Grand Bazaar in Turkey

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ShelbyAD

Guest
Hello,

Questions for anyone who has been to the Grand Bazaar in Turkey

#1 - We will not have alot of time - (stopping there as part of an excursion) - probably only about and hour or so. What are some of the "not to miss" shops?

#2 - I've heard they expect tourists to haggle over prices. Is this true? If so, I would assume that they speak English.

#3 - I make beaded jewelry and would love to be able to buy some while on my cruise. Do you know if I can find any in the Grand Bazaar?

#4 - Are the prices fair or high? Fair = Walmart. High = Macy's / Dillards, etc. In the middle would probably be Target / Kohls.

Thank you for your help!
 
N

nince

Guest
1.One hour is more than enough in grand bazaar it is very overwhelming.
2.they speak English in every shop.
3. you can get beads there look on the main street.
4/you have to bargain.
5.they are usually too insistent.
 
C

cliffdodger

Guest
To be honest the Grand Bazaar has very little in the way of unique shops. Purse shop after purse shop, hooka shop after hooka shop, t-shirt shop after t-shirt shop.. all the standard tourist shops. If you haven't gone already I recommend you spend that time at the Egyptian Bazaar/Spice Bazaar. Far more Turkish and less tourist oriented shops. The spices are to die for as is the fresh Turkish delight and cheap cheap Turkish Tea (which is quite expensive in the tourist tea shops).

You'll notice tourist shops have tourist prices. That is, fairly high. Haggling/Bargaining is a way of life there. To not bargain is to insult them unless you find yourself in a store with price tags on items. Then no haggling is expected. Food is great at most of the sidewalk restaurants, and if you want to see the more trendy stores take a stroll down Tascum Square.

I'd love to tell you some other neat places to see but it doesn't sound like you'll have a whole lot of time there. You will find Turkish rugs to be quite over priced and there will be rug stores EVERYWHERE with people outside saying as you walk by "my friend, my friend, come and see my shop, I open my business to you, I give you best price".

Tascum Square is quite a lengthy stretch of road with some great stores. You'll find cheaper more interesting stores surrounding the Egyptian/Spice Bazaar though I didn't have time to look too closely at these. If you're on the main drag of the tourist district - stop by a restaurant called "The Cozy Pub". You can probably find it on google. It's a great little restaurant. $10-25 meals. Excellent food.

A strange thing you'll notice is little children running around unsupervised trying to sell you beads or kleenux. As cute as they are... I don't recommend buying anything. These are generally gypsy kids being socialized as salesmen from a very young age. You'll also notice a lot of stray cats. I don't recommend petting them. They're semi domestic but no one owns them. The restaurants feed them enough to keep them around. Because of that you probably won't see any rats. It's a great cheap solution to keeping old plagues from springing back up.

Have fun there! And stay away from the clubs/bars. They're Russian mob territory. You'll find if you buy some drinks they'll suddenly switch menu's on you and now you owe a few hundred lira instead of ten or twenty. And if you can't pay they will take everything and anything you have on you. You've been warned.
 
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