Shopping

Text : Shopping in St Petersburg is an architectural delight, with the shops ranging from elegant 18th-century arcades to ornate art nouveau and art deco. Some old Soviet-style shops can still be found around town with the three-step shopping system - but very few visitors will have to deal with these. Value added tax of 20% is included in prices and is not recoverable for visitors. Opening hours vary but Nevsky prospekt, St Petersburg's main shopping street, jostles with crowds well into the evening, as most shops stay open until 2000 or later. Vodka, caviar (although it is illegal to take it out of the country unless purchased at the airport or from speciality shops for market price), lacquered wares, woollen shawls and semi-precious stones are Russian specialities, as well as the ubiquitous matrioshka dolls and Soviet memorabilia.

On Nevsky prospekt, the columned arcades and pillared façade of the 18th-century Gostinyy dvor accommodates hundreds of traders in a labyrinth of units, selling everything from clothes to alcohol and electronics. Some larger department stores, selling primarily clothing, shoes, and cosmetics anchor each end of the shopping arcade. Immediately opposite is the 19th-century glass-roofed Passazh Arcade, with more of the same. The first floor in the Passazh is devoted to elegant souvenirs such as wool scarves and furs; cosmetics and perfumes, and several imported shoe shops, while the upper floors offer men's and women's clothing. Just down the street, the striking Style Moderne frontage of Yeliseev's, the famous delicatessen, is more stunning than the range of food on offer, although this is the place to look for caviar or vodka, as well as chocolates and teas in decorative tins

There are souvenir markets around the main St Petersburg shopping districts, including Konyushennaya ploschad, opposite the Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood and Dumskaya ulitsa, across Nevsky prospekt, from the Grand Hotel Europe. The art market at Nevsky prospekt 32/34, in front of St Catherine Catholic Church, sells oil paintings, prints and portraits drawn on the spot. Food markets also thrive throughout the city, including Kuznechnyy, off Nevsky prospekt, which sells flowers, fresh fruit and vegetables, homemade cheeses and pickles, usually with unexpected bric-a-brac vendors in the midst of them. Street markets operate 0900-1700. 

    

      

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