Grand bazaar Istanbul | One of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world.

The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the biggest and most seasoned canvassed markets on the planet, with 61 covered roads and more than 4,000 shops on a complete space of 30,700 m2, attracting in the middle of 250,000 and 400,000 visitors every day. In 2014, it was recorded Number one among the world’s most-visited tourist destinations with 91million yearly visitors. The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is regularly viewed as one of the primary shopping centers on the planet. The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is a great place to find souvenirs for your friends and family back home. But it’s also a great place to get lost in for a few hours.
There are plenty of stores in the Grand Bazaar, with a wide variety of items on sale. The main things you should buy from the Grand Bazaar are listed below.
• Dishes
• Glassware
• Leather goods
• Textiles
• Carpets and rugs
• Antiques
• Traditional art
• Customized jewelry
• Turkish delight
• Saffron
• Spices
• and many other things

Grand Bazaar was built in 1461 after the Ottoman conquer of Constantinople. At that time it was built out of wood, but today we can see it in stone and brick. It began as a small bazaar but grew to become the largest covered market in Turkey. The oldest buildings in the market are two bedestens. Bedestens in Turkish means cloth seller’s market and the ones that have the title of the oldest ones are Bedesten and another one Sandal Bedesten. They are a remarkable example of Ottoman architecture and are not to be missed when visiting Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar has been exposed to more than 20 earthquakes and fire disasters until the fire in 1954 and it has taken its current form with the renovations made after the 1894 earthquake.
Here you can find plenty of different things. Ceramics, Clothes, footwear, jewelry, carpets are just some of them. Since the market is huge, so is the offer, so explore it thoroughly before shopping. The bargain is considered normal in Turkey, so take your chance to lower the price of the things you want to buy. Many people come prepared here because they know they will buy much for low prices.

The Grand Bazaar is located inside the walled city of Istanbul, in the district of Fatih and in the neighbourhood bearing the same name (Kapalıçarşı). It stretches roughly from west to east between the mosques of Beyazit and of Nuruosmaniye.
The entrance gates, up to 22 in all, lead to different sales areas Each gate also has a number. The most common ones are Beyazıt and Nuruosmaniye, because Kalpakçılar Street, the main street of the bazaar, stretches between them. If you know the entrances number, it’s easy to reach the places where you can buy jewellery, carpets, ceramics, footwear, clothing, food, handicrafts, spices, and so on.
The dealers will speak to you in Spanish, English, Russian, German and many other languages. Depending on the appearance or treacherous conversation as you walk by. Don’t be fooled by the tag prices. Remember that you can always bargain in the Grand Bazaar. If you are not satisfied with what is on offer, move on to other stores. There are very few stores that sell rare products. You will probably find the same or similar product in 10 other stores. A good tip is to take a picture of that store and its business card. If you ever want to come back, this is the only way you can find it. Do not rely on your memory.
Sellers in Turkey are generally quite respectful. They are not as pushed as in other countries. Buyers do best when they are friendly and relaxed, especially if they have a talent for conversation and flattery. It’s advisable to start haggling when you’re genuinely interested in the purchase and to not back down after the price has been agreed. Doing so is a serious offence.
Shopping in the famous Grand Bazaar is an experience of a very special kind. The famous bazaar is truly the perfect place to seek out unique finds.
A trick that often works is to offer a starting amount to the trader. This is a good way to start negotiating. And you also get better results when you don’t show too much interest. The sellers are very skilful and if they sense that you really want the product, they’ll ask a very high price. If you know how to haggle, they may even drop the price down to half the initial figure.

The distance between Istanbul Airport and Grand Bazaar is about 47 kms and takes about 50 minutes to reach by road. One can reach the bazaar from the airport using other means of transport too. This would require you to take the metro from the airport till Zeytinburnu and then catch a tram from Beyazit to the Grand Bazaar or either by road, in a car or a hired taxi to reach Grand Bazaar

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