197 Best Places to Shop in India

Stuffed to the ceiling with Indian teas, herbs, and spices, this teahouse has a charming owner, Vikram Mittal, who will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about tea. Another branch is on Barakhamba Road.

Less a shopping experience (the prices are high and so is the quality) and more a Jaipur experience, head here to see the kind of jewelry the city is known for. The showroom, in a phantasmagoric petal-shape modern mahal, has an enormous collection, including high-end pieces. It's considered one of the city’s best addresses. The kundan jewelry is of particular interest.

Crowded, congested Muhammad Ali Road has some of the best eating in the city, especially if you go during Ramzan. For those strong of stomach, go to Haji Tikka (ask a resident, he's well known) for kheeri tikka, marinated cow udders grilled right in front of you. Or if it's late at night, to Valibhai Paayawala, where the meat is cooked through the day on coal fires, dum style, until it is soft, luscious, unresisting enough to fall off the bone at the slightest nudge and dissolve into the gravy. Order the paya (trotters), the pichota (oxtail), the nalli (thigh or shanks) or the topa (neck)---it doesn't matter which, but make sure to scoop it up with the fluffy, charred tandoori rotis. Finish the meal with hand-churned sancha ice-cream at Taj Ice Cream (they use a 120-year-old ice-cream making recipe)---the guava is a firm crowd favorite.

There's a whole row of food stalls all the way down—just follow your nose or go for the one with the longest line. If you're adventurous and relish food from regions far and wide, you won't be disappointed.

Along with other stores in the area, Multan Enamel Mart sells old and new silver jewelry and curios by weight.

This three-room emporium stocks zardozi (embroidery), traditional jewelry, and marble inlay work. A large room on the upper floor is dedicated to antique-style gold and silver jewelry inlaid with precious stones. The basement doubles up as a workshop for marble inlay tables, plates, and other items.

The Mumbai branch of the famous Chennai store has a fair selection of classic silk saris. Have a look at the authentic gold-embroidered saris from Kanchipuram, in Tamil Nadu, as well as the Bangalore saris and the uncut silk sold by the meter.

This is a Chennai-based chain specializing in gold-trimmed silks from the Tamil town of Kanchipuram. The South Extension location is larger than the Connaught Place one.

This store is a respected and age-old art and antiques dealer.

For inexpensive textiles, including cotton dress fabric, plastic and glass bangles, and other handicrafts, check out this four-story emporium, where these items are hidden among the rows of discounted toasters and kitschy house decorations. It's fixed price (as opposed to haggling), caters to a local crowd, and is an easier experience than going from shop to shop where everyone is pressuring you to buy something.

The blue pottery here is particularly funky—the designer, owner Leela Bordia, has been at the forefront of the movement to keep the craft alive for more than three decades and has exhibited all over the world. Her wares are made in nearby villages, helping to create jobs in rural areas.

The century-old New Market, officially Sir Stuart Hogg Market, houses about 2,500 stores under one roof, selling cotton saris, Bankura clay horses, brassware, leather bags from Shantiniketan, silk from Murshidabad, khadi (handmade cotton) cloth, clothes for kids, wigs, poultry, cheeses, nuts, and other foods. The neighborhood is also home to several air-conditioned malls, department stores, restaurants, and stand-alone shops, while the sidewalks are taken over by street-food vendors and knickknack stalls. It's definitely the busiest shopping district in the region.

For the last five decades or so, Nilambari has been dealing in handloom saris, suits, lehengas, and other apparels crafted by their in-house weavers. Choose from a range of weaves, embroideries, and traditional Indian patterns decked with zari—fine threads of gold or silver.

This is one of the city's favorite spaces for books and book parties. There's a wide range of titles in English, as well as some in Indian languages and in French. The in-house café, Cha Bar, serves teas and light bites and overlooks the street below.

Established in 1880 and still selling the finest hand-engraved, enameled, and embossed brassware—including oversize old trays, lamps, and historic armor—this is a great place to look for antique metalwork.

Housed within the City Palace, this pretty pastel-walled store retails a collection of contemporary apparel, accessories, and homeware made by local women trained by the Princess Diya Kumari Foundation. The products showcase traditional Rajasthani crafts like block printing, hand embroidery, patch work, and gota patti (appliqué technique of zari—gold or silver thread—on fabric).

This ever-expanding shopping, entertainment, and dining area in an old mill is an island of prosperity and chic modernity amid slums and industry. The complex is divided into different segments. Phoenix Mills itself has department stores like Big Bazaar, outlet clothing shop Pantaloons, and Hamley’s. Palladium is the luxury mall with stores like Burberry, Zara, Gucci, Diesel, and Royce, a company that sells high-end Japanese chocolates. High Street Phoenix features major international chains. If you get hungry, outlets of Jamie’s Pizzeria, Pret A Manger, IHOP, and McDonald’s, among many others, await.

Drop by this eclectic store for a range of hand block-printed home decor like bedsheets, quilts, and cushion covers as well as finely crafted bath towels and super-soft dohar (lightweight summer blanket). They also have a small collection of apparel.

The design collective (also in several other Indian cities) has collaborated with the likes of Paul Smith. Popular items include cushion covers and totes with maps of Indian locales, Mughal-ruler playing cards, and T-shirts (they even add custom kitsch to Converse shoes). There's another branch in Khan Market.

This is a charming little antiques shop hidden away in Kala Ghoda’s warren of lanes, offering everything from stately Edwardian chairs to vintage postcards. To find it, be sure to get out of your car and walk: Dalal Street, on which Pooranawalla is located, is most easily accessible by foot. There is another branch in Goa.

Kolkata's newfound love affair with malls is reflected in this massive and high-end example of the genre, home to Emporio Armani, Canali, Gucci, Michael Kors—some 130 brands in all. Restaurants include SeraFina and Irish House.

Head up to Rabindra Sarani from Lal Bazaar Road (near the West Bengal Tourist Office) and you'll soon enter an Islamic world. Women walk by in burqas and men sit on elevated platforms selling Bengali kurtas (shirts) and pants, and colorful lungis and white dhotis (both are wraps) for men. Other vendors sell ittar (vials of perfume created from flowers). Rabindra Sarani is interesting all the way to Chitpur Road.

Just a short walk from the vast Phoenix Mills is Raghuvanshi Mills, yet another converted mill compound with plenty of home decor stores, including the lush Good Earth.  The Good Earth here is far larger than its sister stores elsewhere in the city, and definitely worth a visit.

If your time is limited, head straight to the area around the Jagdish Temple, where you'll find an array of shops stocking an almost overwhelming variety of leather-bound journals, deity statues, and knickknacks; if bargaining isn't your thing, though, head to an emporium instead. The government-run Rajasthali emporium (there's also a larger branch in Jaipur) sells high-quality Rajasthani arts and handicrafts, and is a good place to pick up a wool-stuffed washable quilt with a Rajasthani motif. The showroom near Jagdish temple is a bit run-down and looks dusty, but the prices here are fixed.

If you have limited time and lots of gifts to buy or don't relish bargaining, head to this enormous, government-run emporium in the center of Jaipur. It overflows with crafts and textiles, including wooden pieces, puppets, jewelry, blue pottery, and scarves, though you might have to sift through a bewildering variety before you find what you want. Open from 11 am to 8 pm.

Be aware that sly salesmen and rickshaw drivers may try to take you to fake Rajasthali showrooms, which are privately run under the same name and charge exorbitant prices.

This venerable shop has several rooms full of traditional silks.

This outlet for Raymond Mills, which makes some of India's finest men's suits, can tailor a first-rate suit for about ₹10,000 in about a week. During the wedding season (winter) it can get very busy.

Buy your beautifully, painstakingly woven dhurrie from the man who made it at Salawas village (about 30 minutes outside Jodhpur). At this peaceful, pretty, and fairly remote hamlet of thatched homes there is a huge selection and you can see, step by step, how these colorful rugs are made. It is a memorable experience to witness this dying art—younger generations are not investing in the business. You can pay by credit card and then have it shipped by the store to your home.

On Sundays, auctions take place along Russell Street. A trip to the oldest auction house, the Russell Exchange, run by brothers Anwar and Arshad, or any of its neighbors, is invariably entertaining. Goods auctioned range from antiques and period furniture to crockery and cutlery. On Thursday, there's a sale of vintage clothes.