Hampi
Run by an amiable musician who teaches djembe (drums) and didgeridoo, this store sells Indian and Western musical instruments at fair prices.
Must-see shopping in Asia
Singapore
Browse more than 400,000 titles in Singapore’s largest, most comprehensive bookshop. It also stocks stationery, DVDs and collectable toys.
New Delhi
Gorgeous little boutique with a calm, no-pressure-to-buy ambience, attractive Indian clothing, and light, bright printed-cotton homewares.
Mumbai (Bombay)
Championing a dying art, this fascinating shop sells handmade, cotton-based paper crafted into charming cards, sculptures and lampshades.
Bengaluru (Bangalore)
High-end natural beauty products, including potions and lotions for hair, face and body as well as all-organic ayurvedic essential oils.
Siam Square, Pratunam, Phloen Chit & Ratchathewi
Spanning eight storeys of more than 500 shops and 100 restaurants, CentralWorld is one of Southeast Asia’s largest shopping centres.
Dushanbe
This attractive gallery is stocked with tasteful modern crafts, including hand-painted ceramic plates, wooden boxes and woollen items.
Kandy
Fair-trade textiles, clothing (including saris, sarongs and shirts) and jewellery made of recycled fabric, paper and other materials.
Hampi
Excellent selection of books on Hampi and India, plus secondhand fiction. The owner offers a free Hampi map and sells postcards, too.
Hyderabad
An upmarket mall with a good selection of clothes shops including M&S and Levi's, ATMs, a small food court, cafes and a cinema.
Kodagu (Coorg) Region
Opposite the bus stand, Choci Coorg does many varieties of chocolate, lots of fruity and nut combos and a unique betel-nut flavour.
Mumbai (Bombay)
Anokhi gets the East–West balance just right, with men’s and women’s clothes and bedding in block-printed silk and cotton.
Gwangju
Voted Korea's best traditional market, sprawling Yangdong sells just about everything, from traditional medicines to clothing.
Pune
Sells Indian saris, silks and cottons, as well as linen shirts for men, and diverse accessories including bags and jewellery.
Gokarna
A fine selection of natural beauty products, including handmade soaps, health foods, tea and spices. Prices are very fair.
Karnataka
Fair-trade shop selling handwoven textiles, banana-fibre products and other crafts made in and around Anegundi village.
Delhi
Flagship Fabindia store, with cotton kurtas, textiles for the home, and much more. Fairly expensive, but good value.
George Town
The nonfiction branch of this excellent bookshop, specialising in books about Malaysia or by Malaysian writers.
Bishkek
Stylishly presented, high-quality embroidery and pottery, both modern and traditional. Credit cards accepted.
Seminyak
Luxe clothes and little frilly things to put on before slipping off… Designed in Bali by a French couple.
Seminyak
Selling mostly Bali-made items, this designer shop combines international allure with local motifs.
Kathmandu
The best collection of Tibet-related titles, once owned by the Tibetan government-in-exile.
Delhi
Kama is the place for exquisitely packaged ayurvedic remedies that make excellent presents.
Mumbai (Bombay)
The beautiful traditional printed papers here will make you start writing letters.
South Delhi
Delhi Musical Stores has a fine choice of tablas, harmoniums, sitars and more.
Roppongi, Akasaka & Around
This sleek complex, where escalators ascend alongside waterfalls of rock and glass, brims with sophisticated shops. Most notable is the selection of…
Melaka City
Food hawkers, trinket sellers and fortune-tellers line Jln Hang Jebat for Melaka City's weekly extravaganza of street food and shopping. The street closes…
Siem Reap
When it comes to shopping in town, Psar Chaa is well stocked with anything you may want, and lots that you don’t. Silverware, silk, wood carvings, stone…
Ho Chi Minh City
Ben Thanh and its surrounding streets comprise one of HCMC's liveliest areas. Everything that’s commonly eaten, worn or used by the Saigonese is piled…
Kuching
The row of old shophouses facing the Waterfront Promenade is chock-full of handicrafts shops, some outfitted like art galleries, others with more of a …
Gangnam & Southern Seoul
The second location of the first sex shop in South Korea designed for women, Pleasure Lab does its best to make sure that women feel safe to ask any…
Mumbai (Bombay)
Mangaldas Market, traditionally home to traders from Gujarat, is a minitown, complete with lanes of fabrics – hip No-Mad Fabric Shop has even corralled a…
Wan Chai & Northeast Hong Kong Island
The range is mind-boggling at this Japanese-owned department store, with 17 floors of high-end fashion and accessories, cosmetics, homewares and much more…
Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo
A long-time lifeline for Tokyo English-speakers, Kinokuniya stocks a broad selection of foreign-language books and magazines. Particularly of note is its…
Ginza & Tsukiji
Stop any Tokyoite on the street and odds are they're wearing at least one thing from Uniqlo, the ubiquitous retailer of indispensible basics. There are…
Temple of Heaven Park & Dongcheng South
Occupying a swish, purpose-built mall beside the Temple of Heaven's east gate, the Pearl Market is palpably less hectic than the more famous Silk Street,…
Melaka City
It's impossible to miss the giant orangutan mural above artist Charles Cham's gallery and T-shirt store. His colourful, primitive-style paintings sell for…
Gangnam & Southern Seoul
One of Seoul's most luxurious department stores. If you want to play Audrey Hepburn staring wistfully into Tiffany’s, don a Helen Kaminski hat, try on a…
