Turkey is a shopper’s paradise, with its bustling bazaars, markets, and stores filled with unique handmade items As a traveler, you’ll be tempted to buy many Turkish souvenirs to bring home But with so much to choose from, what should you buy? Here are the top 10 things to buy in Turkey that make great souvenirs
1. Turkish Tea Sets
Drinking tea is an integral part of Turkish culture. A beautifully decorated Turkish tea set makes a wonderful souvenir. Look for a set with tulip-shaped glasses a tea pot and decorative plates. The glasses are made of glass rather than ceramic. Buying a tea set is a great way to share a piece of Turkish culture with friends and family back home.
2. Ceramics
Turkish ceramics date back centuries and are famous for their intricate patterns and designs Bowls, plates, mugs, and tiles painted with floral or geometric motifs are classic Turkish souvenirs Blue and white colors are common. Shop at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul or ceramics stores across the country. Due to the handmade nature, sets may have slight variations.
3. Turkish Carpets
Authentic Turkish carpets are renowned worldwide for their quality and artistry. These beautiful rugs make impressive home decor. Full-size carpets can be prohibitively expensive and large, but many shops can ship them for you. For a more affordable option, buy a small decorative carpet or colorful kilim.
4. Evil Eye Charms
The blue Evil Eye charm is deeply rooted in Turkish superstition. It protects against bad luck and evil spirits. You’ll see it everywhere in Turkey, from keychains to necklaces. The Evil Eye makes a low-cost but meaningful Turkish souvenir.
5. Lanterns
Intricately designed mosaic lanterns are a signature Turkish handicraft. You’ll find them hanging in bazaars and shops. They come in a rainbow of colors and patterns. A Turkish lantern makes a lovely decorative piece to bring home. Ask the vendor to wrap it securely.
6. Hammam Items
After enjoying a traditional Turkish bath, bring home hammam-related items. Opt for a pillowy cotton hammam towel in vibrant colors. Turkish olive oil soaps enriched with eucalyptus and other natural ingredients make great gifts. Rose water and peeling gloves are other bath-related items.
7. Spices
Turkish cuisine is unthinkable without its aromatic spices. The best place to buy spices is Istanbul’s Spice Bazaar. Look for servings of saffron, Sumac, pepper, and curcuma. Blends like Baharat and turmeric are also popular. Buy a few bags of spices or a handsome copper spice box.
8. Lokum
Better known as Turkish delight, lokum is a candy synonymous with Turkey. These small cubes dusted in powdered sugar come in flavors like pistachio, rosewater, and lemon. Packed in pretty boxes, they make great gifts. Buy an assortment and sample different varieties.
9. Baklava
Indulge your sweet tooth with this iconic Turkish dessert. Baklava features layered filo dough, chopped nuts, and syrup. Try baklava with pistachios or walnuts. Buy an assortment box and share with others. Best when fresh, so buy baklava close to the end of your trip.
10. Jewelry
Turkey is a great place to buy affordable, quality gold and silver jewelry. With its centuries of jewelry-making tradition, Istanbul is the top place for jewelry shopping. Haggle for deals at the Grand Bazaar. Evil eye charms and symbol pendants make nice inexpensive jewelry gifts.
With this list of top Turkish souvenirs, you’re sure to find wonderful keepsakes to bring home. Shop at the bazaars, stores, and markets, and immerse yourself in the lively Turkish shopping culture. Haggle for deals and hunt for treasures to remind you of your amazing trip to Turkey.
Turkish Coffee Set
Turkish coffee is served in unique cups and saucers that are often gold rimmed. Beautifully decorated cups and saucers are served on a silver tray as a sign of good hospitality in Turkish homes. Turkish coffee cups can be ceramic or copper. When buying a coffee set, it is important to ask if it can be used to drink from or if it is just for decoration. Many people sell decorative sets that may contain paints or metal alloys not approved for foodware. If you want a decorative set, handmade from copper with hand-painted detailing, go to Pasabahce on Istiklal Caddesi. Those sets will go for around 200TL. However, if you are looking for a practical set to use at home, it is best to buy it in a Turkish grocery store, such as Migros. There you can get a lovely set for around 15TL. Migros is a high-end grocery chain with 173 stores in Istanbul alone. There is a small Migros, located one block north of the Galata Tower, and a larger one, located inside the MetroCity shopping centre in Levent on the subway line from Taksim. They are open 7 days a week from 10am to 10pm and their website (available only in Turkish) is www.migros.com.tr. Pasabhace is another high-end Turkish store specializing in glass tableware. They are known as the father of Turkish glassware. Nowadays, their product spectrum has expanded to include not only glassware, but also ceramics and art pieces containing precious and semi-precious metals. They have many outlets throughout Turkey, including one in Istiklal Caddesi near Tunel (Istiklal Caddesi 314, Tel: 212 244 0544), open Mon – Sat from 10am to 8pm and Sun 12-8pm. Their website is www.pasabahcemagazalari.com. Where to find it: Pasabhace, Istiklal Caddesi 314, Istanbul, Turkey Phone: +90 212 244 0544 Operation Hours: Monday-Saturday: 10am-8pm; Sunday: 12pm-8pm Migros, Tesvikiye Mh., Sakay?k Sokak 40, Istanbul, Turkey Phone: +90 212 247 1710 Operation Hours: Monday-Sunday: 10am-10pm Migros, Altun?zade Mh., Capitol, Istanbul, Turkey Phone: +90 212 247 1710 Operation Hours: Monday-Sunday: 10am-10pm Buy It on Amazon:
Everyone is familiar with Turkish Delight, known as Lokum in Turkish. There are many varieties of Turkish delight available out there, but the key advantage of getting it in Turkey is that you can sample all the different kinds from behind the counter, thus finding the flavors you enjoy most. When mixing and matching from behind the counter, prices can range from 8TL/kg for rose-flavored Turkish Delight, to 29TL/kg for the more elaborate ones with various nuts. Pismaniye, a very popular Turkish sweet largely unknown outside Turkey, is like Turkish cotton candy. Boxed sets of Lokum or Pismaniye range in price between 5TL and 10TL. One of the best places to buy a variety of Turkish sweets is Koska, a Turkish sweets store with several branches throughout the country, including two in Istiklal Caddesi near Tunel (the closest one to Galata Tower is Istiklal Caddesi 122A, phone: (0212) 244 0877). They are open 7 days a week from 9am to 11pm. Their website is www.koska.com (currently available only in Turkish, but the English version is also under construction). Where to find it: Koska, Istiklal Caddesi 122A, Istanbul, Turkey Phone: +90 212 513 8900, +90 212 244 0877 Operation Hours: Monday-Sunday: 9am-11pm Buy It on Amazon:
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Hand-made Olive Oil Soap
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Coffee originated in the Middle East and the Ottoman Empire eventually developed a very strong coffeehouse culture. Turkish coffee involves boiling finely ground coffee in a pot – cezve – with sugar. The coffee powder settles at the bottom of the cup and the top is covered with a layer of foam. After drinking their coffee, the Turks turn their cups upside down on their saucers and wait for them to cool. Once cooled, a fortune teller (usually any Turkish woman) “reads” the coffee grounds and predicts the drinker’s future. In order to enjoy Turkish coffee at home, first you need to buy a proper Turkish coffee pot – cezve, and then some finely powdered Turkish coffee. The best place to buy these is a grocery store where prices are much lower than in the tourist-oriented markets. Here, you can get a steel, 4-cup cezve for 8TL and the average price of Turkish coffee is just under 2TL/100g. Migros is a high-end grocery chain with 173 stores in Istanbul alone. There is a large Migros located inside the MetroCity shopping centre in Levent, on the subway line from Taksim. They are open 7 days a week from 10am to 10pm and their website (available only in Turkish) is www.migros.com.tr Dia. Bim and Sok grocery stores are also found throughout the city in every neighborhood. These stores are smaller and generally cheaper, but their selection can be limited. Where to find it: Migros, Tesvikiye Mh., Sakay?k Sokak 40, Istanbul, Turkey Phone: +90 212 247 1710 Operation Hours: Monday-Sunday: 10am-10pm Migros, Altun?zade Mh., Capitol, Istanbul, Turkey Phone: +90 212 247 1710 Operation Hours: Monday-Sunday: 10am-10pm Buy It on Amazon:
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