There are several different types of tourism in the tourism industry. We’ve got historical tourism, recreational tourism, cultural tourism, health tourism, etc. but they all have somethings in common; most of them involve shopping. It doesn’t matter if you want to learn about the history of a country or city, or you’re there to enjoy your holidays. You can visit a new place to learn about its culture or enjoy their environment. Most of the time, tourists would like to bring at least one souvenir from their trip to a new place. Russia is not an exception, especially since it has loads of historical and cultural relics that attract people and also became one of the best shopping centers in Europe in recent years.
There are loads of places in both Moscow and St. Petersburg that you can go shopping, but you need to set your priorities straight because your choices will change your destination. For example, if you want to purchase goods for yourself on your trip to Russia, you should visit top trending shopping centers in each city. In Moscow, you can either go to Gum Mall, which locates on the Red Square and easily accessible during your tour to Moscow, or TsUm on Kuznetsky Most, which is another modern shopping center in Moscow that has multiple international brands and products. However, if you don’t want to spend lots of money on shopping and only have plans to bring one or more souvenirs back home from your travel to Russia, you can go to Arbat Street or Izmailovo Market, depends on how much time you’ve got on your Moscow tour. Prices will also affect your destination, especially in Moscow, which many tourists would only roam around the tourist center of the city.
Prices
That may seem obvious to lots of people, but it’s important to remember that prices are often much higher near the tourist centers of the city, both during the tour to St. Petersburg or when you have plans to visit Moscow. However, it depends on your plans during your travel to Russia and the amount of time you’ve got on your trip; we recommend different paths on souvenir shopping. If you only want one or maybe two souvenirs from your travel to Russia, it’s better to consult with your tour to Russia guide and ask for the best places to shop near the tourist centers of either city rather than spend energy and time to save a couple of bucks, but if you’ve got lots of times and relatives that you want to bring gifts from your travel, we recommend you explore the city for shopping better and cheaper souvenirs. For example, the best place for shopping souvenirs in Moscow is Izmailovo Market at the northeast of the town, but it locates far from the city center and most of the Moscow attractive places, so if you don’t want to spend your precious time on your tour to Russia for souvenir shopping, you can purchase a small thing from shops near the tourists center, such as Gum Mall or Arbat Street.
Quality
Always check for quality, especially if you’re purchasing goods from un-official shopping centers and vendors. While most of the modern shopping centers in the tour to Moscow and St. Petersburg tour offer original and high-quality products, some shops and vendors may provide you with low-quality goods at the same price, especially near the tourist centers of the city. You don’t need to be paranoid about things you buy on your travel to Russia, but conscientious will always help you to determine which products seem to fit their price. Two things may help you during this process; first, your travel guide. While most people don’t trust their travel guide on that matter because they think their travel guide may have a deal with vendors and shop owners to recommend their products no matter of the price or quality, we at the Star Travel Company assure you that our travel guides are only there to help you, not the other way around. The second thing that may help you is labels; most products have company labels, especially in modern shopping centers, such as TsUM or The Leningrad Trading House (DLT). While vendors will tell you that their products are company-made and genuine, you can fact-check their saying by looking at the company label since all the companies attach one to their products.
Low prices
Don’t let the low prices on some products trick you, especially outside the top shopping centers of the city. If you have plans to shop in places other than modern shopping centers, you have to acknowledge that some vendors may trick you into buying low-quality and fake products by offering low prices. You may encounter this matter several times during your travel to Russia, but don’t get upset about it, it most likely happens all around the world. One of the easiest ways to bypass that is to ask around other shops about the price on the same product; in that way, you’ll know the average cost of a product, and you can determine if it is genuine or not.
Ask Questions
Another way to determine a genuine product from a fake one is to ask about it. Don’t afraid to ask about anything; the sellers and vendors are there to answer your questions. If they don’t, it means that either they don’t have a genuine product or they are merely bad sellers, either way, it’s better to not purchase anything from them. Knowing the history of a product will help you decide whether you want to buy it or not. It’ll also help you recognize the fake ones from the genuine ones. Keep this in mind that while most leading shopping centers in both Moscow and St. Petersburg, such as Au Pont Rogue or Gum Mall, have international assistants, flea markets, such as Izmailovo Market, don’t have that privilege. So it’ll be more helpful to have a Russian speaking guide with you when you visit these places on your tour to Russia. That will also help you to get a better deal during your shopping, particularly when you want to bargain about a price. Unlike international brands that have price-tag on their products, vendors and local shops are willing to negotiate the price for the right person, especially if you ask about the products and show genuine interest in an artifact.
Unnecessary Shopping
Unless you want to purchase something for your own, some products, such as perfume or beauty products, are not good choices of gift or souvenir from your travel to Russia, mostly because these products are over-priced, especially on trending shopping centers. However, since Russia has become one of the top countries in Europe for people who want to shop from international brands and companies, if you’re willing to spend extra money on some products, we recommend Tsum, DLT, APR, and other modern shopping centers to our tourists on their tour to Russia.
So that was a short guide for any tourists who have plans to go shopping on their tour to Russia. If you’re one of those tourists, you can always check our weblog to find out more about top shopping centers in Moscow, or if you have plans to visit St. Petersburg on your travel to Russia, you can also see which ones are the Top Shopping centers in St. Petersburg.
