Bangkok ranks among the world’s best shopping cities

The world’s shopping capitals have shifted. For years, Paris stood as the ultimate dream destination, Tokyo offered cultural escapes paired with light retail therapy, Seoul drew travellers seeking aesthetic perfection, and Singapore promised refined dining and fresh air.

But the 2025 Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards for shopping confirm that this landscape has changed dramatically. Of the world’s top ten shopping destinations, half are now in East and Southeast Asia, a clear sign that the future of global retail has already arrived, fuelled by beauty labs, mega-malls and vibrant night markets.

The growing influence of Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Bangkok underscores Asia’s ascendancy as the region shaping the next era of global shopping culture. Today’s most compelling destinations no longer stand out solely for the products on their shelves, but for how purchasing something in those places can elevate, if not transform, the shopper’s own sense of self.

Below are the 10 best shopping cities around the world, as voted by The Traveler’s readers.

1. Seoul

Shopping in Seoul unfolds across two timelines at once: the 600-year-old markets and hanok villages that preserve traditional craftsmanship, and the cutting-edge K-beauty ecosystem that treats every product launch like a software update. The result is a city that sends travellers back here with half-empty suitcases ready to be filled.

Start in Seongsu-dong, where old auto garages have been reinvented as beauty labs—lipstick customisation counters laid out above rotating art installations, making shopping feel more like research.

At Gwangjang Market, visitors are transported back to old Seoul, weaving between alleys hung with silk hanbok just steps from aunty-run bindaetteok stalls, proving that here, shopping and eating are part of the same ritual.

Nearby in Myeongdong, the Olive Young flagship serves as the control centre of cosmetic innovation, its displays forecasting the beauty trends Koreans are adopting long before they ripple across the world.

2. Singapore

Singapore delivers retail with a sense of clarity and polish. Orchard Road is the nation’s sparkling retail artery—its climate-controlled corridors framed by architectural icons like ION Orchard, the curved-glass landmark, and Takashimaya in Ngee Ann City.

Here, hours pass easily between Japanese stationery, Swiss watches and limited-edition streetwear, all under the island’s famously crisp air.

3. Tokyo

Tokyo may well be the world’s most perfectly balanced shopping city—striking a harmony between grand spectacle and hyper-specialised niches without wasting a single square foot.

Ginza sets the tone with its sweeping boulevards of glass-fronted buildings designed by star architects, each one resembling a luxury car showroom as much as a boutique.

In Harajuku, Chanel’s former Lagerfeld-designed space has been reborn as an open-access fashion archive. Meanwhile, Atlantis Vintage in Koenji—run by a TikTok-famous curator—offers concierge-style access to rare finds, while Shimokitazawa keeps ’90s streetwear alive for the next generation.

Further afield, Bookoff Super Bazaar in Kawasaki and Casanova in Shibuya showcase Tokyo’s unparalleled second-hand scene, from discounted Louis Vuitton to meticulously authenticated pieces. A stop at Utsuwa Hanada for handmade ceramics turns hurried shopping into a lesson in design.

4. Hong Kong

Hong Kong is engineered for elevated shopping: malls stacked into skyscrapers, harbourfront flagships and street markets twisting through lanes older than many of today’s global brands.

In Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, marble corridors at Harbour City offer the thrill of buying Cartier with a tax-free advantage that makes luxury feel marginally more reasonable.

The city’s chic density, combined with its heritage markets, makes it a uniquely layered retail environment.

5. Paris

Paris remains the archetype of the great shopping city, its boutiques woven into the cultural memory of the capital. Along Rue Saint-Honoré, one can wander from Astier de Villatte, the centuries-old ceramics house, to Paramaz, a small leather atelier crafting plant-dyed cardholders within metres of your morning coffee.

Even flea markets here follow a hierarchy: Vanves on Saturdays for decorative arts, Montreuil for local character, and Marché Dauphine in Clignancourt, instantly recognisable by its Futuro House.

For menswear, The Archivist Store and Thanx God I’m a VIP curate Japanese labels, American streetwear and colour-coded vintage. Across the river in Saint-Germain, Karl Lagerfeld’s 7L bookstore and the revived taxidermy institution Deyrolle highlight Paris’s ultimate offering: intricate, enduring stories of taste, with shopping as the narrative thread.

6. Madrid

Madrid was a shopping capital long before Zara perfected the art of recreating runway looks overnight—and it remains one today. Tailors, leather ateliers, traditional department stores and neighbourhood boutiques continue to set the benchmark, even as Inditex has turned Spanish dressing instincts into a global export. The brand’s flagship on Gran Vía still draws crowds chasing next-season styles at prices close to the high street, but those are merely supporting characters, not the origin story.

7. Bangkok

Bangkok has earned its reputation as one of the world’s most exhilarating and exhausting shopping cities. The Thai capital is packed with sensory temptation, from malls connected by skywalks to sprawling weekend markets that feel like entire towns. Chatuchak Weekend Market, with its 15,000 stalls selling everything from rubber boots and mid-century propaganda posters to auntie-made pad thai, is the clearest expression of this scale. A few minutes in and you’re already drenched in sweat.

When the Bangkok heat becomes overpowering, shopping moves indoors. Here, malls are more than places to swipe a card; they are complete retail ecosystems. Central Park houses more than 550 brands beneath Thailand’s largest urban rooftop garden, filled with trees and waterfalls, while IconSiam contains its own floating market, complete with wooden boats and local snacks. Locals do everything inside these complexes, even trying on autumn and winter clothing under aggressively cold air-conditioning.

8. London

London feels less like a modern city and more like an endlessly expanding medieval marketplace—which is precisely why it works as a shopping destination. The capital still functions on a neighbourhood model, with each district playing a different role. In Mayfair, Savile Row tailors have been cutting suits since 1806, while Mount Street townhouses now host Simone Rocha, whose boutique features vintage cars covered in flowers. Across the city, market stalls on Portobello Road sell Westwood-era vintage alongside Victorian military goods, with regulars choosing Fridays or Sundays to avoid the Saturday tourist surge. Meanwhile, the department stores of Oxford Street continue to serve as cultural stages.

9. Cape Town

Cape Town has emerged as one of the world’s most compelling shopping cities, blending design, spirit and landscape into one harmonious experience. At the V&A Waterfront, the sprawling Watershed market gathers 150 African craft stalls under one roof, serving as a counterbalance to the neighbouring malls where Cape Union Mart outfits safari-goers in khaki and fleece. Beyond the harbour, a network of shops and charitable organisations drives the city’s second-hand economy: Help The Rural Child operates multiple branches to fund education, while Coats for Africa in Wynberg moves so much stock that regulars drop in daily.

10. Dublin

Dublin’s shops reflect a city that knows how to play—and perform. George’s Street Arcade is home to tarot readers and Paul Mescal badges, while the liveried doormen of Brown Thomas welcome shoppers on Grafton Street, just floors below where James Joyce once strolled. The entire retail experience here is built on a mix of self-awareness and sincerity, with Dublin’s literary heritage anchoring its sense of style.