Istanbul | Grand Bazaar

Don't miss a visit to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. Featuring more than 4,000 shops (the Mall of America has just 520 stores) and welcoming between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily (the Mall of America has around 100,000 shoppers daily), the Grand Bazaar is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world!

What to buy? The Grand Bazaar is known for jewelry, pottery, spice, and carpet shops at many different different price points. Shopkeepers are more proactive in marketing their wares than most American and European shoppers are accustomed to. It's not unusual, when browsing the stalls, to be invited into a store to see some carpets or jewelry. If you really don't want to engage in commerce, I suppose the only thing to do is to just keep on walking, because these merchants have really honed their technique. Once you are engaged in conversation, it feels practically impossible not to accept their invitation to view their wares. You will be warmly welcomed, offered coffee or apple tea, and shown some of the treasures they have for sale.

Bartering is intrinsic to the process. When quoted a price, it is virtually expected that you will make a counter-offer, perhaps 50% of what was asked. With a little haggling back and forth, you will end up paying something in-between, unless business is slow (as it was during a blizzard in the off-season month of February). I offered a bit less than 50% of the original price on a carpet runner, stated it was as high as I was going to go, and in a few minutes I walked out of Sinbad Rug & Kilim with a very nice 65 year old carpet for my front hallway.

Your visit to the Grand Bazaar will be a long-remembered part of your visit to Istanbul.


Istanbul Grand Bazaar (search here on Google)


copyright (c) 2007 by David J. Ourisman. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
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