71 Best Places to Shop in Turkey

Established in Turgutreis in 2013, this charming small shop is now beside the Gümüşlük jetty and Myndos Art House selling handicrafts and other homemade wares by the 18 members of a local women’s cooperative: beautiful hand-woven textiles, wood decorations, stained-glass artworks, jams, jewelry, and more. As a co-operative, hours are subject to members' availability, but they try to remain open as much as possible.

A small shopfront with towels and shawls out front disguises a veritable bower of authentic treasures inside: textiles, one-off designed clothes using silks and cotton in Ottoman-influenced styles, hanging colored lights, china tea cups, gemstones set in silver jewelry, and brass ornaments. The owner, Hatice, is happy to let you explore the shop, and to explain items.

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.

Wonderful Celal and his wife have lovingly built this business since leaving the hustle and bustle of Istanbul some 20 years ago. Celal, the owner, is a real carpet and textiles expert—ask him to tell you able the various styles of carpets in Turkey and their cultural significance. He has hundreds of gorgeous items for sale at great prices, too. To tide over his business through fall and winter, he offers weaving lessons.

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.

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.

Striking jewelry pieces; pretty plates, bowls, and mugs; and quirky sculptures, all made out of clay, are on display and for sale at this small ceramic workshop and store, in a side street of Bodrum leading to the Harbor.

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.

Artful and original silver and metal jewelry is offered by a quartet of Turkish designers who take their inspiration from natural shapes such as fish, coral, and olive leaves and branches, as well as ancient symbols. Prices are surprisingly reasonable, especially considering the prime thoroughfare Bodrum location.

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.

A gorgeous kaleidoscope of colored objects and textiles is arrayed in front of and inside this small shop, collected by the owner couple who bring a choice of authentic Turkish cultural objects. From cushions to wall hangings, Ottoman-style colored lights to ceramic dishes, jewelry, soaps, towels, and scarves, there is a great choice of gifts to take home.

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 under the market roof. The earlier you go, the better the selection.

Watching the ancient art of the glassmaker in his workshop, and creating unique glass dip pens and other objects, is something quite different to the surrounding choice of crafts and gifts in Alaçatı.

The scent of natural soaps ushers visitors into Cemile's shop and workshop where she displays artistic objects of porcelain and wood for other artists, her handmade natural soaps and cosmetics, and the handmade batik and block printed fabrics of the Gümüş Kediler label, by designer Sukran Uyar, and the gorgeous paper mache objects by Uta, formerly of Kikkula. It is a small paradise for shopping for natural gifts, and is also on several online sites. Workshops are available by request. The shop is inland but walkable from the beach on the Turgutreis road junction and on the minibus routes.

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).

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.

Established in 1918 and now run by the fourth generation of the Şengör family, this experienced and trustworthy dealer has a large inventory of carpets from different regions of Anatolia.

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.

Designer Şükran Uyar, previously a longtime fixture at the Gümüşlük handicrafts market, is now sharing space in Cemile's Soaps shop area, still making cotton beachwear and other textile goods, mostly with her colorful block-printed designs.