62 Best Shopping in Turkey

Longtime designer Gönül Paksoy is known for her elegant and stunning women's clothing that reinterprets Ottoman and tribal designs. Her museumlike store shows off beautiful pieces created with vintage textiles, as well as new garments handmade using all-natural fabrics and dyes. There is also a collection of more casual (and less pricey) items including jewelry, bags, shoes, and other accessories, all crafted in Paksoy's characteristic style.

This six-floor store, on a street behind Mevlâna Caddesi, is a veritable treasure trove of collector-worthy rugs and antiques. The enormous stock includes pile upon pile of kilims and other carpets—many of them vintage—plus an extensive collection of antique carved doors and architectural pieces sourced from across Anatolia. There are also copper items, some glassware and ceramics, traditional Turkish musical instruments, handicrafts, and other funky finds.

Everything in this homey store near Taksim Square—handbags, necklaces, key chains, baby booties, sachets, cards, natural soaps, bath sets, coasters, ornaments, and more—is handcrafted by women from across Turkey. The NGO that runs the shop, which also has a selection of vintage clothing for sale in the back, helps women in underdeveloped communities find a sustainable source of income through their handiwork. Profits support centers for women and children around the country.

Run by a helpful husband-and-wife team, this low-key little shop on the edge of Kaleiçi sells traditional, handmade Ottoman-style leather shoes and boots, as well as bags—all made here by the owner himself. In a city full of overpriced trinket shops, the items here are some of the most reasonably priced, beautiful, and unique souvenirs you could hope to find. Some shoes are made using only natural dyes, including pomegranate skins, which produce a deep crimson.

One of Istanbul's most highly regarded antiques stores is filled with a fascinating collection of metalwork, original İznik and Kütahya ceramics, old maps and prints, calligraphy and miniatures, textiles, vintage jewelry, artwork, and assorted other treasures.

One of Turkey's oldest and most elegant fashion houses, Vakko carries its own lines as well as clothing, shoes, and accessories from high-end international labels at its flagship department store in Nişantaşı. The company is particularly well-known for its collection of silk scarves and ties in a variety of traditional and modern designs. It also sells its own signature chocolates. A spin-off "concept store" next door, V2K Designers ( Abdi İpekçi Cad. 31), sells hip men's and women's apparel by international names.

Globe-trotting pair Zeynep and Emre Rende have devoted their design and photography talents to creating home accessories, gifts, furniture, and images “inspired by the world, created in Istanbul.” West African fabrics adorn lamps, pillows are made by local Turkish craftspeople, and Emre’s global portraits feature in framed prints and on iPhone cases.

This delightful boutique sells high-quality towels, tablecloths, throw rugs, and other traditional Turkish home textiles with a simple, modern aesthetic. The immensely appealing and stylish collection also includes luscious, all-natural olive-oil soaps.

One of Istanbul's most reputable carpet dealers espouses a "hassle-free shopping" policy and is favored by the diplomatic community. The company and its friendly staff offer a large selection of antique, semi-antique, and new carpets and kilims, mainly from Anatolia.

Styled more like a grand private mansion than a store, Alaturca has four floors that house a carefully selected—and very high-end—collection of antiques, including artwork, ceramics, metalwork, and Ottoman calligraphy. Just a small fraction of proprietor Erkal Aksoy's extensive collection of antique carpets and kilims is on display here.

Up the road from Konyaaltı Beach and Hotel Su, Antalya's fanciest mall has a large supermarket, an eight-screen cinema, and a large food court, as well as more than 100 shops that represent both international brands (like Samsonite, Lacoste, and Tommy Hilfiger) and Turkey's big clothing chains (including Mavi Jeans, Derimod for upscale leather goods, and Boyner and LC Waikiki for general clothing).

Just behind the Blue Mosque, the Arasta Bazaar is a walkway lined with shops selling items similar to those you'll find at the Grand Bazaar (primarily carpets, ceramics, textiles, jewelry, and other handicrafts), at sometimes lower prices. The atmosphere is also considerably calmer, and, unlike the Grand Bazaar, the Arasta is open on Sunday and stays open later (until about 9 pm).

Artrium has a range of antique items, including a fascinating collection of old prints and paintings, as well as some interesting ceramics, jewelry, and other handicrafts and gift items.

Run by a cooperative of five artisans, Avanos Çarşı Seramik has an excellent array of functional and decorative ceramics, ranging from pieces with Hittite and Anatolian designs to the Kütahya and İznik styles more commonly seen in Western Turkey. Prices are negotiable.

The 19th-century Mirrored Bazaar remained unused for much of the last century after being seriously damaged by shelling in the Gallipoli campaign. It was renovated in the early 2000s to house about two dozen shops, mostly selling souvenirs. Its design is based on Istanbul's Mısır Çarşı (Spice Bazaar).

Istanbul's version of Bloomingdale's, Beymen has suited doormen and sells expensive, up-to-date fashions from well-known international brands and designers in its multistory flagship department store. The two underground levels house Beymen Blender, a hip store-within-a-store that carries youthful styles of clothing and shoes. The ground-floor Beymen Brasserie is a popular see-and-be-seen spot for lunch or an afternoon coffee.

The open-air street market held on Wednesday in the Bostanlı neighborhood of Karşıyaka features the usual array of fruit and vegetable vendors but is also known for its good-quality, inexpensive apparel: the earlier you go, the better the selection.

This large shop just off the main tile-makers street offers a variety of tiles, bowls, plates, vases, and other ceramic goods.

The oldest, most famous, and by far the funkiest pottery shop in Avanos, Chez Galip is known not just for ceramics but also what its owner calls the world's largest collection of human hair—thousands upon thousands of locks are on display in Galip's downtown shop, near the post office (PTT). The pottery selection includes both typical styles and interesting freehand sculptural pieces. The production facilities, and a wider selection of pottery, are housed in a larger venue about 1½ km (1 mile) away on the other side of the river (Yeni Mah., Hasan Kalesi Mevkii 3).

At Derviş, the emphasis is on handcrafted towels, bathrobes, soaps, and traditional Turkish bath accessories, as well as antique and vintage kaftans and robes from Anatolia. There's a second shop inside the Bazaar's tucked-away Cebeci Han (at No. 10), just off Yağlıkçılar Sokak.

Design brand Dhoku stands out among the traditional carpet merchants of the Grand Bazaar for its radically different, contemporary styles, which include bold geometric designs and stylized floral patterns. The high-quality rugs are handmade near İzmir using organic handspun wool and natural dyes. Directly across the street is sister company Ethnicon ( Takkeciler Cad. 49–51), which pieces together different-sized squares of colorful rug material to create carpets reminiscent of American-style quilts. Both stores offer fixed prices; at Dhoku, pricing is by the square meter.

If you're looking for books about Turkey, this is the place to visit. The two Galeri Kayseri shops (the storefronts simply say "Bookshop") are across the street from one another, and between them you'll find an outstanding collection of nonfiction books about Turkey in a variety of subject areas, as well as a selection of Turkish and Turkey-related novels and elegant coffee-table books on Islamic art, architecture, and culture. Number 58 is the main store, No. 11 is across the street.

The collection at Gallery Aydın includes high-end antique Turkish, Persian, Georgian, and Caucasian carpets dating from as early as the 16th century. Dealer Adnan Aydın seriously knows his rugs and also specializes in repairing and restoring antique pieces.

The Grand Bazaar is a neighborhood unto itself and a trove of all things Turkish—carpets, brass, copper, jewelry, textiles, and leather products. Many of the stores have resorted to selling cheap goods aimed at the tourist market, but the bazaar still holds many treasures.

Ali Muhiddin Hacı Bekir founded his sweets business back in 1777 and is considered the inventor of Turkish delight. Today, the Hacı Bekir stores run by his descendants are still among the best places to buy the delicacy, which comes in a variety of different types—including such uncommon flavors as pomegranate with pistachios—and is sold fresh by the kilo or prepackaged. The original location is in Eminönü, on a backstreet just east of the Yeni Cami, and there is also a branch on İstiklal Caddesi.

In the back wing of the Spice Bazaar, Hayfene (previously known as Ucuzcular Baharat) not only has great prices, but it's also just about the friendliest and most hassle-free shop in the bazaar. It's run by the energetic Bilge Kadıoğlu, a U.S.–educated, fifth-generation spice purveyor who is the bazaar's first (and still only) female shop owner. Kadıoğlu prides herself on the shop's extremely fresh spices and specially prepared mixes—which she is happy to have you taste—as well as pure, alcohol-free essential oils and a variety of Turkish sweets.

Walking into this shop feels like walking into a sleek apothecary, with wooden shelves lined with bottles and porcelain. The fragrant essential oils, soaps, creams, and more sold here are made by hand, using all-natural ingredients and a mortar and pestle. There are two other branches in Kuzguncuk and Kanyon Mall.