Istanbul Shop Tour from Russia: Laleli, Merter, Osmanbey and Customs

A shop tour to Istanbul from Russia usually takes three or four days: Laleli and Merter for wholesale clothing, Osmanbey for women's fashion, and one day for the outlet malls or the Grand Bazaar. The rule that shapes how much you can bring home is the Eurasian Economic Union allowance for goods for personal use: when you fly, up to €10,000 in value and 50 kg per person can be imported duty-free. Russian citizens do not need a visa for Turkey for stays of up to 60 days. This page explains what each district sells, how to plan the days, how to pay and how to get the goods home. For help on the ground, our private car with driver for 8 hours starts from $299 per group and can take you between the districts with your bags.

Entry rules and flights from Russia

According to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russian citizens with ordinary passports can enter Türkiye without a visa for up to 60 days for tourism or business. A shopping trip falls under this exemption. Your passport must be valid for at least 60 days beyond the end of your stay. If someone in your group holds a different passport, see our overview of Turkey visa requirements.

Istanbul is one of the best-connected destinations for Russian travellers. Route listings for the two Istanbul airports show:

• Istanbul Airport (IST), European side: Aeroflot from Moscow Sheremetyevo, St Petersburg, Sochi, Krasnodar, Mineralnye Vody and Yekaterinburg; Rossiya from Sheremetyevo and St Petersburg; Pobeda from Moscow Vnukovo; S7 from Moscow Domodedovo and Novosibirsk; Red Wings from several cities; Turkish Airlines from Vnukovo and St Petersburg.
• Sabiha Gökçen (SAW), Asian side: AJet from Vnukovo and St Petersburg, and Pegasus from St Petersburg.

For a shop tour, IST is the better arrival: Laleli, Merter and Osmanbey are all on the European side, and the drive from SAW means crossing the Bosphorus with luggage. Compare baggage allowances when you book, because the checked-bag allowance on the way home decides how much you can carry, and excess baggage on a low-cost ticket is expensive.

Laleli: the classic wholesale district

Laleli, in Fatih between Beyazıt and Aksaray, has been the wholesale market for buyers from Russia and the other former Soviet countries since the 1990s. Many signs are in Russian, many sellers speak it, and prices are usually given in US dollars.

What to expect:

• Women's clothing first. Dresses, knitwear, coats, leather and fur, tracksuits and underwear, mostly mid-price.
• Sold by the series. Many wholesalers sell a model only as a series, one piece in each size, or by the pack. Some will sell single pieces to retail customers at a higher price; ask before you start choosing.
• Cash and bargaining. Wholesale prices are negotiable on larger orders. Ask for an invoice for everything you buy.
• Cargo offices next door. Freight and cargo companies in the district consolidate purchases and ship them to Russia, which is how most resellers move larger volumes.

Laleli is on the T1 tram line, so it is easy to reach from hotels in Sultanahmet, Beyazıt and Aksaray. Many shop-tour travellers stay in or near the district to drop bags between rounds; our list of Sultanahmet hotels covers the area next door.

Merter: textile wholesale on a larger scale

Merter, in Güngören west of the old city walls, is the larger and more businesslike wholesale area. It grew around textile manufacturers, and many companies have their showroom at the front and their production elsewhere in the city. Streets are wide and organised in blocks of showrooms rather than small shops.

Merter suits buyers who already know their market: you visit showrooms, see the season's collection and order by the series or by the box. It is less suited to a first-time shopper looking for a few items for the family. The M1A metro line from Aksaray stops at Merter, but most buyers come by car because orders are bulky.

Osmanbey and Nişantaşı: fashion wholesale and boutiques

Osmanbey, in Şişli, is the third wholesale hub and the most fashion-led. The streets around the Osmanbey station on the M2 metro line are full of wholesale showrooms for women's clothing, with more design and higher prices than Laleli. It is a good place to look for current-season styles in smaller series.

A short walk away is Nişantaşı, the city's high-end shopping district, with Turkish designers and international brands. It is retail, not wholesale, but many shop-tour travellers spend an afternoon there for their own shopping. İstiklal Avenue and Taksim are a short metro ride further south.

Outlets, malls and the Grand Bazaar

Not every buyer comes for wholesale. For brand clothing at lower prices, Istanbul has several large outlet centres: Olivium Outlet in Zeytinburnu and Starcity Outlet in Yenibosna are both on the European side, west of the old city, and Viaport Outlet is in Pendik on the Asian side, close to Sabiha Gökçen. Large shopping malls also issue tax-free forms, which smaller wholesale shops usually do not.

The Grand Bazaar is for different purchases: leather jackets, carpets and kilims, ceramics, lamps, jewellery and gifts. It is closed on Sundays. The Spice Bazaar in Eminönü is the place for tea, coffee, Turkish delight and spices to take home. For a day built around food shopping, see our private Istanbul food tour page.

The districts compared

Russian customs limits for goods you bring home

Russia applies the rules of the Eurasian Economic Union for goods for personal use, set out in Decision No. 107 of the EAEU Council. For goods carried in accompanied baggage:

• By air: duty-free if the total value does not exceed the equivalent of €10,000 and the weight does not exceed 50 kg per person.
• By other means (land, sea): since 1 April 2024, duty-free up to €500 and 25 kg.
• Above the limits: a flat 30% of the value above the limit, and at least €4 for each kilogram over the weight limit.

The key word is personal. These allowances apply only to goods for personal use. If customs officers judge from the quantity, the frequency of your trips or the nature of the goods (for example, many identical pieces in a series of sizes) that the goods are commercial, they are not cleared as personal goods and the general rules for commercial imports apply. Resellers who buy for a shop usually send their purchases through a cargo company with proper documents rather than in their suitcases. Check the current rules of the Federal Customs Service of Russia before you travel, because limits and procedures change.

Money, payment and tax-free

Cards issued by Russian banks generally do not work for payments in Turkey, so most shop-tour travellers bring cash in US dollars or euros and pay wholesalers in dollars. Exchange offices are common in Laleli, Beyazıt and around the Grand Bazaar. Check the Russian rules on taking foreign currency out of the country before you travel with large sums.

Tax-free shopping is possible at retail shops that display a tax-free sign, which mostly means malls, outlet stores and brand shops. Ask for the form when you pay, keep the goods unused, and have the form stamped by Turkish customs at the airport before check-in. Wholesale purchases shipped by cargo are handled through the exporter's documents instead.

A 4-day shop tour plan

1. Day 1, arrival and Laleli. Land at IST, check in near Laleli or Sultanahmet, and spend the afternoon walking the Laleli streets to compare prices before you buy anything.
2. Day 2, Merter or Laleli in depth. Buyers with a clear list go to Merter showrooms in the morning and finish in Laleli. Arrange cargo at the end of the day.
3. Day 3, Osmanbey and Nişantaşı. Wholesale fashion in the morning, retail shopping in Nişantaşı in the afternoon, dinner in Taksim or Karaköy.
4. Day 4, outlets or the bazaars, then the airport. An outlet centre in the morning works well with a car, because Olivium and Starcity are outside the centre. Otherwise, the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar in the morning.

Keep the wholesale districts for Monday to Saturday, and leave Sunday for the malls, the Spice Bazaar or sightseeing. If you have an extra day, a guided day in the old city makes a good break; see our Istanbul private tour guide page.

Getting around with shopping bags

Public transport is cheap but impractical once you are carrying several bags. Taxis are easy to find in Laleli and Osmanbey, but traffic between the districts can be slow at rush hour. Many shop-tour groups hire a minivan with a driver for the day: it waits outside the showrooms, holds the bags and takes you to the cargo office at the end. See our page on an Istanbul private car with driver.

If you need someone to translate with suppliers or to organise the days, a guide who speaks Russian is available, as described on our Russian-speaking guide in Istanbul page. A guide is not a buying agent: the choice of goods, prices and suppliers stays with you. For a beach holiday after the shopping, see our excursions in Antalya in Russian.

Tours that cover this

• Istanbul Private Driver Tour: Mercedes Vito for 8 Hours, 1-6 Guests: from $299 per group, a car and driver for a full shopping day.
• Istanbul Airport VIP Transfer: Private Mercedes Vito to Your Hotel: from $60 per group, with room for luggage on the way home.
• Private Istanbul Shopping Tour: Grand Bazaar and Spice Market Guide: from $90 per person, 6 hours in the old bazaars.
• Istanbul Old City Private Tour: Hagia Sophia, Topkapi & Grand Bazaar: from $200 per person, for a sightseeing day between the shopping.

Frequently Asked Questions