Sweet Tooth of Istanbul

Highlights

• Best desserts of the city
• Visiting old famous patisseries
• Chat about the history of Istanbul and districts you visit
• Ferry ride from Europe to Asia

Tour Itinerary

This is one of our signature tours — born from a simple idea: combine two things we love, eating and exploring. Together we walk through different districts of Istanbul, crossing from Europe to Asia, visiting the city’s most celebrated patisseries and bakeries, and tasting the desserts that have defined Turkish culinary culture for centuries.

Please bear in mind; we can always redesign this tour according to your interest and time.

During the tour you will visit 3 to 4 patisseries, 1 to 2 bakeries, and a restaurant for a light lunch. All meals, desserts, and drinks are included in the tour price. This is a walking tour, so comfortable shoes are recommended — and dress according to the weather.

Since our tours have been copied by others, we don’t publish the full itinerary here. Contact us and we’ll be happy to share all the details.

Best Desserts of the City

Istanbul has one of the richest dessert cultures in the world, shaped by centuries of Ottoman palace cuisine, Anatolian tradition, and the influences of dozens of cultures that have passed through this city. On this tour you will taste some of the finest examples — not in tourist traps, but in the neighbourhood shops and family-run patisseries where locals have been going for generations. Each stop is chosen for quality, authenticity, and the story behind it.

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Visiting Old Famous Patisseries

Istanbul’s best patisseries are often hidden in plain sight — tucked into the ground floor of a crumbling apartment building, or occupying the same corner they have held for a hundred years. We visit establishments where the recipes haven’t changed in decades and where the craft of making Turkish sweets is taken seriously. These are places with history in their walls and character in every bite.

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Chat About the History of Istanbul and Districts You Visit

As we walk and taste, your guide will bring the city’s layered history to life. The neighbourhoods on this tour — whether on the European or Asian shore — each have their own story: Ottoman quarters, old Greek and Armenian communities, trading districts that stretch back to the Byzantine era. The conversation moves naturally between past and present, between the dessert in your hand and the street you’re standing on.

“While we walk and taste the desserts, we talk about the history of Istanbul and the habits of the people of the city.”

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Ferry Ride from Europe to Asia

One of the highlights of the tour is the ferry crossing from the European side of Istanbul to the Asian shore. In a city built on two continents, this short boat ride is one of the most iconic experiences you can have — and one of the most ordinary for Istanbulites who make this crossing every day. From the water, the skyline of the old city opens up in a way that no street view can match. On the Asian side, the flavours and the pace shift, and the dessert trail continues.

Turkish Desserts Guide: What to Taste in Istanbul

Part of what makes this tour so rewarding is the depth of what you’ll discover. Here is a guide to the iconic Turkish sweets you are likely to encounter along the way.

Baklava

Few desserts are as recognisable — or as frequently misunderstood — as baklava. At its best, it is a masterpiece of restraint: tissue-thin layers of hand-stretched yufka pastry, filled with finely ground pistachios or walnuts, baked until golden, and soaked in a light sugar syrup. The finest baklava comes from Gaziantep, in southeast Turkey, and Istanbul’s best baklava shops source their pistachios directly from there. The difference between a great baklava and a mediocre one is immediately apparent — and on this tour, you will taste the real thing.

Turkish Delight

Known in Turkey as lokum, Turkish delight has been made in Istanbul since at least the 18th century, when it became a fixture of the Ottoman court. Properly made lokum is a world away from the powdery, artificially flavoured versions sold as souvenirs. The genuine article is made with starch and sugar, slow-cooked to exactly the right consistency, and flavoured with rose water, mastic, pomegranate, or pistachio. Istanbul’s oldest confectioners still make it by hand, in copper pots, following recipes that have barely changed in two centuries.

Künefe

Künefe is one of Istanbul’s most theatrical desserts — and one of its most addictive. Shredded wheat pastry (kadayıf) is packed around a layer of soft, unsalted cheese, pressed into a round pan, and cooked over direct heat until crisp and golden on both sides. It arrives at the table sizzling, drenched in sugar syrup, and dusted with ground pistachio. The combination of the crunchy pastry, the molten cheese, and the sweet syrup is unlike anything else. It is best eaten immediately, straight from the pan.

Turkish Rice Pudding

Sütlaç — Turkish rice pudding — is the great comfort dessert of Istanbul. Simple in its ingredients (milk, rice, sugar, a whisper of vanilla or rose water) but endlessly variable in its execution, it is found in every muhallebici (milk pudding shop) in the city. The Istanbul style is baked in a clay dish until the top caramelises to a deep amber — a technique that gives it a faint smokiness that sets it apart from any other rice pudding you may have encountered. Cool, creamy, and deeply satisfying.

Tulumba

Tulumba is Istanbul street food at its most irresistible: ridged cylinders of fried dough, soaked in cold sugar syrup, sold warm from large trays in front of patisseries and bakeries across the city. The contrast between the hot, crisp exterior and the syrup-soaked interior is what makes them so compulsive. They are cheap, ubiquitous, and eaten standing up — and they are best in the late afternoon, fresh from the fryer.

Kazandibi

Kazandibi — which translates literally as “bottom of the cauldron” — is a uniquely Turkish milk pudding with a deliberately scorched base. Made from milk, rice flour, and sugar, it is cooked in a wide pan and pressed against the heat until the underside caramelises to a rich, dark brown. It is then rolled or folded so that the burnished base becomes the top, and served cold. The contrast between the creamy white interior and the bitter, caramelised crust is subtle and extraordinary. It is one of Istanbul’s most distinctive and underappreciated desserts.

Included

• Assistance of a local guides
• Transport (local ferries, taxi, tram or private A/C van depending on number)
• Treats to experience different tastes
• Lunch

Not Included

• Gratuities to guide and driver
• Any items not specifically mentioned as included

Are you interested in this tour? Just email us.