Lonely Planet İstanbul Guide

7 SHOPPING İstiklal Caddesi has a long history as the city’s most glamorous shopping strip, but has lost its sheen in recent years, probably due to the phenomenal popularity of the sleek shopping malls opening in the affluent suburbs north of Beyoğlu. You’ll find the city’s best book and music shops here, but not much else worthy of comment. Next to the Flower Passage (Çiçek Pasajı), along Şahne Sokak, is Beyoğlu’s Fish Market (Balık Pazarı), with stalls selling fruit, vegetables, caviar, pickles and other produce. Leading off the Fish Market is the neoclassical European Passage (Avrupa Pasajı), a pretty passageway with a handful of shops selling tourist wares and antique prints. Aslıhan Pasajı, nearby, is a two-storey arcade bursting with secondhand books. The streets around Tünel Meydanı and Galata Kulesi Meydanı are being colonised by avant-garde fashion and homeware designers and make for exciting shopping. Between the two squares is Galipdede Caddesi, home to a major concentration of musical-instrument shops. Antique stores can be found dotting the narrow winding streets of Çukurcuma, and small fashion ateliers are scattered across Tophane and the expat enclave of Cihangir. All three areas are well worth a wander. 7 Galata, Tophane & Karaköy o HIÇ ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; % 0212-251 9973; www.hiccrafts.com; Lüleci Hendek Caddesi 35, Tophane; h 10.30am-7pm Mon-Sat; j Tophane) Interior designer Emel Güntaş is one of İstanbul’s style icons and this recently opened contemporary crafts shop in Tophane is a favourite destination for the HOMEWARES, HANDICRAFTS