72 Best Shopping in Russia

A series of shops and boutiques inside a 19th-century arcade, this shopping emporium sits on Red Square, across from the Kremlin. GUM, which stands for Gosudarstvenny Universalny Magazin, or State Department Store, now stocks only a handful of Russian brands in the upper-level stores. On the first floor you will find an arcade of upscale boutiques, including MaxMara, Hugo Boss, Louis Vuitton, and La Perla. Also here is the elegant Bosco restaurant, which overlooks Red Square and has a summer terrace. Cheaper eats are available at fast-food outlets on the top floor. A "historic toilett," with pre-revolutionary interiors made of marble and Murano glass, is located at the first floor (Lane 1).

Founded in the 18th century by the order of Queen Elizaveta, daughter of Peter the Great, this firm (also known as Lomonosov) sold porcelain to the Russian royal families before the revolution. Dining tableware and collectible sculptures come in styles that include a classic cobalt fishnet design as well as prints inspired by Malevich, Kandinsky, and other members of the Russian avant-garde.

Specializing in traditional Russian linen, this old store stocks beautiful embroidered christening gowns as well as table linens, rag rugs, and fine cotton lace collars and cuffs from different parts of the country.

What was once a central market selling food and utilitarian household items is now an upscale mall, offering everything from furniture to fashion to imported gourmet delicacies. Upper floors house fashion collections from Vivienne Westwood, Helmut Lang, Elizabeth and James, and others; you may want to keep an eye out for offerings from such Russian designers as Alexander Terekhov, Alena Akhmadullina, and Andrei Artemov. The food market on the fifth floor is especially enticing, with organic vegetables sitting alongside such rarities as lavender chocolate from France and Japanese wasabi-flavored chewing gum.

Historic, sumptuous, upscale—this turn-of-the-20th-century grocery store is the star of ulitsa Tverskaya, and even if you're not feeling hungry, the spectacle makes it well worth a visit. An art nouveau interior in a late-18th-century classical mansion sparkles with chandeliers, stained glass, and gilt wall decorations. Among the fine products here are cognac, Armenian berry juices, Russian chocolate, and candy of all sorts. This is one of the best places to buy freshly baked goods, caviar, and sturgeon. You'll find favorite Russian rye breads and a wide variety of croissants, brioches, and seven-grain loaves. A separate souvenir department offering traditional crafts such as lacquered boxes and toys is located at the back of the store.

Head and shoulders above other jewellery shops in town, this quiet, dimly lit store is owned by former sailor and theater director Andrei Ananov, now famous as a jeweler following in the traditions of the great Karl Fabergé. Ananov is as much a gallery as a shop and prices are only available by asking the defferential staff; rings and necklaces can easily cost upwards of thousands of dollars.

St. Petersburg's less wealthy citizens come to this seething bazaar to shop for cheap clothes, shoes, DVDs, household items, and whatever else you can think of. The market is a chaotic relic of the Yeltsin years, and hardly befitting Russia's newfound love affair with Slavic glamour. As a result the city's rulers have decreed that Apraksin Dvor must go, although it's very popular with the locals, and the traders are a resourceful bunch who are fighting to remain in place. They are likely to win in the end.

In this large, old-fashioned store you can find Gzhel china, linen tablecloths, nesting dolls, ivory work, wooden toys, and national Russian costumes at reasonable prices and without the hard sell.

Army surplus—belts, flasks, caps, pins, and marine shirts with Russian and Soviet army symbols—is a much better bargain here, at this state-run store, than in touristy souvenir markets. You'll find a huge variety.

Sochi has a large artist community and numerous art shops, such as this one, where you can purchase moderately priced original paintings on canvas by local artists, along with local handicrafts like painted dolls. And, if you are feeling inspired by the beautiful scenery, art supplies here are much cheaper than in the U.S.

These boutiques are inside the Church of St. Maxim the Blessed and the Church of St. George on Pskov Hill. They carry a fine selection of handicrafts, jewelry, ceramics, and other types of native-Russian art.

The Historical Museum's art shop Naslediye (Heritage) deals in many sorts of souvenirs, including jewelry, T-shirts, handmade crafts, replicas of museum pieces, and Russian- and Ukrainian-style embroidered shirts, Gzhel ceramics, and more. Wooden bowls and spoons decorated in khokhloma style—with bright oils painted on a black-and-golden background—fill the shelves. The store is next to entrance number 1 of the museum; enter Red Square through the Resurrection Gates.

Artemiy Lebedev is probably the most successful graphic designer, style guru, and blogger in Russia. At this outlet you can find wittily designed apparel, accessories, and office supplies that make great gifts. They're also a revealing look into the concerns and obsessions of Russian intellectuals. Enter the coffee shop and go down the spiral stairs.

One of the most popular shopping malls among Muscovites is in front of the Kursk station and is yet another symbol of modern Moscow. Everything is under one roof, including numerous mass-brand clothing stores (H&M, Camper, UNIQLO, Zara, Karen Millen), a perfume "supermarket," a huge grocery store, and the Formula Kino movie theater. You can also find a trendy Italian café and a sushi bar here.

Local produce, honey, meat, cheese, and other delicacies are sold here. Be sure to try the churchkhela, a sweet, southern Russian snack made of walnut halves on a string covered by flour-thickened grape juice, which is sun-dried. When bargaining for goods, be sure to head to the inner rows to get a better price. The market is connected to the Alexandria Mall, where you can shop for international brands such as Levi's and Guess. Much like everything else in the city, the market (which has been around since the 1930s) is undergoing renovations before the Olympics. Once the construction is finished, Central Market will be housed in a modern five-story building.

Chasy is "watch" in Russian and this small shop offers a wide choice of Russian men's brands, such as Raketa, Komadirskie, and Sturmanskie—Yuri Gagarin was wearing this last one when he became the first person to venture into outer space in April 1961.

Part of the Soviet showpiece that's now called the All-Russian Exhibition Center (abbreviated VVC in Russian), the elegant, white Pavilion No. 66 stocks a huge range of crafts, including Turkmen embroidery, earthenware pots from Suzdal, and carved stone animals from Perm. Enter the VVC through the main entrance and walk straight to the People's Friendship Fountain and continue walking a little more on the right side of the road.

This bustling outdoor market surrounds a covered circus-shaped hall. Inside are meats, spices, vegetables, pickles, flowers, and pyramid-shaped displays of goods from Central Asia, especially dried fruit in extravagant quantity and combinations. In the outdoor stalls you're likely to come across porcelain Uzbek tea sets, woven baskets, and hand-knit wool socks.

This Russian celebrity designer is known for his humorous reinventions of traditional Russian fashion—think enormous fur accessories and enlarged folk art patterns. The store is located on the second floor of a building decorated with designs based on red-and-gold khokhloma (lacquered and painted bowls). The tiny bar downstairs becomes a hot spot at night.

What was once a dusty Soviet relic has emerged as one of the most glamorous department stores in all of St. Petersburg. With a focus on high fashion and rare perfumes, shopping here comes at a premium but it's worth it for the selection and service.

This large covered hall is next to the outdoor Veshchevoy Rynok (literally, "Market of Things," which is certainly an apt name). Inside are rows of vendors hawking homemade cheese and milk products, honey, flowers, and produce of all kinds. Against one wall are sellers of pickled goods, an understandably popular form of conservation in this land of long winters; you may want to sample some of their cabbage and carrot slaws, salted cucumbers, or spiced eggplant or garlic. Many Moscow chefs buy ingredients here.

This huge, well-laid-out mall has a European theme that expresses itself in the form of a conspicuously vulgar sculpture of a euro sign in the front of a department store. You'll find branches of Britain's Marks & Spencer and Topshop as well as Spain's Bershka and Zara here. Affordable Russian brands So French by Sultanna Frantsuzova and Kira Plastinina both have stores here.

This former industrial complex is now a center of design studios, showrooms, advertising agencies, and workshops for all sorts of creative types. There's a two-level market full of shops offering handmade souvenirs, jewelry, urban fashions, books, and music.

At this glass gallery, the city of St. Petersburg is reflected in carved Easter eggs, stained glass, vases, and candlesticks. Each work is handmade, and many are one-of-a-kind.

Containing 290 shops, this mammoth shopping center also has 24 cafés and restaurants, a 10-cinema multiplex including an IMAX screen, a supermarket, and a bowling alley. The fashion brands are primarily major European labels, such as M&S and Reiss from Britain, Lindex from Finland, and France's Cacharel. There is a good children's section and a wealth of cosmetics shops selling mainly foreign brands.

This mini-supermarket is open 24 hours a day and sells the basics for a light lunch or breakfast, including a few fresh fruits and vegetables. It also contains a café where resonably priced, if uninspired, cakes and coffees can be had at all hours.

Gourmands flock to this 24-hour grocery store that supplies Moscow with high-quality imported foodstuffs. Among the wide array of deli foods are wild boar sausages, vinegars aged for 50 years, chocolates from Belgium, fish from Norway, ham from Spain, and special local dairy products—the cheese department is a memorable sight in itself.

This gallery on Leninskaya is one of the city's best. It features crafts and paintings by local artists.

The city's oldest and largest shopping center was built in the mid-18th century. It has a few upscale boutiques and is also a good place to find souvenirs, such as matryoshka (nesting dolls), at some of the best prices in the city (look in the shops along Nevsky to the right of the metro entrance). The second floor houses a string of multibrand boutiques selling women's and men's clothes from famous European designers as well as housewares. Gostinka, as Gostiny Dvor is also known, also has some stores with cheaper prices; it can be a good place to buy winter clothing, such as fur hats. The store, open daily from 10 until 10, is in the center of town, and is easily reached by the metro—the station opening into the shop is named in its honor.

Reigning at the top end of the boutique market and serving shoppers with the deepest pockets, this temple to consumption carries Woolford lingerie, Escada dresses, and Trussardi suits as well as perfume and jewelry at impressively high prices. The café on the first floor offers irresistible desserts and a wide assortment of high-end teas and coffees.