Istanbul Culinary Secrets of the Old City
Description
In Kantarcılar, a district that has been selling weights and measures since Ottoman times, we will visit a local confectionary where Turkish delight has been made and sold for four generations and meet the family upholding this tradition. From there we’ll visit an all-but-abandoned caravanserai where the simple pleasure of a cup of tea brings shopkeepers together through the day. We’ll see a couple of hidden historical sites, an Ottoman-era bozacı and, finally, a full lunch of traditional pit-roasted lamb in a very local, family-run place next to the Byzantine aqueduct (with lots of other edible treats along the way). Istanbul’s most enchanting places are where the medieval and the modern meet and this route through the Old City is a delicious glimpse of the life that exists at this juncture.
Tour Options
Itinerary
To kick off our Istanbul Old City food tour, we’ll have breakfast with the shopkeepers in a traditional teahouse and then set off through the atmospheric, lesser-explored market streets around the Egyptian Spice Market, pressing on, deeper into the untouristed Fatih neighborhood
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness