• Private Tour
• Instantly Confirmed
• Carbon Neutral

Ready to taste the best food in Istanbul? Satisfy your cravings for local food and culture with highlights along the way, together with a foodie host. Enjoy 10 delicious and typical tastings that range from sweet to savory as well as drinks on a tasty food tour in Istanbul.

Destination

Istanbul, Turkey

Category

Food Tours

Duration

3 hours

Transport mode

Walking tour

Available languages

English, Türkçe, Español, Deutsch, Italiano, Português, Lietuvių

Included

• Private Guide
• 10 Local Food & Drink Tastings
• Vegetarian Options Available
• All Withlocals Tours are Carbon Neutral

Excluded

• Entrance to attractions

What you can expect

Choose your local

Get to know these 16 passionate locals, each bringing unique perspectives and talents. Choose your favorite, check their availability, and book to create an unforgettable adventure tailored to you.

This is the plan

Check out the plan below to see what you'll get up to with your local host. Feel free to personalize this offer with the host of your choice.

1. Meeting point

   Meet at in front of the Espresso Lab Cihangir - Istanbul to start your journey

   View on Maps

2. Itinerary

   This is what our experience could look like, but it’s not set in stone! Once you book, you can chat directly with your host to make small tweaks to suit your preferences.

3. 10 Tastings

   This tour includes 10 food and drink tastings. Your local host has hand-picked each one of the tastings based on their love for food, and knowledge of the city. Enjoy only the most authentic bites the city has to offer!

4. The Classics

   A food tour in Istanbul would not be complete without the most typical and beloved dishes in town. Enjoy a bite of the ultimate classics, Turkish delight and dürüm and taste them in their true local flavor!

5. Locals’ Favorites

   Discover more of the local cuisine by trying some of the ultimate locals’ favorites food treats. Try unique food, typical of Istanbul picked by your local host and hear why they love it so much!

6. Typical Drinks

   With drinks included as part of the tastings this real experience comes with a real local spirit! Your local host will quench your thirst with a selection of drinks like coffee, unique beverages, and alcoholic (or non-alcoholic) cocktails, wine and beer

7. City Highlights

   This tour is more than just food, it’s a cultural experience! In between food stops, discover city highlights for a well-rounded experience that will satisfy your appetite for Istanbul. From food, drinks, must-sees and local hot spots; this tour has everything on the menu!

8. Vegetarian Alternative

   Looking for a vegetarian alternative? It’s possible! The tour has been created with alternative tastings to fit your preferences. Just let your host know!

9. Special Diet or Allergies?

   If you follow a special diet or have an allergy to a specific food, let your host know! They’ll make sure to take that into consideration so you can have an enjoyable and safe experience

10. Make it yours

    Want to tweak the itinerary? Book directly & chat afterwards with your host to adjust highlights, skip stops, or make small changes to fit your preferences.

    Book risk-free: Cancel within 24 hours for a full refund.

    Need something special? Personalize your experience for more time, alternative locations or a completely tailored plan.

Flexible cancellation policy

• Feel confident booking

  Cancel within 24 hours for a full refund. Even up to 7 days before your experience, you’ll receive a refund, minus the service fee.

• Change of plans?

  Reschedule your experience to a date and time that works best for you.

• Loved by travelers worldwide

  Simple and flexible – your plans, your way.

Reviews from guests

Shaylynn🇺🇸 United States

(About local Tolga)

24 July 2025

What a wonderful tour! Tolga knew all of the best places to take us on our food tour and we truly feel we got a taste of Turkey. Tolga not only is very knowledgeable on Turkish food, but also the history of Turkey. I highly recommend Tolga for any tour. Great Experience!

Elizabeth🇺🇸 United States

(About local Alp)

23 July 2025

We thoroughly enjoyed our 10 tastings of Istanbul tour with Alp. We tried a wide variety of local favorites, and everyone in our family enjoyed something different. Great food tour!

Jean🇺🇸 United States

(About local Alp)

19 July 2025

Alp provided us with a great introduction to authentic, delicious food. Prior to meeting Alp, he was responsive to our questions and worked to plan a delightful evening, taking into consideration our likes and dislikes. During our tour he was fun to talk with and provided a lot of insight into the local culture. Thanks for a memorable evening of food and conversation. Alp is Wonderful

Caroline🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Faruk )

17 July 2025

We booked this tour expecting an authentic local food experience, as advertised by Withlocals. Unfortunately, it fell far short of our expectations. Before the tour, we clearly communicated that we were food enthusiasts looking for hidden gems and genuine Istanbul flavours—the kind you can’t find without a knowledgeable local guide. Instead, the majority of the tour was spent walking through a modern shopping mall, and the food selections were uninspired and ordinary. For the price we paid, both the quality and quantity of food were unacceptable. What made it worse was our guide admitting that he doesn’t cook and simply relied on TripAdvisor or recommendations from other guides to choose stops. If we wanted a generic tourist experience, we could have done that ourselves—without paying a premium for a foodie guide. Given how strongly Withlocals markets these tours as curated by passionate locals, this was a major letdown. We cannot recommend this company for food tours in Istanbul. Not a food tour, just a mall walk

Anakaren

(About local Faruk )

17 July 2025

Farouk was a delightful tour guide. All the food stops we made were delicious. He has a calm personality which eased our experience. By the time we reached our final stop, we were so full and had to take our meal to go but it was delicious even as a midnight snack! Highly recommended if you’re looking to try spots and food the locals are eating ! 10/10 recommend

Allison🇨🇦 Canada

(About local Tolga)

15 July 2025

We had a fabulous time with Tolga on our food tour in Kadikoy and were so lucky he was able to fit us in last minute. He took us to unique spots that each were known for their own speciality. We would never have been able to find such diversity and top-notch places on our own. And he was great at sharing about the history and culture of Istanbul, answering all of our questions. Highly recommend!Amazing local insights into unique foods

Dan

(About local Alp)

11 July 2025

Alp is excellent. This is an great way to experience the true Istanbul. Comfortably, safely, and casually. Alp to us to multiple locations, made us comfortable, asked us thoughtfully about our food leanings, brought out dishes, carefully explained what everything was and why it was part of the culture. He answered all our questions and we never felt rushed. Most importantly, really enjoyed the food. Sometimes with local guides, you feel that they are on a mission to "get it done". With Alp, we felt like we were in town visiting an old friend and he was spending the day with us to show his favorite foodie spots with the goal to make our experience unforgettable.

Francesca

(About local muhammed)

9 July 2025

Muhammed was incredibly accommodating with my group, making sure we visited all the places on our list. He was flexible, patient, and easy to work with. I’d highly recommend him to anyone considering this tour Amazing Guide!

Nadja🇩🇪 Germany

(About local Alp)

7 July 2025

We booked only two days before and were super happy about the tour and Alp being our guide! Super easy to meet, he personalized the tour (we had a baby and buggy with us) and was in general very thoughtful of the choices he made and what he wanted to show us. We loved all the choices and found it super interesting to learn about the more local relationship to the food and Cihangir area. Alp made it a point to show us also some hidden streets and street art and was also open to answer any questions we had about more tips. He also recommended us our day tours for the city. I would definitely recommend doing this at the beginning of an Istanbul stay and starting off with such a local experience. Thank you so much Alp! Great local food insights

David🇲🇾 Malaysia

(About local Dilek)

5 July 2025

Claire🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Gülce)

28 June 2025

We had a fabulous time with Gulce with 10 food stops on a three hour walking tour. Gulce was informative and fun and the food she chose was a great mix of flavours and dishes. Highly recommended.A great taste of Turkey

Belinda🇿🇦 South Africa

(About local Gülce)

28 June 2025

Gülce was a wonderful guide — warm, flexible, and easy to follow. Her English was excellent, making the experience smooth and enjoyable. The tour offered delicious local food in generous portions (don’t eat beforehand!) and just the right hint of local knowledge about daily life and history. Our group of 4 adults and 4 kids (ages 8–13) loved every stop. Perfectly timed at 3 hours — a real highlight of our trip. Highly recommended!Istanbul Must Do Tour

Aaron🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Ugur)

27 June 2025

Ugur was a fantastic guide. Very knowledgeable about the history of Istanbul and took us to some amazing local restaurants Fantastic tour would highly recommend

Darrin🇺🇸 United States

(About local Alp)

27 June 2025

Our guide, Alp, was fun to visit with and he carefully curated our tour stops and tastes. He chose spots where only locals dine. We learned much about Istanbul and Turkey. At the end my wife said, “Turkish is my new favorite cuisine.” The tour enhanced the enjoyment of the rest of our stay in Istanbul immensely. 10 Tastes Were Fantastic

luciakaufmann

(About local Emre)

26 June 2025

Emre ist der BESTE Guide! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Er hat uns einen unvergesslichen kulinarischen und kulturellen Nachmittag ermöglicht. Durch seine liebenswerte freundliche Art war sofort eine gute Verbindung geschaffen. Emre ist ein wirklich perfekter Guide der sich in allen Ecken von Istanbul gut auskennt. Wir hatten gutes traditionelles Essen,lernten die Gastfreundschaft von der Türkei und viele nette Menschen kennen. Danke für diese tollen Eindrücke! ❤️❤️❤️Ein perfekter Nachmittag

Daniel

(About local Emre)

24 June 2025

The food tour with Emre was everything we had wanted it to be! He is very warm and friendly and knows Istanbul so well. He curated a really good food tour for my teenage son and me. I felt like we had an intimate look at restaurants that are away from all of the tourists and really experienced the food of Istanbul. He also showed us several shops where we could buy mementos, again these were away from the inflated prices in the Sultanahmet area, and gave us several excellent options for eating in the Galata Tower neighborhood. I would certainly use Emre again if we are ever fortunate enough to return to Istanbul!Great day with Emre!

Anneliese🇦🇹 Austria

(About local Emre)

24 June 2025

Susanne🇨🇭 Switzerland

(About local Ceren)

24 June 2025

We had an amazing food tour in Istanbul! Our guide Ceren was lovely. She made us feel right at home. She took us to authentic local spots we’d never have found on our own, and every bite was delicious. Her stories about the food and the city added so much depth. A perfect mix of culture, flavor, and fun – highly recommended!Food tour in Istanbul

Edmée🇱🇺 Luxembourg

(About local Emre)

23 June 2025

Wir haben zu 6 die Tour gemacht und können Emre nur weiterempfehlen. Toller sympathischer guide mit interessanten Informationen und gute Häppchen. Die Luxemburger Food Tour mit Emre

Mark

(About local Faruk )

22 June 2025

We booked the 10 tastings of Istanbul as our first activity in the city. We were keen to try lots of the local cuisine and learn about the city and country. Faruk was a a great choice as our guide. He showed us round the Beyoğlu area taking us to four different cafes to eat a variety of food which was all delicious with plenty of sight seeing in between. We discussed food, culture, history and general life in Istanbul and really enjoyed his hospitality and company. A great way to start our trip and he gave us plenty of information on other things to do during our visit. After being royally fed we spent the afternoon using the ferries to see the city and let our food go down 😀First day in Istanbul

Kristiana

(About local Alp)

17 June 2025

My husband, Tom, and I had the absolute best experience with Alp on our Ten Tastes of Istanbul tour! Alp is such a fantastic host and he made sure that we experienced the most memorable local food in the best venues! We were so enjoying ourselves that Alp bought more than was expected, making sure that we got to taste all of his favourite dishes. Alp was so knowledgeable not just about the local food and venues, but about the history and culture of Istanbul which really added to the whole experience. I am so glad we took this tour and would HIGHLY recommend to anyone visiting Istanbul to do the same. I can't compare Alp to any other guides obviously but I can confirm that he was perfect for us and went above and beyond our expectation! Don't miss this experience. Thank you Alp - can't wait to see you next time! Kris.Do not miss this experience!!!!

Michael🇺🇸 United States

(About local Emre)

13 June 2025

Emre gave us an absolutely amazing tour. He told wonderful stories about Istanbul, taught us about the culture, and was incredibly knowledgeable about the food. The tastings were fabulous. He was also very kind to our young kids and knew how to keep them engaged. Come HUNGRY! We skipped breakfast and met him at 11AM and spent most of the day walking around the city and eating. I would also recommend Emre as a general guide for anything Istanbul. Hire This Guide Immediately.

Duprette

(About local Faruk )

12 June 2025

Faruk was engaging and easygoing and took his time explaining things to us. We never felt rushed and enjoyed learning about tradition and his wonderful story about his marriage proposal. We had an amazing time with him and my parents booked an extra tour with him.Tasting Sensation

Unknown

(About local Emre)

12 June 2025

My wife Patricia and I booked a food tour with Emre during our visit to Istanbul commemorating the 30 anniversary of our marriage. Emre came highly recommended and he did not disappoint! He started with some simple bite sized samples of cheese and tea, explaining the cheese manufacturing industry in Turkey and how cheese is used in cuisine. Then we visited 10 food establishments and tried sweets like Turkish Delight (Lokum), doner kebab, wraps (durum) and lovely sesame encrusted simit bread among other local fare. Emre was so informative and patient answering our questions. His local knowledge of the history of the city and food / culture of Istanbul made the 3 hour tour with Emre really enjoyable. More than that, we made a new friend in Emre! We heartily recommend visiting Istanbul and experiencing her history and culture through a food tour. If you’re planning a visit, there’s nothing like having a knowledgeable and experienced guide to give literally a taste of life and history of Istanbul. Lovely experience of food in Istanbul

Mary Ann

(About local Emre)

12 June 2025

Emre was the most pleasant guide and made our experience fabulous. He immediately made us comfortable and our experience couldn’t have been better. The food was wonderful but so was the history and culture. I would recommend to again and again. Tasting Istanbul with a friend.

Lynne🇺🇸 United States

(About local Emre)

11 June 2025

Emre was an absolute joy to spend the morning with in Istanbul. He took us off the beaten path through some charming neighborhoods away from all the hustle and bustle. He is incredibly knowledgeable and customized the tour to meet our needs. We enjoyed his laid-back personality and all the tastes of the local culture. This was definitely a highlight of our stay! I highly recommend Emre.Amazing food tour with local guide Emre

Stephanie

(About local Emre)

9 June 2025

Our group of 6 had an excellent tour with Emre. We visited a part of the city we did not know. He also catered for vegetarian. He is knowledgeable and fun to listen to. I can thoroughly recommend Emre ! Excellent fun food tour !

Chris🇿🇦 South Africa

(About local Lorena)

9 June 2025

We booked Lorena at the last minute—with just one day's notice—but still had a fantastic experience! She quickly got a sense of who we were and what our interests were. Despite the unique situation of it being a religious holiday in Turkey (Eid al-Adha), when many shops and restaurants were closed, Lorena remained calm and professional. She adapted seamlessly, showing us some of the city's cultural and heritage highlights instead of the planned culinary stops that were unavailable. Even after the tour, Lorena continued to add value by recommending some of her favorite local restaurants. Thank you, Lorena!Lorena Serena!

Reshma

(About local Faruk )

9 June 2025

We had a great time sampling delicious food with Faruk. He modified the agenda based on our feedback and preferences. He was easy to communicate with and was very responsive to requests and texts. Highly recommend! Fun evening in Istanbul

Kent🇺🇸 United States

(About local Sözüm)

5 June 2025

Sozum was awesome! She took us to places we never would have found on our own, and she told us stories of the food areas and things about the history of the area. We found her very informative and fun to chat with while embibing in some excellent Turkish food.wonderful food tour!

Stacey🇺🇸 United States

(About local Emre)

5 June 2025

Emre was the absolute best! I am a travel agent and booked a food tour with him. Not only did he make the experience memorable, but he went out of his way to ensure our transportation was settled. He acted like a travel agent himself! The food was fabulous and so plentiful that we had to end the tasting tour early out of gluttony. Perhaps the most memorable was seeing Emre push my mom in her wheelchair up the steep hill to our stay at the Ritz. He made sure she was OK. Much appreciated. He is personable, interesting, kind and thoughtful. BOOK him for any tour that he is available for....his schedule fills quickly!Fabulous, knowledgeable & caring guide

jasmin.reinhard

(About local Emre)

4 June 2025

Ich kann die Tour von Herzen empfehlen. Tolle Stopps mit zum Teil mehr als einer Köstlichkeit. Emre gibt viele zusätzliche Informationen zur Stadt und der Geschichte und hilft auch mit weiteren Tipps für zusätzliche Ausflüge und Restaurants. Danke Emre! Sehr empfehlenswert!

Sylvester (Sly)🇺🇸 United States

(About local Emre)

3 June 2025

Our private food tour of Istanbul with Emre on May 18th was terrific. To minimize the discomfort of two members in our group that had sensitive knees he walked at a moderate pace and built in adequate rest stops throughout the tour. With Emre as our guide, you could feel his enthusiasm and know that the food and establishments had been carefully selected to ensure we got a taste of the culinary offerings that were unique to Istanbul. As we walked throughout the Beyoğlu district, Emre also provided the history and culture of the area and pointed out buildings and locations of historical significance. The ultimate professional, Emre provided guidance on what to do if our taxi driver tried to overcharge us and made sure that we informed him when we made it back to our hotel…now that’s service. I highly recommend Emre and will request his services again when in Istanbul.Ultimate Professional

Shannon🇺🇸 United States

(About local Dilek)

2 June 2025

Dilek is an amazing guide. She took us to several amazing spots on the Asian side of Istanbul. Dilek accommodated our special requests and also took us to spots to find some unusual foods. We made some spur of the moment stops which she was totally fine with. I can’t recommend Dilek enough. Tasting our way through her neighborhood is exactly the kind of authentic experience we hoped to have. Fantastic tour!

Vaani🇳🇱 Netherlands

(About local Emre)

2 June 2025

We did the 10 Tastings of Istanbul tour with Emre through Cihangir and Beyoğlu, and it was a fantastic introduction to the city’s food and culture. Emre was passionate, knowledgeable, and made sure I had great vegetarian options too. The tour was relaxed, not rushed, and full of delicious stops—especially the Acıbadem cookie from a 100-year-old bakery. Highly recommend this tour if you’re visiting Istanbul! A Delicious & Insightful Intro to Istanbul

Lindsay

(About local Faruk )

2 June 2025

My friends and I had an amazing, customized food tour of Beyoglu with Faruk. I wasn't sure how it could all be fit into the allocated time, but he made it happen. We hadn't been to Beyoglu before and the tour gave us a really good introduction to the area. Faruk is really pleasant and we really enjoyed the time with him. Highly recommended!Wonderful experience

Kirsty🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates

(About local Tolga)

2 June 2025

Having done a similar walking food tour with another company in Istanbul years ago, I wanted to share a similar experience with family visiting Turkey for the first time. This tour did not disappoint. Tolga was absolutely wonderful and this tour is a perfect way to sight-see, get some history and taste some wonderful street food. It was absolutely one of the highlights of our trip. Just book it.

Susan🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Faruk )

1 June 2025

Faruk made our tour start very easy by coming to the hotel to pick us up. The tour was really interesting and Faruk took us to places only someone who is a local could know. He paced the tour well for us. The food was delicious and authentic. We found it hard to eat everything there was a lot of food. Faruk has excellent communication skills and was very responsive to our messages prior to the tour and provided lots of relevant clear information during the tour. We highly recommend this tour and him as a guide.Great tour with Faruk.

Yaacob🇸🇬 Singapore

(About local Deniz)

29 May 2025

Our first time doing the food tour. Enjoyed the experience and especially the food. Top it all with the interesting conversation with Deniz. She was informative and helpful with our questions. A great experience. First Time Not The Last Time

Unknown

(About local Emre)

29 May 2025

We had a nice tour with Emre around the Taksim square. Eventhough it was a food tour Emre also gave us an nice overview of the area that we were walking on its history and its significance. We visited a lot nice small local cafés and restaurants. Some which known more to the locals than the tourists. Overall it was a very nice experience and we would definitely go back to some of these places again while we are here in Istanbul.Very nice food tour with Emre

Alexandra

(About local Emre)

28 May 2025

Wir hatten zu Viert die Foodtour durch die Innenstadt gebucht. Emre ist sehr sehr nett. Er hat uns nicht nur mit dem Leckersten, was Istanbul zu bieten hat, versorgt, sondern auch mit ganz vielen Informationen rund um die Innenstadt. Die 10 Tastings waren sehr gut ausgesucht. Selbst hätten wir dort nicht gegessen. Sowohl die herzhaften, als auch die süßen Snacks haben voll unseren Geschmack getroffen. Sollten wir je wieder nach Istanbul kommen, buchen wir alle unsere Touren mit Emre.Ein genussvoller Abend mit Emre

Unknown

(About local Emre)

28 May 2025

Great experience

Duncan🇬🇧 United Kingdom

(About local Tolga)

26 May 2025

We had a tour with Gamze, she was an excellent guide. We thoroughly enjoyed our tasting tour of Istanbul.An excellent tour!

Les🇺🇸 United States

(About local Emre)

26 May 2025

We LOVED our tour with Emre. He’s warm, friendly, and highly knowledgeable. He was also wonderfully generous. Everything we tasted was delicious. Highly recommended experience. Fabulous food

Tracy

(About local Tolga)

25 May 2025

We did enjoy our trip with Erol who was knowledgeable, keen to share information, easy to talk to and friendly. My comment is, even though we had messaged Tolga he didn't let us know it wouldn't be him undertaking our tour. This makes the whole With Locals, 'Choose your Guide' a farcical process as we did spend a lot of time discussing and eventually choosing Tolga. He seemingly wasn't even in the city at the time so what was the point of having him as an option. The above being said, thank you Erol for your time and consideration on the trip. We enjoyed your company. I probably won't use With Locals again and stick with Viator. Tolga didn't show and swapped our guide.

Remy

(About local Emre)

25 May 2025

Our food tour on the Asian side of Istanbul (Kadikoy) with Emre was fantastic! Emre is a very kind and sympathetic guide who likes to blend with the group (he remembered al our 9 names after 1 introduction!) and understands how to create a mixture of a great food experience but also some local and historical perspectives with the perfect dose of humor. He had an answer to basically every question we had and his English language is like a native speaker. Upfront I was most nervous about the 4-hour duration of the tour would be too much, but we all enjoyed every minute of it! Fantastic experience

Victoria

(About local Emre)

24 May 2025

A group of 5 of us went to Istanbul in May 2025 and wanted a food based tour. We met with Emre and started the tour - we went to lots of stops and sampled the delicacies of Istanbul and heard all about the history of the city and the food we sampled. Emre went above and beyond for all our needs. He was the most fantastic host! It was informative, fun and delicious! Lots of laughs along the way too. Would recommend 100%! Fantastic tour and host!

Anne🇬🇧 United Kingdom

(About local Emre)

23 May 2025

A wonderful introduction to Istanbul and its history through an artisanal culinary lens. Emer paced the tour really well letting us soak up the vibe of each area and place he took us too. We’d never have ventured to the places he showed us and Emer is clearly proud of the cities food heritage. Some of the family run businesses were very special. Local pasdion meets local food

Charlotte🇬🇧 United Kingdom

(About local Emre)

23 May 2025

Emre was fantastic! He sent me lots of tips beforehand about eating in Istanbul and enjoying our trip there - thank you! We loved the foodie walking tour - Emre was friendly and knowledgeable and very funny! He was excited for us to taste lots of different foods which were all delicious and authentic. We saw lots of different areas of the city and really enjoyed our time with Emre. Thank you! Fantastic afternoon with Emre!

elizabeth🇺🇸 United States

(About local Emre)

20 May 2025

When we first met Emre, we felt that this was going to be an excellent experience. He greeted us with a big smile and handshake.we visited interesting food places…. Each stop had a special story. Emre also gave us interesting history facts of streets and the area… and as our tour continued, we appreciated everything around us. Emre also gave us interesting tips on the way of life in Istanbul. We met wonderful shopkeepers along the way. And the food was delicious!!!! How grateful we are to Emre… so kind, so funny and a wealth of information! The tour far exceeded our expectations!!❤️