Grocery shopping vs. eating out, balancing your budget
Istanbul supermarkets split cleanly into three tiers. Knowing which one to default to — and mixing in the weekly neighborhood market — is most of the difference between a comfortable monthly budget and a tight one.
Budget
BİM, Şok, A101
Private-label heavy, limited variety, lowest prices in the city. Good for staples; don't expect much selection.
Mid-range
Migros, CarrefourSA
The everyday default for most residents — widest coverage across neighborhoods, reliable stock, home delivery apps.
Premium
Macrocenter
Imported and specialty goods, concentrated in Nişantaşı and Etiler. Worth a trip for specific items, not weekly shopping.
On top of the supermarket rotation, every neighborhood has a weekly pazar — an open-air market, not a tourist bazaar — on a fixed day. Produce, cheese, and household basics run noticeably cheaper and fresher there than at any supermarket. Ask a neighbor or your landlord which day your neighborhood's pazar runs; it's not something that's easy to find listed online in English.
Finding a pharmacy (eczane) — including at night
Pharmacies are marked with a green cross and the word eczane. Normal hours are roughly 9am–7pm, but Turkey runs a rotating duty system called nöbetçi eczane — at least one pharmacy per district stays open overnight and on Sundays.
If the nearest pharmacy is closed, it will have a sign in the window listing the address of that night's duty pharmacy. Searching "nöbetçi eczane" plus your district name (e.g. "nöbetçi eczane Kadıköy") also pulls up current listings reliably.
Gyms & staying active
Chain gyms like MACFit have locations across most central neighborhoods, with month-to-month membership options — useful if you want strength equipment or a predictable indoor routine. If you're near the water, the Bosphorus and Caddebostan (Kadıköy) waterfront paths are well-used running and cycling routes for most of the year, and free.
Getting the big budget numbers right matters more than any of this
Groceries and gym memberships are rounding errors next to rent, visa costs, and health insurance. If you haven't nailed down a realistic monthly budget yet, start there.
See the Full Cost-of-Living Guide