting local views and historical sites, and trying some local food here and there along the way, and finally ending at the Grand Bazaar (with 22 gates, 60 paths, 40k workers and half a million visitors per day).
Big thanks to our tour guide, Kadir, for this lovely experience.
Make sure you are hungry as there is a lot of food to be sampled, and be prepared for a long walk (5.5~6 hours)!
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Posted On : 2024-03-01 03:15:25
