Kusadasi Shopping: What to Buy in Kusadasi, Turkey

Updated: July 2025

Written by: Martina, a former cruise line employee

Kusadasi shopping is one of the highlights of any cruise stop in this lively Turkish port town. Just steps from the cruise terminal, you’ll find bustling bazaars, artisan shops, and friendly vendors selling everything from Turkish carpets and leather goods to gold jewelry, spices, and souvenirs. 

How to do your Kusadasi shopping?

Kusadasi shopping definitely surpasses other Mediterranean cruise destinations in these three categories:

• the variety of goods offered 
• their uniqueness
• the chance for getting some really good deals

You can read more about getting good deals in my article Kusadasi Shopping: Tips and Tricks for Cruise Guests, but now I'll let you in on what to buy in Turkey, all the wonderful and exciting goods and Turkish souvenirs you can expect when it comes to Kusadasi shopping.

Also, you will find out when and where to shop as well as how to organize your Kusadasi shopping during your short day in port.

Talking of how to shop in Kusadasi, I can't stress enough: this is one of the ports where it's best to have a local guide with you, whom you will meet either through one of the shore excursions onboard or through the reputable shore excursions that you'll find recommended on my website. 

In Turkey, tour guides and their hospitality are a category of their own, and they bend over backwards to make you happy! 

The Turkish rug demonstration is one of the most memorable parts of your day in Kusadasi; it's a must!

When to shop in Kusadasi?

In Kusadasi, mornings are reserved for tours and shore excursions. About 80% of people will take them, as the reason why ships dock here is the ancient site of Ephesus (you know it from the Bible), and everyone will want to see it (you should, too!). 

That is why nothing much is happening in Kusadasi in the morning. Tours start coming back around 12:00 noon, and that is when shops and markets get busy. 

Now, you can go shopping in Kusadasi either

• In the morning—if you have been to Ephesus before, and you just want to spend a slow day sightseeing in Kusadasi. In this case, you will have hundreds of shops all for yourself until noon. Still, stick to shopping for souvenirs only. Shopping for rugs is better done with a certified local guide by your side, as they will advise you on different styles and materials that have different price points.
• In the afternoon—if you are taking one of the tours to Ephesus, upon your return to Kusadasi, it is very likely your bus will stop at a carpet weaving factory/jewelry shop where you will have a choice to either go look around and shop or go back to the ship.

If you have been to Ephesus before and just want to go shopping, we will recommend a few shopping-only tours in the article. Keep reading!

Don't have time to explore more pages to book that perfect tour? Here's the shortcut:

Where to shop in Kusadasi?

Here's a little overview of shopping areas in Kusadasi:

• Port-side shops—when you first get off the ship, you will have to walk through an attractive Mediterranean village-style port complex, Eze ports, with shops and cafes. I suggest you leave shopping here for the end of the day, when coming back from the town of Kusadasi and your tours.
• Grand Bazaar—located just a short walk from the cruise port, it is a lively maze of shops offering everything from Turkish carpets, leather jackets, and gold jewelry to fake designer bags, spices, and souvenirs. It’s a fun place to browse, bargain, and soak up the local color—but shoppers should keep their wits about them. Prices are often inflated for tourists, and not everything is as it seems. Always compare prices, don’t be afraid to negotiate, and avoid making large purchases (like rugs or gold) without expert guidance.
• Downtown streets—Just beyond the bazaar, the downtown streets of Kuşadası offer a slightly more relaxed and scenic shopping experience. Stroll down Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa Boulevard or explore the charming pedestrian lanes like Sevgi Sokak and Kahramanlar Caddesi, where you’ll find a mix of boutiques, artisan shops, cafés, and souvenir stands. 

See all the shopping zones on the Kusadasi shopping map below.

Kusadasi shopping map

Kusadasi Shopping: Turkish Rugs

The absolute #1 best buy in Kusadasi is a Turkish rug.

Period.

Silk ones or the ones made out of the softest wool dyed with natural colors, flat weaves or the ones with the pile, mat-sized ones, oversized ones, or the ones that are so small and precious you can only put them in a frame…

They are sure to mesmerize you!

To learn what’s so special about Turkish rugs and why it’s not the same as buying a rug in your local Home Depot, read our article Turkish rug buying experience. 

To combine both seeing Ephesus and rug shopping, take the Best of Ephesus and Shopping Tour for Cruisers or this shopping-specialized tour in Kusadasi.

The amazing art of hand weaving rugs!

Kusadasi Shopping: Turkish Jewellery

When we talk of Turkish jewelry, we think gold! First of all, it’s important to note that today, Turkey ranks among the top five countries in the world in gold production. And no wonder, when you think that Turkey, especially the part of it called Anatolia, has a 5000-year-old history of making jewelry.

And you will know what we mean when you see gold literally spilling out of the shop windows of Kusadasi.

In Kusadasi stores, you will generally find 3 types of jewelry styles that testify to the fact Turkey is placed in the middle of the East and West:

• Generic, modern designs, often inspired by the styles you can see in famous contemporary jewelry brands. Often designed in white gold and platinum.
• Traditional Turkish jewelry, mostly in yellow 22 and 24 kt gold. One of the styles that typical Turkish jewelry comes in is Byzantine style. It is very similar to the styles you can see in Greece, all lavishly decorated with rubies, emeralds, sapphires, diamonds, and pearls.
• The third typical Turkish jewelry style is Ottoman designs. If we tell you that in the 16th century there were 90 jewelry artisans servicing the needs of the Sultan, you can imagine what importance the jewelry had! The Ottoman jewelry and decorative items were very colorful and ornate, often inspired by flowers, especially tulips, roses, and violets, as well as birds, butterflies, and bees.

When it comes to jewelry shopping in Kusadasi, be aware that the market is full of fake stones, both precious and semi-precious, so make sure you don’t fall for the “too-good-to-be-true” and “I’m giving you a good deal” prices.

Diamonds and precious stones have never been cheap and never will be, no matter where you buy them.

So, don’t leave the store without the receipt, a jewelry appraisal, and a business card with their email address and phone number.

The safest way to go about jewelry shopping is to take the Kusadasi shopping specialized tour that will give you a chance to buy not only jewelry but also ceramics, rugs, and leather.

Kusadasi Shopping: Turkish Leather

Leather in all shapes and colours!

Turkey is one of the world’s leading producers and exporters of leather goods. Walking into each Kusadasi leather store is like walking into a leather heaven… You can get leather in all colors, from classic browns and blacks to all the colors of the rainbow, and from conservative styles to the more fashion-forward ones.

Let’s not mention the variety of different skins: from nubuck to suede, from napa to the so-called ‘silk leather.’ 

The only problem is, as good as Turkish people are at making leather, they are even better at making leather look-alikes. Again, do not go shopping without a knowledgeable tour guide by your side. Book yourself on a tour that combines Ephesus highlights with shopping or is solely dedicated to shopping in Kusadasi. 

Kusadasi Shopping: Pashminas

Ladies, in Kusadasi, Turkey, you will have a chance to stock up on some of the finest pashmina wraps and shawls in the world!

Real, genuine pashminas are a type of fine cashmere wool that comes from a special pashmina goat living in the Himalayas! That’s why their price isn’t really cheap!

Those pashminas that you’ll see on the street for $10-20 are NOT really real pashminas, of course; they are made either of cheap cotton or lamb wool! And they are fine if you’re looking for inexpensive Turkish souvenirs for someone back home.

But when it comes to treating yourself, make sure you’re getting the real deal. To know the difference, first feel the scarves you see on the street stalls, then go to a specialized store and ask them to show you their finest pashminas.

Once you experience the luxurious feel of a real pashmina, you won’t go back to the fake stuff!

Don't know where to find a specialized store? Don't worry; ask your Turkish tour guides on shopping tours.

Kusadasi Shopping: Turkish Ceramics

Your visit to Kusadasi will be a great opportunity to take home some fine, colorful, decorative ceramic plates and even tiles you can use for decoration or actually build into your bathroom or kitchen wall or floor!

When buying ceramics in Kusadasi, you can go two ways:

• Treat it as just another one of the Turkish souvenirs and not worry about the actual quality of the materials it is made of.

Or…

• If you’re more of a collector and don’t mind spending a little bit more money, you will go with the good-quality ceramics that are made with quartz and therefore have more substance to them and are much heavier!

The best quality Turkish ceramics are the so-called Iznik ceramics that are sought after by collectors worldwide.

One of the most common motifs found on Turkish ceramics, one of the things to buy in Kusadasi, is a tulip.

There is a great tour that takes you both to Ephesus and pottery shopping; book before it sells out!

Kusadasi Shopping: Genuine Fakes

If you like buying fashionable goods that look good (from a mile away), you will have a blast Kusadasi shopping.

You will find it all… your favorite brand-name logo bag, a wallet and a belt, the sunglasses, the polo shirts, shoes, and even underwear! All of those in their knock-off versions.

If you’re more into watches, you will see these galore too. But there’s a big difference between a genuine fake and a genuine fake when it comes to watches.

Those that shops display in the windows and cases are such obvious fakes. However, if you’d like to buy a specific name-brand fake that no one will ever suspect of being a fake in a hundred years, you better make some good connections with merchants and ask them where to get these, as they aren’t available everywhere.

Obviously, there is no specialised tour for buying knock-offs, but if you book your Kusadasi shopping tour, the kind tour guide will surely direct you to the place that keeps some real fake Breitlings under the table ;)

Kusadasi Shopping: Ephesus Antiques

Well, there’s no such thing as shopping for Ephesus antiques in Kusadasi, although many cruisers come here hoping to do so.

Even if your taxi driver offers to take you to his cousin’s brother-in-law’s father, where you can buy some genuine Ephesus coins, regardless of whether he’s speaking the truth or not, run away! Find out why in this Turkish Antiquities Warning.

Still not feeling confident about your Kusadasi shopping adventure? Let some experienced local guides take care of you!

Learn more about Turkish best buys on the official Turkish tourist board page.