The area around Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar is a maze of historic hans, workshops and tiny eateries serving the merchants and artisans who work here every day. On this full-day tour, we’ll explore its backstreets through the food and people that keep the neighborhood’s traditions alive.

We’ll begin with tea and pastries in the courtyard of an 18th-century religious school before sitting down for menemen with sweeping views over the Grand Bazaar. From there, we’ll taste döner at a tiny kiosk and seasonal home-style dishes at a neighborhood esnaf lokantası.

As we continue through Ottoman-era trading inns and craft districts, we’ll meet traditional artisans and taste freshly baked flatbread, kokoreç and other local specialties. We’ll finish with a milk-soaked cake with Albanian roots — a sweet ending to a day spent discovering the Bazaar Quarter beyond the storefronts.