Top 5 Souvenirs to buy in Turkey

1. 1. The evil eye or Nazar Boncuk in Turkish, this is first one in top 5 souvenirs to buy in Turkey. You will find it hanging in a lot of Turkish homes, shops and hotels. It is considered to ward off evil and is an equivalent of the omnipresent lemon chilli – Nibu Mirchi (lemon, chilli peppers) in India and of course more beautiful. When shopping in Turkey, you can find it a wide variety of options including amulets, keyrings, bookmarks, jewellery, ceramic items, and lapel badges, so explore extensively before choosing the pieces. Typically prices start from as low as 5tl for a small simple piece to 30tl for a larger piece with some work. While House Hotel (where we stayed in Istanbul), also gave a small nazar boncuk to each of the family members as a welcome tradition. If you ask anyone what is Turkey famous for, they are bound to include this in their list.
      

      Evil Eye

   2. Ceramic pieces: notably, the plates, Hittite vase, turkish ceramic pitcher or Ibrik and breakfast set. In close contention with evil eye for top 5 souvenirs to buy in Turkey, some of these are distinctly Turkish. While the breakfast set is used for typical Turkish breakfast, you can use it for a wide variety of purposes like dry fruit platter, cheese platter, dessert platter, chip and dip tray etc. The work that you find in Istanbul basically comes from multiple regions, most notably Iznik, Kutahya and Cappadocia. However, these are souvenirs like the breakfast tray which you will find only in Istanbul while the vase, pots and plates you will find in Cappadocia too. So no matter where you are shopping in Turkey, you can pick these and variants of it. If you plan to visit Cappadocia especially after Istanbul, it’s recommended that you buy the ceramic pieces from here. There is a whole pottery village, Avanos, where you can try your hand at pottery at a pottery workshop, buy some exquisite pieces with very intricate work and see the real craftsmen at work. (See 2 days in Cappadocia itinerary). When we asked some of the folks at our hotel, what is Turkey famous for, pat came their reply – ceramic hittite jugs and vases, as Cappadocia is famous for its Red pottery. Owing to large deposits of iron in the soil, craftsmen in Avanos work with red soil found on the banks of the red river (Kızılırmak River).
      The other set of souvenirs you could buy in Cappadocia is Onyx souvenirs, coming from the onyx reserves of this region. Relatively lesser known than the whole pottery and ceramic business, its worth buying small pieces like rings, ash trays etc.

       

      

      Iznik Tile

      

      Ceramic Plates and other pieces

      

      Ceramic Vases – Hittite Jugs

   3. Baklava from Hafiz Mustafa. Since I am writing about Turkey, you must try the baklava, kafiye and other kinds of traditional desserts that Hafiz Mustafa has to offer. The use of pistachio in conjunction with other flavours like chocolate is mind blowing. Baklava and Kafiye are available all day long but some if their special flavour cakes like chocolate pistachio are finished by 10am in the morning, so you may want to grab one as part of your breakfast. Of course, shopping in Turkey can make you hungry and this is where Hafiz Mustafa comes in. Considering that Hafiz Mustafa also has a presence in the Dubai Mall in Dubai, if I’m asked what is Turkey famous for, I’ll have to include it in my answer.
      

      Hafiz Mustafa

   4. Turkish Mozaic Lamps: These are another staple of Turkey and no shopping experience can be complete without these. Shopkeepers sell them in a wide varieties from hanging ones to standing ones, in myriad colors and multiple combinations. Carrying them back home can be a bit of a challenge but doable as they do pack it well enough for travel. While most of the shops do agree to courier these to you too, the courier charges are as much as the lights themselves sometimes making it almost not an option.
      

      Turkish Mozaic Lamps

   5. Turkish Tea: Turkish tea is a souvenir and Turkish coffee is something you must try and drink while in Turkey. At both Grand Bazaar and the Egypt Spice Market you will find wide varieties of tea, with one of the most famous one being apple tea. Amazingly apple tea is only for tourists and visitors, the traditional Turkish families do not drink apple tea. And the tea variety is not restricted to fruits alone, you will find versions like Love Tea, Relaxing Tea etc too.
      

      Types of Tea

I would have wanted to leave Turkish Rugs out of this post as these are more like investments than souvenirs. However, a post on 5 souvenirs to shop for in Turkey, cannot be complete without the mention of this world famous decor item. Hence writing about this right at the end as this one is for connoisseurs. For one, the real Turkish rugs are really heavy (unlike their Chinese counterparts) especially if you buy big pieces. If you are traveling further in Turkey it will be a nightmare to carry it. The shipping charges to anywhere in the world are not cheap especially for a valuable product as a rug. The rugs themselves, assuming you’re interested in the authentic Turkish ones, are quite expensive and so worth spending good time in finding one that you really like and can be sure of about the authenticity.