Istanbul Shopping

1. Nisantasi
Upscale Shopping District in Istanbul
The main shopping street is Abdi Ipekci Caddesi where you can find upscale shops of Turkish and International brands and many great cafes, restaurants and bars.
Also worth visiting here are Bronz sokak (another street), Reasurans Pasaji (an arcade of shops and restaurants) and tesvikiye caddesi where you can find Armani, Gucci, and other shops, also great turn of the century architecture.

2. Kanyon Mall
Great shopping mall of very interesting modern architecture in the new Levent district of Istanul. Easy to reach bu metro, this mall houses Harvey Nichols, many Turkish and International brands, cafes, restaurants, bars, bookshops, etc. Worth visiting here : Konyali restaurant, D&R book/music shop, Ottoman empire shop for funky themed t-shirts, Harvey Nichols, Pasabahce for excellent glassware and gifts, Agent Provocateur for underwear.

3. Bagdat Street (Bagdat caddesi)
Shopping street in the Asian side of Istanbul. This wide boulevard style long street (once on the silk route) is a great shopping area for all kinds of shops from reasonably priced local favourites to international brands to high end shopping. Wonderful cafes for every budget and taste it has a very lively atmosphere and very local, outside the usual tourist trail. It is a great day out to cross the bosphorous with ferry to Bostanci and starting from the Bostanci end of Bagdat Caddesi all the way down to Feneryolu (a couple of miles) walking on the wide pavements and joining the locals strolling the shops and cafes in a leasurely atmosphere. Good Turkish Shops here are Vakko, Derishow, Mudo, Yargici, among hundreds of others.

4. Cukurcuma
Shopping street for antiques and ethnic items. Located near Istiklal Street, you can find quirky antique shops, vintage items, ehtnic crafts in this street. It is a bit difficult to find but once you find it you will not be sorry.

5. Shopping Malls of Istanbul
Istanbul has a history of shopping malls of course with the historic Grand Bazaar but the modern malls are very impressive and great for shopping for every need. They are always open from 10am to 10pm every day and can be found in every part of Istanbul. Apart from the wonderful Kanyon mall mentioned above, the other notable ones are Akmerkez in Etiler, Metrocity in Levent, Cevahir in Sisli, Profilo in Mecidiyekoy, Galleria in Bakirkoy (nearer to the airport) and many in the asian side. These are all generalist malls. Address Istanbul in Caglayan is a new chic mall for all interior design, furniture, home items. If you want fabrics and home furnishings in great resonable prices visit IMC, near the old city in Aksaray, it is an old shopping arcade but very big and you can find great varieties and great bargains.
All the large generalist malls have many cafes, restaurants and food courts, some have cinemas and places to entertain children.

6. Istinye Park Shopping Mall
This is the newest edition to Istanbul’s trendy modern shopping malls. It is a very interesting place, quite different to the other malls, I can describe it as Kanyon plus Metro city plus Akmerkez plus a modern spice bazaar all in one. You can find anything from Gucci to Beymen to Boyner to the cheapest brands and there is a Spice Bazaar style marketplace complete with fruit/veg, spices, organic honey, olive oil, soaps etc.
There is an outside entrance on the top floor like a round piazza and this is where the most expensive international brands are. Then you go inside and the lower you go the cheaper it gets and at the lowest level you find the bazaar. Great food options, Borsa is very good for traditional Turkish cuisine, at the top floor outside, placed next to YSL, Chloe, Gucci, etc, very similar in look and style to Konyali in Kanyon, I would highly recommend.
There is a big food hall as well as other cafes including the lovely House Café.
The only negative so far is they did not finish to connection roads so there is lots of traffic around and no metro yet. Getting there would be difficult for visitors staying in Sultanahmet as it is very far. The best way to get there is to take the metro to the last stop and get a taxi from there and please visit on a weekday outside rush hours!