Istanbul Food Tour

Tailoring each experience to your wishes by locals who love their city

Top 10 food tours & experiences around Istanbul

From exploring cool neighborhoods to eating with the locals to seeing iconic sites, these are some of our favorite experiences

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The best private food tours & experiences with locals

Perched in its prime position between two continents, Istanbul has seen its fair share of people passing through (it’s the final stop on the ancient Silk Road, after all). Centuries ago, traveling merchants passing through made a pitstop in Istanbul and decided to stay. Today, Istanbul benefits from diversity stretching back hundreds of years, and the city’s food scene celebrates it. Uncover the culture of the Turkish capital on unforgettable food tours of Istanbul with City Unscripted and one of our food-loving local guides. Our Istanbul food tours are the perfect way to explore iconic sights and taste the most spectacular cuisine the city has to offer.

Meet some of our food-loving local hosts

Feruza

Istanbul

An enthusiastic Istanbul local, unveils the city's historical wonders and culinary delights, guiding you through a captivating journey of culture and flavor.

Devanshu

Dublin

A taste of Turkey

Few cuisines in the world have reached icon status like Turkish food has, and it’s not difficult to see why. Turkish foods took the best flavors from around the world to create tastes and textures that are tough to beat. Discover the very best of them on food tours of Istanbul with a knowledgeable local guide! A taste of Turkey is like a trip around the world spread across a silver platter. Let your host tell you fascinating stories of Istanbul’s homegrown cuisine – a fusion of flavors from the Mediterranean, Middle East, Eastern European, and Armenian. Ready to try it for yourself?

Mealtime at the market

It’s impossible to explore the city without getting lost in a colorful, fragrant marketplace, and food tours in Istanbul are no different. Forget Istanbul restaurants – there are over 200 authentic markets serving up some of the best food in Istanbul, and the Grand Bazaar is just the tip of the iceberg. Get going early on an Istanbul food tour to try a traditional Turkish breakfast, or squeeze in some sightseeing and build up an appetite for street food like fish sandwiches on fresh bread, Turkish pizza, and kumpir – a fluffy baked potato topped with cheese, corn, mayonnaise, peas, and carrots.

Try foods unique to the city

In Turkey’s capital city, you’ll find every food the country is famous for. Discover them on Istanbul food tours (and taste a whole lot of them too!). Your local guide has already scoped out the city’s food scene, and can share all the best-kept secrets with you. Try Şiş Kebap, a juicy kebab cooked over glowing coals, or grab a quick meal of Turkish coffee and a traditional flatbread topped with ground beef and veggies. Or, skip right to the sweet stuff, like jewel-toned Turkish delight or baklava dripping in honey – this is your Istanbul food tour, so you make the rules.

Istanbul travel tips and inspiration from our Travel Magazine

Find the best things to do, places to eat, must eat foods and lots of travel tips in Istanbul and around the world recommended by our local hosts

Latest reviews from our guests

We enjoyed the historical sites and Ipek was very knowledgeable and engaging in her descriptions of the places

June 2025

Michael O
We arrived in Istanbul two days early for a group tour of Turkey so I scheduled a private walking tour with Tolga to see if he could show us something other than the typical list of sites that were on our group's itinerary. I felt certain that there were neighborhoods that he could show us which we wouldn't otherwise see and Tolga did not disappoint. Along the way, he filled us in on history, culture, religion, and current events. He took us to an historic place for baklava and a cute spot for a quick lunch. We rode the tram, the bus and two ferries, and walked 8 miles! After seven hours, we finally called it quits, but he would have continued longer if we had wanted. We definitely got our money's worth and counted that day as one of the best of our entire three weeks in Turkey.

June 2025

Barbara M
We arrived in Istanbul two days early for a group tour of Turkey so I scheduled a private walking tour with Tolga to see if he could show us something other than the typical list of sites that were on our group's itinerary. I felt certain that there were neighborhoods that he could show us which we wouldn't, culture, religion, and current events. He took us to an historic place for baklava and a cute spot for a quick lunch. We rode the tram, the bus and two ferries, and walked 8 miles! After seven hours, we finally called it quits, but he would have continued longer if we had wanted. We definitely got our money's worth and counted that day as one of the best of our entire three weeks in Turkey.

June 2025

Barbara M
We booked a tour with Tugba with my 6 year old daughter and Tugba was just amazing, so patient and kind with my daughter, adapted the pace, and we overall had a wonderful experience!

June 2025

Hajar B