Grand Bazaar

Along with the Aghia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, no trip to Istanbul is regarded as being complete unless it includes a visit to the Grand Bazaar. It's fame is almost legendary but I have always found the response of tourists to be mixed; put simply you either love it or hate it. Always one to buck the trend, my reaction having visited this summer was "It was OK". This is why… Having been to Tunisia and Morocco I knew roughly what to expect of the Grand Bazaar. The hustle and bustle, rows of units selling the same stuff, confident and friendly traders, haggling for the best prices - yes, I now consider myself a veteran. I feel confident ...  Read the complete review

Already at home I knew what I’d do first when in Istanbul, namely, go to the Bosphorus and look at ships. Alas, it was not to be as it was raining when we arrived two days before Easter. What then? We had to find something covered and near our hotel, we felt like walking after sitting still in the plane for three hours. The Turkish woman who’d met us at the airport (we knew her from the time when she lived in Germany) suggested the Grand Bazaar, a sight which was on our list of sights anyway. It’s in the quarter Beyazit, the centre of Stambul, the oldest part of the city between the university and the Nuruosmaniye Mosque. The ...  Read the complete review

One of the most fascinating places to visit in the city of Istanbul is the Grand Bazaar. Pretty much every guidebook on the city warns that "nothing can prepare you" for it, and I have to agree. The bazaar covers a huge, sprawling, covered area in the centre of the city, and consists of miles of twisting alleyways of different widths, lined with shops selling all sorts of goods, from carpets to fabrics, household goods to souvenirs, leather goods to football memorabilia. LOCATION AND SENSE OF DIRECTION The Grand Bazaar is pretty much in the centre of the southwestern peninsula of the city, just a few yards to the north of the tram route along ...  Read the complete review