Arasta Bazaar

Overall Istanbul is beautiful and great people.
However, beware of Arasta Bazar turkish delight shop which is opposite of Cafe Mesale (i believe it is called Mesale Spice). People at this place will scam and trick you into buying expensive turkish delights. We ended up paying for supposedly $250 worth of turkish delights at the end. The person at the shop would not tell us the price and started packing the boxes of turkish delights (Packed it to the point that you can't fit anymore into the box). we asked how much was the price and said it is by weight but still would not tell the price and we ended up paying $250. I would recommend if you want to go there, get the price in advance or avoid going that turkish delights from this shop.

Be careful of the first spice shop on the left, when you enter from south. They are very polite, gives you tea to taste and make nice small talk. And they are very eager for you to pay with card. When you pay with card you may not understand how much you really are paying. We almost ended up paying 180 euros for our tea. But when you start counting the cash, you understand you are beeing "robbed"
Overpriced, beautiful things in many shops.

I really like buying things at Arasta Bazaar because it's calmer, smaller and more premium than the Grand Bazaar. It’s a curated set of about 80 shops with the types of things I like to buy, including flat-weave Turkish towels & blankets in a range of pretty colors, pillow covers, tiles & ceramics, handbags and jewelry. The setting in the old stables is very pretty. As a bonus, while shopping here, we stumbled upon the lovely Museum of Great Palace Mosaics which is located underground from the bazaar.

This bazar is a stone throw away from my hotel so I passed it daily. I purposely walked through here instead of the streets to look in case I overlooked something. All the merchandise sold are the same where you can get elsewhere. But this place is very accessible with an excellent location.

We shopped a number of carpet and kilim shops in the Sultan Ahmet area but returned to Gallery Desen in the Arasta Bazaar to make our purchases. Desen had the most attractive, uninflated, prices; their selection was ample and of good quality; and, most pleasantly, the staff was low key. Desen's knowledgeable and cordial staff member,Loai, gave us comfortable space to browse while also being helpful to answer questions or point us in the right direction. He very kindly held several pieces for us overnight while we made our decision. We quickly agreed on a price. The entire experience was first rate and we are happy with our purchases. Highly recommend Loai and Gallery Desen.

Much better than the aggressiveness at the Grand Bazaar. I went back again and again for gifts. The prices are good and some shops even have fixed prices and others you can bargain. It's a nice stroll close to the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.

Smaller and more premium than the Grand Bazaar, this bazaar lies just behind the Sultan Ahmet mosque and is a bit more relaxed though more expensive. It’s pretty much the same sort of things on offer, plus a few slightly more prestigious boutiques and cafes. A nice place to walk through, but the bargains and excitement are in the Grand Bazaar

Beautiful Bazaar… I got some Turkish Delights from Arasta Bazaar (Pasalar Diamond) and ended up not being such a delight after all. Who charges £255 for a box of them and a box of baclavas and four little bags of tea? Well a shop at the Arasta Bazaar does and who pays fo it? I did… 😔

We ended up in this bazaar by chance as we were taking a short cut. What a clean and beautiful place. All the vendors are very nice and helpful. They all have a variety of things that you can find in the grand bazaar but in a more open space and less crazy full crowd of tourists. At the end of it there is even a few places to eat and have coffee. Highly recommend and also a must!!!!! Plus I even saw a greater variety of things.

Veey nice place to shop for the best of Turkish products at afforrdable prices located right at the entrance to the famed Sultanahmet Square . Not so crowded as Grand Bazar is, and much smaller in size . Visit highly recommended .