A good buy since you’re in Turkey. It is advisable to buy it fresh rather than in pre-packed boxes and to get a variety of flavours rather than the stereotypical rose-water or lemon flavors available abroad.
Pistachio in particular is very good. The best place to buy lokum in Istanbul is from a store. Istiklal Caddesi in particular features a number of stores that sell Turkish sweets by the kilogram including lokum and helvah.
There are quite a few shops selling Turkish Delight in the Grand Bazaar, although unless you are very good at haggling better prices can be found elsewhere. Highly recommended for Lokum is the Malatya Pazari stall in the Spice Market. The Turkish delight there was fresh, had great flavors including some offbeat ones and the prices were fair.
DO NOT BUY the 10 TL Turkish delight boxes (the ones that come sealed sold in any tourist shop or all along Istiklal Avenue). Once you get home and open them, it is a major disappointment. It is much less quantity than the what look like as the size of the box and it tastes horrible. Only buy the ones that you can taste before hand and you see what they are putting inside the box. It will be probably twice the price, but it shall be worthwhile.
There are two kinds of lokum. The first kind is the ones that are made with sugar and sold in small pieces. The second kind is the ones that are made with honey. They usually look like a long stick then cut in to pieces when you buy them. The prices are vary depending on where you buy them.
