Baku (Baki) Shopping

  1. ABC

    In Baku you'll find a vast array of cheap, DVDs and music CDs of dubious legality. ABC offer a surprisingly wide left-field selection of Western music, as well as Azeri and Russian music. Some staff are remarkably knowledgeable.

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  2. Akadem-Kitab

    Wide range but predominantly in local languages. Next door, Iranian Al Hoda focuses on Farsi literature.

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  3. Azər-İlmə Carpet Factory

    Traditional Azeri hats, copperware and carpets are widely sold though they can generally be obtained more cheaply in the provinces. Nonetheless the Ali Baba-esque shops around Baku's İçəri Şəhər are atmospheric places to nose around and although prices might not be the most competitive, dealers here will be familiar with annoying carpet-export procedures. A free tour of the impressive Azər-İlmə Carpet Factory is well worth the 20 minute drive, even if you don't buy.

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  4. Book Shop of the Presidential Administration

    Sells an amusing selection of hagiographic literature about both Әliyevs, as well as postcards and several guide-pamphlets that you could have got for free from the tourist information office.

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  5. Central Vegetable Market

    The Central Vegetable Market is loveably dilapidated.

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  6. Chiraq Books

    Baku's friendly English-language bookshop stocks a decent range of classics, bestsellers, travel guides and locally relevant titles, along with plenty of Christian literature.

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  7. Grand

    In Baku you'll find a vast array of cheap, DVDs and music CDs of dubious legality. Grand, with another branch on Nizami küç, offer a surprisingly wide left-field selection of Western music, as well as Azeri and Russian music. Some staff are remarkably knowledgeable.

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  8. Kitab

    The most reliable place to find excellent 1:500,000 topographic maps of Azerbaijan. They're rolled up amid other much poorer versions so ask to look at a few. No English spoken.

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  9. MUM

    Also known by its Russian acronym TsUM, Baku's oldest department store is MUM with four floors of stall-shops selling everything from cheap electronics to wedding dresses.

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  10. Tourist Bazaar

    The colourful Tourist Bazaar, along with various souvenir and 'antique' shops, mostly sell rather tacky rubbish, though the old Soviet-era badges are cheap and fun.

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  12. Təzə Bazar

    For photogenically piled fruit and illicit caviar (beluga around Manat50 for 113g), head to Təzə Bazar.

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  13. Ziya

    Ziya is well stocked, but overpriced, and aimed at Hyatt guests who can't be bothered to shop around.

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