Istanbul's Bazaar Quarter: Backstreet Walking Tours

This outstanding guidebook introduces travelers to the quiet hidden corners of the Grand Bazaar. It includes 4 different walking tours, each with carefully detailed, easy-to-follow instructions for finding the hidden alleys that lead into the grand courtyards of Istanbul's hans and bedestenis. Although the walks are centered on the Grand Bazaar, each one includes other kinds of sites (such as mosques, museums, tombs etc) on the itinerary, so that by the end of your walk, you've seen a great slice of life in that corner of Istanbul. My first day in Istanbul, I went shopping at the Grand Bazaar and was overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle. A couple of days later I revisited the Bazaar with this book in hand and had a completely different experience. I climbed out-of-the-way stairs to gaze over the rooftops of the Bazaar; I found an old Roman fountain; I visited a small local mosque. I had intended to do one of the tours that afternoon and then spend the rest of the day doing something else, but I enjoyed it so much I ended up doing two tours that afternoon. The book includes helpful historical/cultural references to help you understand the sites you're visiting, and also has brief profiles of some of the merchants in the bazaar, so you can appreciate the vast range of goods and handicrafts on offer. Can't recommend it enough; I wish there were more books like this.

Read and read this before taking the book with us to Istanbul. The Grand Bazaar is waaay more difficult than the book’s maps present because 1. many years have passed and 2. there will be thousands of people in the same corridors. The paper stock is also high quality coated, which makes the volume heavy. We ended up leaving the book behind in Turkey and hope somebody else can use it. It’s a fun read.Fwiw, we went on our own to the GB and also joined a guided tour group. The GB was on the itinerary but the guide decided to skip as he thought it wasn’t worth a visit. He took us instead to the Spice Market. Would recommend both, but if time is tight, the SM is easier to navigate with comparable things to see and experience.

The walks in this book will lead you to an enchanted world beyond the noisy hurly burly of Istanbul's Covered Bazaar. Ann Marie Mershon and Edda Renker Weissenbacher show you ancient caravan inns, hidden courtyards and gardens, the small workshops that still produce fine pieces in gold, silver, and copper along with the fascinating people who do the work. Let's face it, the normal tourist trip to the souk is a nightmare of touts, tacky goods and astronomical prices. Follow these walks and you will come away with the real Bazaar Quarter, not the tourist trap, magical right down to the old Ottoman birdhouses up under the eves. I bought the book before going to Istanbul and looked up Ann Marie Mershon when I got there. The guide is the next best thing to walking with her in person. No one has done such justice to the Quarter since John Freely's Strolling Through Istanbul. Trust them both and you'll be in very good hands.

The two authors have written an interesting guidebook about Istanbul's old quarters, seldom visited by foreign travelers. Most tourists in Istanbul--this old, overcrowded but fascinating city--visit the four main sites: Haghia Sophia, Topkapi Palalce, Sultan Ahmed's Mosque and the Grand Bazaar. While the guidebook is informative; there are certain errors that border on sloppiness. As a few examples, they list the Suleymaniye Mosque as architect Sinan's masterpiece. It is well know that the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne is his masterpiece. They place Prophet Muhammad's mantle in one of the hans (inns). In fact the [real] mantle is kept and exhibited in Topkapi Palace's Pavilion of the Holy Mantle. The authors, following these days preferred custom, have been "culturally correct" and have occasionally flattered Islam and Turks' patriotism and chauvinism. Over all, this is a helpful guide for those wishing to visit the old quarters and back alleys of Istanbul.

We followed one of the tours in this book when in Istanbul. The streets are confusing there so it was a bit of a mission - but the descriptions of what to look out for in order to find where you were going were great. We ended up in places we'd never have ventured otherwise.

Street by street guide to a section of Istanbul that is not only a place to shop but an area with buildings, courtyards, and arcades that reflect a history that goes back to the merchants of the Silk Road and extends to today. This is maybe the most unusual guidebook I have encountered--focused, detailed, and a real aid for appreciation of the the context of the Bazaar Quarter.

I would say that if you have about a month to kill in Istanbul purchase this book otherwise the Rick Steve book is more than sufficient. It has a lot of crap that most people don't care about or arn't intersted. I was there for 5 days and didn't find a single this mentioned on this book worth checking out. I had plenty of stuff from other guide books as well as just walking around and enjoying the sights, sounts, smells and wonderful food & culture

Great depiction of Kapali Çarsi (Gran Bazar). I am Turkish I have been there empteen times, yet she depicts places I have never seen and intend to visit next time I go to Istanbul as I now live in the US.Great book for someone visiting Istanbul and who loves shopping and also loves history and Old Sites.Recommend it!

I lived in Istanbul for 20 years. This would have been great to have along then. Next time I go this will be my guide, and hoping that the fools have not turned the Grand Bazaar into a hotel.