Must-see shopping in St Petersburg

  • Kupetz Eliseevs

    St Petersburg

    This Style Moderne stunner is St Petersburg's most elegant grocery store, selling plenty of branded goods from tea blends to caviar and handmade…

  • Udelnaya Fair

    St Petersburg

    This treasure trove of Soviet ephemera, pre-revolutionary antiques, WWII artefacts and bonkers kitsch from all eras is truly worth travelling for. Exit…

  • Au Pont Rouge

    St Petersburg

    Dating from 1906–7, the one-time Esders and Scheefhaals department store has been beautifully restored and is one of the most glamorous places to shop in…

  • Artmuza

    St Petersburg

    This is one of the city's largest 'creative clusters' with around 13,000 sq metres of space over several floors hosting a variety of art galleries,…

  • Imperial Porcelain

    St Petersburg

    Dating back to the mid-18th century, this is the company that used to make tea sets for the Russian royal family. Formerly known as Lomonosov China, the…

  • Rediskа

    St Petersburg

    Near the courtyard of the Berthold Centre, this delightful shop has lots of eye-catching objects, much of it made in-house or produced by St Petersburg…

  • Phonoteka

    St Petersburg

    This cool store will thrill anyone interested in music and cinema, as it sells a very cool range of vinyls from all eras (it’s particularly strong on rare…

  • Bolshoy Gostiny Dvor

    St Petersburg

    One of the world’s first indoor shopping malls, the ‘Big Merchant Yard’ dates from between 1757 and 1785 and stretches 230m along Nevsky pr (its perimeter…

  • The window of 21 Shop boutique in St Petersburg.

    21 Shop

    St Petersburg

    Pick up a locally designed T-shirt, sweatshirt, bag or other item of streetwear or accessory at this large unisex boutique with its entrance just off…

  • The facade of historic DLT department store in St Petersburg.

    DLT

    St Petersburg

    This historic department store is a temple to prestige fashion and beauty brands, most of them foreign. Even if you're not up for a pricey shopping…

  • Tatyana Parfionova

    St Petersburg

    Tatyana Parfionova was the first St Petersburg designer to have her own fashion house back in 1995, when New Russians turned up their noses at anything…

  • Galeria

    St Petersburg

    This extraordinary place has rather changed everything for shopping in St Petersburg – there are probably as many shops here as elsewhere in the entire…

  • Matryoshka

    St Petersburg

    Designer Natalia Larchenko has taken the classic Russian nesting doll silhouette and transformed it into a tiny work of art in her attractive necklaces,…

  • Erarta

    St Petersburg

    The superb Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art has several shops in it, including its excellent gift shop, a well-stocked art bookshop and commercially run…

  • Apraksin Dvor

    St Petersburg

    There's been a market here since the 18th century. Although parts of it are being upgraded, it remains mostly a gritty and chaotic Dostoevsky-style warren…

  • Passage

    St Petersburg

    Built between 1846 and 1848, this arcade has a glass roof spanning the entire block from Nevsky to Italiyanskaya ul. Dostoevsky wrote a story about a man…

  • Day & Night

    St Petersburg

    Looking like the set of Alien designed by Stella McCartney, this avant-garde boutique is one of St Petersburg’s premier fashion experiences. Inside you’ll…

  • Nevsky Centre

    St Petersburg

    Nevsky Centre is a smart and central multifloor shopping centre. It houses some 70 shops over seven floors, including the city’s largest department store,…

  • Perinnye Ryady

    St Petersburg

    Scores of arts-and-craft stores can be found in this arcade in the middle of Dumskaya ul. Among them are Collection, with a wide range of painted works,…

  • Borey Art Centre

    St Petersburg

    There is never a dull moment at this underground (in both senses of the word) art gallery. In the front room, you’ll see some fairly mainstream stuff for…

  • Sol-Art

    St Petersburg

    In the sumptuous surroundings of the Museum of Decorative & Applied Arts, this is a great place to buy contemporary local art. You'll find quite extensive…

  • Tkachi

    St Petersburg

    In an otherwise derelict part of town, 'Weavers' is an impressive conversion of a warehouse into a 'creative space', which more often than not in…

  • Tykva

    St Petersburg

    Contemporary Russian designers for both men and women are represented in this stylishly minimalist boutique on the 2nd floor of a grand building that's…

  • Tula Samovars

    St Petersburg

    Nearly all samovars (metal containers holding boiling water) in Russia are made in the town of Tula, south of Moscow, but this beautiful showroom is the…

  • Snegiri

    St Petersburg

    The traditional craft of Russian felt slippers and booties made from thick-fibred wool from Romanov sheep has been given a contemporary fashion spin here…

  • Military Shop

    St Petersburg

    In a city with men in uniform on every street corner, this is where you can get yours (the uniform that is!). Buy stripey sailor tops, embroidered badges,…

  • Staraya Kniga

    St Petersburg

    This long-established antique bookseller is a fascinating place to rummage around. The stock ranges from fancy, mint-edition books to second-hand, well…

  • Anglia

    St Petersburg

    The city’s only dedicated English-language bookshop has a good selection of contemporary literature, classics, dictionaries, history and travel writing –…

  • Imperial Porcelain

    St Petersburg

    The famed porcelain makers have been in business since the 1740s (but was of course nationalised during the Soviet period). One of several shops in St…

  • OFF

    St Petersburg

    Inside the Tkachi 'Cultural Space' is this paradise for anyone after some Soviet accessories, vintage jackets and secondhand clothes of varying styles…

  • Maker Design Loft

    St Petersburg

    Not in the same sprawling, raggedy league as other St Petersburg creative clusters, Maker is really one big shop selling mainly locally designed clothes…

  • Imagine Club

    St Petersburg

    St Petersburg's largest record shop, and by record we do actually mean vinyl as well as CDs, is a great place to buy some quality Russian music souvenirs…

  • Gallery of Dolls

    St Petersburg

    Featuring ballerinas and babushkas, clowns and knights, this gallery depicts just about every fairy-tale character and political persona in doll form. The…

  • Yakhont

    St Petersburg

    From this building, Carl Fabergé dazzled the imperial family and the rest of the world with his extraordinary bespoke designs. Yakhont has no link to the…

  • Imperial Porcelain

    St Petersburg

    This is one of many convenient city-centre locations of the famous porcelain factory that once made tea sets for the Romanovs. If you’re determined to get…

  • Pif Paf Super Shop

    St Petersburg

    Next to the cafe-bar of the same name, this is one of the best second-hand fashion stores in the city – it has a good eye for quality labels and a stylish…

  • Northway

    St Petersburg

    There is quite simply no bigger collection of matryoshki (nesting dolls), amber, fur and other Russian souvenir staples than that on offer at this very…

  • Mariinsky Art Shop

    St Petersburg

    Opera and ballet lovers will delight at the theatre-themed souvenirs for sale in the Mariinsky gift shop. None of it is cheap, but the selection is…

  • Dom Knigi

    St Petersburg

    A stalwart of the city’s bookshops, Dom Knigi is housed in part of the wonderful, whimsical Singer Building. On the ground floor you’ll find lots of…

  • Vasileostrovsky Market

    St Petersburg

    There's been a market here since the 18th century and this modern-day version retains some retro charm. The fresh-food hall is picturesque and is a good…