Istanbul

Top Istanbul landmarks

Taste of Two Continents: Istanbul Food Tour

Istanbul, Turkey

5 hours 30 minutes
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Discover Istanbul’s European and Asian sides—and taste a range of delectable Turkish delicacies—on this full-day, small-group tour. Meet your guide in the morning in Istanbul’s Old City, and be sure to come hungry: you have a day of feasting ahead of you. Explore a spice market, and enjoy a traditional Turkish breakfast, before crossing the Bosphorus to trendy Kadikoy. Sip Turkish coffee, visit multiple restaurants, and discover Istanbul’s must-try dishes.

This intimate, small-group tour is capped at just eight participants
Tour Istanbul’s European and Asian sides (ferry tickets included)
Sample a wide range of dishes, enjoy Turkish coffee and breakfast, and more
Visit spice markets, different neighborhoods, restaurants, and cafes

What's Included

8-9 uniquely different eateries and restaurants, multiple tastings at each
Friendly, knowledgeable and passionate English-speaking tour guide
A day filled with culinary, cultural, historic and personal anecdotes, with a local insider’s view
Lunch
Snacks
Coffee and/or Tea

Gratuities
No vegetarian food options at 2-3 of the food stops
No vegan food options at 4-5 of the food stops

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Brew Coffee Works
Hobyar, Hamidiye Cd. No:16, 34112 Fatih/İstanbul, Türkiye
IMPORTANT: There are 2 Brew Coffeeworks (Ilter's Coffee) branches in Istanbul. Our tour departs from Brew Coffeeworks Sirkeci. TAXI: Ask the driver to take you to LEGACY OTTOMAN HOTEL. Brew Coffeeworks Sirkeci is right next door. TRAM: Disembark at Sirkeci station. Walk 200m on Hamidiye street.

End point

Caferağa, 34710 Kadıköy/İstanbul, Türkiye
The Taste of Two Continents tour finishes in Kadıköy Ferry Terminal. Your return ferry tickets are provided. Your guide will help you to catch the Eminönü ferry (back to the Spice Market) or Karaköy ferry.

What To Expect

Meet your guide and small group—there’s a maximum of 10 travelers on this tour, including you—at a coffee shop near the Spice Bazaar on the European side of Istanbul.

Shop for a Turkish breakfast, including cheeses, cured meat, honey, olives, bread, hazelnut paste, and Turkish clotted cream. Eat it at a local tea house with Turkish scrambled eggs as your guide explains how culture and food intersect.

Next, capture photos as you ride the ferry across the Bosphorus from Europe to Asia and the chic Kadikoy neighborhood. Sip, snack, slurp, and snap your way through Kadikoy Market. Sample fresh-brewed Turkish coffee and crispy baklava, alongside popular street foods including wraps, grills, stuffed vine leaves, and much, much more.

Your tour finishes at Kadikoy Ferry Terminal. Your guide will give you tickets and help you catch the right ferry, either back to the Spice Bazaar or over to Karakoy.

Historic Areas of Istanbul

2 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Misir Carsisi (Spice Market)

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Bosphorus Strait

25 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

KadIkoy CarsIsI

2 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Sureyya Opera House

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Kadikoy Iskelesi

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
Maximum group size is 10
Comfortable walking shoes recommended

Children aged 5 years and younger are welcome at no charge
Tour runs rain or shine
The coffee shop, which is our meeting point, is rebranding as "İlter's Coffee". Both the names "Brew Coffeeworks" and "İlter's Coffee" are visible on the storefront.
Not recommended for vegan, gluten free, lactose free travelers
Not recommended for travelers with serious allergies or food restrictions
Please advise any specific dietary/allergy requirements at time of booking
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 10 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

5.0

2,001 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 2,001 reviews

We did this tour on our...

Sally_R, May 2024

We did this tour on our first day of Istanbul and so glad that we did, as it gave us a good understanding of the basic layout and vibe of the city. We did this tour with our 8 year old daughter who loved it, but if your child is not an adventurous eater, or who isn’t good with sitting still or walking- then this may not be for you. Still, Bahar really interacted with our little girl and gave her snacks to feed the “keddies”, which was lots of fun for all of us.

Amazing! Don't miss it!

Anant_A, May 2024

Excellent tour would highly recommend! Our tour guide was friendly and knowledgable about all things related to Turkey and the food was fantastic! We left very very full.

Fantastic Istanbul food tour

Clare_L, May 2024

This was an excellent tour. Our guide was very knowledgeable and friendly and we enjoyed the amazing variety of food. Highly recommend!

An excellent cultural and culinary orientation to Istanbul

Claudia_C, Apr 2024

Excellent value. Best tour I have ever done. Highly recommended. Ali was friendly and fun and gave us so many insights into neighbourhoods, foods and culture. A wonderful way to eat through the European and Asian sides. So much food, the hospitality was so generous.

Best Tour Food experience

Jeannine_A, Apr 2024

The whole experience was amazing from the beginning until the end, my husband and I enjoyed every meal and also our group was very nice. I would do it again if I can. I will recommend it to all my friends...

So glad we took the food tour

Lina_B, Apr 2024

Enjoyed the food tour very much. We were able to taste a wide variety of foods. Tylek was an excellent guide. He was very accommodating and informative.. I would recommend taking this tour. Lina and Ron

Great way to experience Istanbul’s food culture and see city

Bryan_D, Apr 2024

This is a great tour - it’s my second trip to Istanbul and the second time I did this food tour. You get to see both the European and Asian sides of the city and it feels less touristy than a traditional walking tour. The food was amazing and our guide Sinan was great - interesting, funny, and informative. Would 100% recommend this tour.

so much food

richard_l, Apr 2024

make sure to pace yourself on this tour! there's constantly more food around the corner at the next stop. most of it was great! some of it was not (pickles and pickle juice) lol. but the whole experience was fantastic, touring both sides (european and asian) of the city, our guide aysa was engaging and provided a lot of historical context to the food and the city.

A must do in Istanbul!

Bryan_M, Apr 2024

Awesome tour, heaps of variety and a tour guide who really engaged with the group. While you cover some distance, it’s not difficult and anyone could do it. Too many highlights to capture here, but showing us the Asian side opened the city up. We ended up spending most nights we were in Istanbul on the Asian side as a direct result of the tour. Highly recommend!

Exceeded expectations

Joy_E, Apr 2024

Our recent tour with Ali as our guide far exceeded our expectations. Ali was a fantastic guide who provided us with information and history all along the way. The food was amazing with each stop being almost complete meals. So much food. You will not go hungry. We would highly recommend this tour to anyone considering it.

Enjoyed our food tour...

Christina_T, Apr 2024

Enjoyed our food tour around Istanbul with our tour guide Leyla, she was friendly and knowledgeable :) Would recommend this tour

Fantastic Food Tour

Greg_F, Apr 2024

Bahar provided us with an incredible experience. Great value and her food choices were excellent! Highly recommend!

OK food, generous servings and variety.

Kandee_W, Apr 2024

This was more than just a tasting. The amount and variety of food was very generous. The quality of the food was average. Our guide was knowledgeable, and this was an educational experience. The foods offered were good examples of the local cuisine. The group size was not limited to the 8 maximum people that was stated in the description. It says to come hungry, which is true, however, I wish the first tasting was much sooner as we came starving and it was difficult to listen to the commentary for almost an hour prior to getting any food.

Great Food

Kurt_C, Apr 2024

Tour guide was great, very informative. First meal, was cool, guide bought local items at the spice bazar, and a local restaurant prepared the food. Lots of great food, pace yourself!

Amazing way to experience Istanbul, highly recommended!

Jennifer_R, Apr 2024

What an amazing way to learn about Istanbul and its history. Selen was our AWESOME guide and shared so much of her culture and knowledge with us all. The food was amazing and very plentiful; we have already been back to the some of the places we visited. It was a public holiday on the day we went so very crowded and noisy; I would have loved to have headsets to hear everything Selen said.

Authentic feel of Istanbul

William_H, Apr 2024

Really enjoyed getting out of the touristy part of the old city with a local guide. Felt much more authentic an experience than anything else I did in Istanbul. Great variety of food and personable and knowledgeable guide

Wonderful experience

Abiola_O, Apr 2024

Leyla was my tour guide in my session and she was AMAZING. She made the tour experience so enjoyable. The highlight for me was that she told us the history of the food we were about to eat and she showed us how the locals eat it. I would recommend this tour to everyone visting istanbul, you will not regret it.

So much food. So much fun.

Jaime_M, Apr 2024

You get so stuffed eating and learning all day long. I was worried it was gonna be too long but I was really impressed by the variety of foods and all the places we saw… and with travel time on the ferry going from continent to continent you have time to digest. Highly recommend!

Understanding the history of Istanbul, through food.

Lee_C, Apr 2024

Leyla took us around Istanbul and didn't disappoint. We stopped about 8 places in a small group. It was relaxed, the food was varied and I really got a sense of Istanbul, through it's food. My favourite spot was breakfast 1. 😋

Brillant

Karen_B, Apr 2024

Our guide was great. His English was very good and informative on many topics not only the food. The food was delicious an overall fabulous tour.

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