72 Best Places to Shop in Russia

Jewelry, ceramics, and other types of Russian traditional art, all made by members of the Russian Union of Artists, are sold here. They can provide the documents necessary to export artwork.

At the end of the commercial part of Leninskaya street is the GUM, one of the oldest department store chains in Russia, which now lets out space to smaller stores, including an excellent souvenir shop.

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan houses this compact icon shop. In addition to icons, you can purchase religious books, silver crosses, and other Orthodox religious items.

One of the most famous porcelain manufacturers in Russia, this factory was founded in St. Petersburg in 1744 to serve the imperial family. You'll come across Imperial Porcelain shops on Nevsky prospekt and elsewhere in the city, as well as in Moscow, but this shop at the factory is an especially well-stocked source for the world-famous hand-painted cobalt-blue china. There's also a porcelain museum here that's part of the Hermitage's holdings.

In terms of choice and value, this is really the best stop for those looking for traditional Russian souvenirs in Moscow. Matryoshki (nesting dolls) come in a variety of styles here, and the stalls are also stacked high with amber, lacquer boxes, linens, used books, and Soviet memorabilia (such as authentic army belts and gas masks). Connoisseurs may find the real treasures in the antique aisles, such as Soviet porcelain figures or fully functional 19th-century music boxes. The flea market is open daily 9–6, but many stalls are only open on weekends. It's best to go early.

A good place for locally produced artworks and handicrafts, including articles in fur, leather, and bone. You'll also find jewelry, books, and more prosaic souvenirs like refrigerator magnets and keychains.

This cozy, old-fashioned candy store, which will weigh out chocolates for you, has a good choice of Russian brands, including Krasny Oktyabr. The pryaniki are festive gingerbread cookies shaped as hearts, human figures, and animals with colorful frosting and inscriptions in Russian, such as "To my best friend" and "To my mother-in-law."

Russian-made chocolates make a great, unexpected souvenir from Russia, and those from Moscow's Krasny Oktyabr (Red October) factory are the best. You can buy various kinds of individually wrapped candies—Krasnaya Shapochka (Little Red Riding Hood), Mishka Kosolapy (Little Clumsy Bear), Alyonka (whose wrapper features a girl wearing a scarf), and Yuzhnaya Noch (Southern Night). Most of them retain Soviet-style wrappers. The chocolates are widely available in supermarkets and kiosks, but the best assortment, including gift boxes and chocolate animal figures, is at the main store, just north of the Arbat district.

This is the best and most expensive of St. Petersburg's food markets and one of the best places to find caviar, fresh dairy products, and an assortment of local honey.

Hidden away on the lower level of Vladimirsky Passazh, this spacious well-stocked supermarket is open 24 hours a day and offers a wide selection of hard-to-find foreign products as well as fresh baked goods and even a few souvenirs.

Tucked away in a side street, this store specializes in valenki, Russian-made felt boots, which it stocks in children's and adult sizes. You can also buy ribbon-trimmed felt slippers and fleece-lined clothing. A small valenki museum is next door.

It's worth seeking out this out-of-the-way shop for their plentitude of handmade crafts. The choice of souvenirs, jewelry, and dolls by Moscow craftspeople and artists will make you dizzy.

This small store sells quirky contemporary crafts from local artists, including unique felt jewelry, toys, clocks, greetings cards, and T-shirts.

This underground shopping mall offers standards like Aldo, Benetton, Tommy Hilfiger, BeeFree, Motivi, and MEXX. Set under the main square adjacent to the Kremlin, the mall attracts crowds of Russian out-of-towners, who stroll, photograph the intricate cupola that extends aboveground, and window-shop.

For a city that prides itself on its cultural legacy the selection of classical music on offer is surprisingly poor. While no one could accuse this CD and DVD store of being overstocked, it does hold the occasional hidden classical gem, particularly when it comes to Russian composers and artists and recordings on the old Melodiya label. Hunt around.

Across the street from Gostiny Dvor, this mid-19th-century shopping arcade caters primarily to locals. The souvenir sections, however, are worth visiting, as prices, in rubles, are a bit lower here than in the souvenir shops around hotels and in other areas frequented by tourists. You can also pick up fine table linens at bargain prices. The antiques section in the center of the arcade is worth a look, too, and there's a reasonably sized supermarket in the basement.

You can buy everything you need at this large Western-style chain supermarket, including fruit, vegetables, and other staples; local specialties such as baked goods and honey; and essentials such as toiletries. The supermarket is centrally located and conveniently open 24 hours a day.

This shop stocks icons, Carl Fabergé jewelry, furniture, and vintage lamps. There is also Soviet propaganda porcelain, such as ashtrays in the shape of an Uzbek man reading a newspaper, or tea sets featuring the heroes of the Russian Revolution. Some are collectors' items that once belonged to some of Russia's finest museums. Keep in mind that it's against the law to export any item that's more than 100 years old. In theory, taking out even a rusted nail would be a breach of the law. With any antique purchase you make, you need an export certificate, which can be obtained only at the state-run Board for the Preservation of Cultural Valuables and only after an expert assessment that can take up to three days.

MaxMara, Nina Ricci, Givenchy, Kenzo, and Bally boutiques and an antiques store are in this chic, glass-roofed space, a top contender for the most luxurious shopping passazh (arcade) in town.

This shop sells an eclectic selection of music and DVDs that tends toward the esoteric but still manages to cover most genres. Prices are good and there's also a choice of new and vintage vinyl. Friendly staff speak English and are always ready to offer suggestions or let you listen before buying.

On the weekend you can find a pet market, with puppies, kittens, chickens, and more. In a possibly surprising twist, the market also boasts an impressive fur department, with some good bargains on such items as rabbit-fur winter hats.

At the large factory shop of this established and respected Russian furrier, founded in 1885, you can get elegant coats, hats, jackets, wraps, and accessories made of mink, polar fox, sheepskin, seal, and other furs, all of them from Russia. The prices are lower than they are in most other fur stores.

This is a good bet for jewelry, particularly amber pieces.

Many items in these collections were inspired by St. Petersburg's architecture, history, literature, and artistic legacy. Jewelers play with familiar visual images, like ballet or shipbuilding, and incorporate city symbols in their designs.

This pleasant souvenir shop sells the best of locally produced folk art, including palekh (colorful, lacquered wood with folklore designs), chess sets, cocktail glasses, coffee sets made of amber, and copies of Faberge eggs (including earings and pendants).

This is a good source for linen goods created in the traditional Russian style of the 19th century. There are several branches throughout the city. There's another branch nearby at 3 ulitsa Pushkinskaya.

This may be the biggest food market in the city; the entrance is just a short walk from ploshchad Sennaya. While this is one of the cheapest places in the city to buy fresh produce, the goods are mainly sold extremely close to their expiration date and anything bought here should be used within a day or two.

Run by one of the biggest music publishers in Russia, this all-around music shop sells CDs, sheet music, and even musical instruments. The selection includes hard-to-find scores by contemporary Russian composers as well as traditional Russian musical instruments, all at very reasonable prices.

Located on the ground floor of Novinsky shopping center (just behind the U.S. Embassy) this quirky store with a name that translates as "Humpty-Dumpty" sells modern art turned into gifts and souvenirs. Works of renowned contemporary Russian designers and artists appear on T-shirts, cards, and cups. Imitation Soviet schoolchildren's star badges fashioned from fake gemstones are a distinctively Russian jewelry gift.

This centrally located maze of stores has everything you might need on the shopping front, from high-end designer suits to Chinese-made patent-leather stilletos. In the market for diamonds and gold? Souvenirs and toys? Local booze or camera batteries? Find whatever you need here.