30 Best Shopping in Delhi, India

Purchase crafts from all over the country at this fixed-price, government-run shop; it will ship items abroad too. Even if you don't buy anything here, it's a good place for getting an idea of the upper bounds of prices before you go bargaining elsewhere.

An India institution, this emporium is stuffed with block-printed kurtas, salwars, churidars, dupattas, Western tops, and skirts in subtle colors for trendy Delhiites, their moms and dads, expats, and tourists. Quality can vary. Avoid Saturday, when the place is a madhouse and it's difficult to get your hands on the stock. There are also branches in Khan Market, the Delhi airport, Green Park, a mall in Vasant Kunj, Greater Kailash and elsewhere.

Spirituality, self-help, and coffee-table books are the specialty at this bookshop with an attached café.

This lighthearted store carries products like an ashtray shaped like a sandaas and an Indian-style squat toilet. Also fun are wine-bottle stoppers shaped like old-fashioned water pumps and CD stackers in cylindrical tiffin carriers.

Stuffed to the ceiling with Indian teas, herbs, and spices, this teahouse has a charming owner, Vikram Mittal, who will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about tea. Another branch is on Barakhamba Road.

The many state emporiums, strung out over three blocks, can keep you busy for hours: the Kashmir store specializes in carpets, Karnataka in sandalwood, Tripura in bamboo, and so on. The prices are all fixed.

Next door to Mittal, Asia Tea House sells fine teas and tea paraphernalia.

This place is stuffed to the ceiling with dusty nonfiction, particularly academic history, politics, and Indian heritage, as well as a good amount of fiction titles.

This store sells the rich brocaded silks of Varanasi.

Specializing in jewelry, this store also sells rare old shawls and wall hangings from all over India.

Come here for art and design books, and perhaps one of the occasional cultural events (check the website or drop in for a schedule).

Open every day but Sunday from about 10 to 7:30, this is the former commercial district of the British Raj. Pillared arcades and a wheel-shaped layout make it a pleasant place to stroll, especially the inner circle, though you have to get used to the intermittent entreaties of hawkers and beggars. Shops run the gamut from scruffy to upscale. Beneath the green park at the center of Connaught Place is Palika Bazaar, a cheap underground market with all the charm of a Times Square subway station---avoid it; it's a favorite haunt of pickpockets and many shopkeepers are dishonest.

There's an overwhelming array of silver and brass curios here, with much of the brass oxidized for an antique look.

This bookstore carries a fair number of coffee-table books.

Geared to the sophisticated shopper, Good Earth has shops in several Indian cities and sells items like jewel-toned, pop-art cushion covers and other high-end home accessories, including linens, pottery, and brass. In Delhi, there's also a Good Earth store in the Select Citywalk Mall in Saket.

Reproductions of antique kundan jewelry, in which several gems are set in a gold-outlined design, are a specialty here, and there's a huge selection of lovely necklaces in updated traditional styles.

Like an upscale version of the Dilli Haat market, Kalpana has exquisite traditional saris from all over India plus gorgeous Kashmiri shawls.

Beautiful, if somewhat pricey, salwar-kameez sets in contemporary cuts of traditional fabrics are sold here.

Though it's not cheap, this is one of the capital's most pleasant and popular markets, with dozens of fine shops selling books, drugs, ayurvedic cosmetics, clothing, home decorations, imported magazines, and imported foods. The crowd is thick with expats and Delhi intelligentsia, bureaucrats, and politicians. While the shops are closed on Sunday, restaurants and bars are open.

This is a good place for handsome salwar-kameez, some hand-embroidered, and raw fabric sets in great colors and patterns at good prices. The in-house tailor can create a salwar-kameez in as little as four hours starting at Rs. 600.

Distinctive silver items and small Hindu icons are offered by this gallery.

Beautiful silver and gold jewelry, especially necklaces, is in tasteful traditional styles, including gemstone wedding sets.

This store with branches across Delhi has an immense selection of gold and diamond jewelry, along with loose gemstones and a pricey range of polki kundan sets.

It looks ordinary, but Mercury is a good place to pick up LPs, Indian classical music, and ghazals (Urdu-language love songs).

This upscale shop has some beautiful India-inspired women's clothing, men's kurtas, and household gifts at nearly Western prices.

Some eye-popping regal pieces in antique styles are among the offerings here.

Open every day but Sunday from 10 to 6 or 7, this collection of posh and arty boutiques is scattered around a small, quiet garden across from the Ashok Hotel in the Diplomatic Enclave. Prices can approach those in the West, but this is a relaxing place to stroll and browse. Clothing is the main draw, followed by home furnishings, jewelry, leather, and ayurvedic beauty products. The quaint Diggin café serves good Mediterranean food.

This shop is strong on literary fiction, including hot new titles from abroad.

The supple garments and home furnishings here are made of handwoven silk, linen, and cotton.