Behind the Spice Bazaar the tourist city stops abruptly and Tahtakale begins. This is the wholesale district: narrow streets, handcarts, and shops that sell in quantities most visitors have no use for.
Go anyway. It is the most alive part of the old city, and small purchases are perfectly welcome — a bag of Turkish coffee, a copper cezve, a kilo of dried apricots, all at prices well below the bazaar’s. The streets are organised by trade, so following one lane to its end usually turns up something unexpected.
Wear comfortable shoes and avoid mid-morning, when deliveries are at their heaviest. From Romance Istanbul Hotel it is around fifteen minutes downhill towards Eminonu.
Category:
Shopping