Experts' Choice Award Grand Bazaar
What the experts agree on
One of the world's oldest, largest covered markets—a chaotic, labyrinthine maze of thousands of shops, cafés, and mosques dating to 1453. Overwhelming but unmissable, though some call it a tourist trap.
“The Grand Bazaar is a joyful, feverish universe that can overwhelm and unsettle with its thousands of shops and workshops, caravanserais, warehouses, restaurants, fountains, banks and mosque.”
– Michelin Guide
Fodor's "Take a deep breath and plunge into this maze of 65 winding, covered streets crammed with 4,000 tiny shops, cafés, restaurants, mosques, and courtyards." Full review
Frommer's "The mother of all tourist traps, the Grand or Covered Bazaar is a vivid illustration of all that's gone wrong with the free market." Full review
Lonely PlanetTop choice
"This labyrinthine and chaotic bazaar is the heart of the Old City and has been so for centuries. No visit to İstanbul would be complete without a stop here." Full review
Travel + Leisure "This massive, dazzling, and cacophonous covered market is the ur-bazaar of the Orient; if you’ve envisioned what it will be like, prepare to have your expectations exceeded." Full review
Afar Magazine "Soon after conquering Constantinople and defeating the Byzantines in 1453, the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II commissioned the beginnings of the Grand Bazaar to reinvigorate trade to the city." Full review
Time Out "Among the world's oldest and largest covered markets, the Grand Bazaar features thousands of shops spread across dozens of streets." Full review
i
If you're planning on making purchases, be sure to put your bargaining hat on and show no mercy.
Afar Magazine "Begin by exploring the Grand Bazaar, which boasts almost 4,000 shops, as well as the aromatic Spice Market. As you traverse the bustling aisles, revel in the rich tapestry of Turkish..."
CNN "Istanbul's Grand Bazaar is a venerable marketplace that is more than 500 years old and spreads out over 48,000 square meters (around 516,700 square feet)"
The Guardian "To my right, the Kapalıçarşı or Grand Bazaar and the Süleymaniye mosque"
Istanbul: a virtual tour through books, film, food and music
January 27, 2021
Condé Nast Traveler "Istanbul's 500-year-old Grand Bazaar, when artisans, or 'usta,' composed such a lauded echelon of Turkish society that streets were named after them. Visit today and you'll still see..."
