Shopping in Karachi

1. 1

   Saddar

   is the largest shopping district of the city and home to Pakistan's big jewellery market, electronics market, mostly consumer electronics as well everything from A to Z. You can find cheap ''and'' high quality products here. It consists of number of interconnecting by-lanes with street vendors hawking a wide variety of items from antiques to shoes to car accessories etc. The place can be quite a surprise for the number and type of items on sale. On the other hand, these vendors often give you a great bargain though you will have to haggle a lot and be careful about what to buy. Shop with a keen eye – look out for fakes or second hand items that are shoddily repaired and can be passed out for a quick buck. Don’t carry too many items like money / jewellery / watches on you when visit this huge shopping area. Keep it to bare essentials and keep an eye on your belongings. There is a very good chance that you may get robbed since locals are apt at spotting first time shoppers. Beware of the auctioneering shops in Saddar which are illegal and fake. Those fake auctioneers hire a group of people who apparently take part in the bidding but their purpose is to trap other people.
2. 2

   Tariq Rd

   Houses more than one thousand shops, from jewellery, garments, cosmetics, food, computers to shoes and is among the city's largest shopping district. It is one of the best shopping places of Karachi. In fact, it is the most famous and number one shopping centre, people from almost all areas of Karachi come and do shopping here. Rabi Centre have good quality shops for bridal and casual suiting. It is also home to several malls with Dolmen Mall more popular have mostly branded shops. Tariq Rd is most famous for its high-quality garments and thriving market for the footwear business, with hundreds of shoe-stores lining the road. This street is famous for different traditional food item including traditional Samosa, Katchori and especially the mixed fruit chat.
3. 3

   Zamzama Boulevard

   This is the place where the rich, famous and affluent like to hangout for up-market designer boutiques, clubs and restaurants. Zamzama is home to the trendiest and hippest Cafes in town, where all the hip and young people of Karachi like to hang out in their designer attires and sip on the best brews in town. At the same time, Zamzama is also home to the more up end and exclusive dining places in the city, and here are the some of the city's most expensive and trendiest boutiques and designers. Zamzama is basically a rich mans playground where most of the restaurants and cafes clientele comprises of people from the rich and upper middle class of society.
4. 4

   Dolmen City Mall

   It is the largest shopping complex in Pakistan and can be much comparable to ones in Dubai for its giantess. It is home to numerous high street shops, a huge "Hyperstar – Carrefour" hyper market, a giant food court with eateries from western cinnabon, fat burger, johnny rockets to the most trendiest GunSmoke. Many people heads to this mall not only for shopping, but to spend some good time which make it very crowdy on weekends. You can also enjoy beautiful sea view from Gloria Jeans here or try Fish Spa. There is also an indoor Sindbad amusement park for kids, which is the biggest in the whole country.

   Marine Drive, Block 4, Clifton
5. 5

   Defence Sunday Bazaar

   Similar to a flea market, open only on Sundays all over the city but the one worth to visit is in Defence. It is a new generation of modern open bazaar, which is very well organised which makes it a huge tourist attraction as well and quite popular among city's expatriates community as well. These bazaars are organized under a cloth canopy and there are hundreds of stalls. Prices are lower compared to regular shops, but you can still haggle to get a good bargain. Bazaars usually start their business as early as 08:00 and continue until the sun sets.
6. 6

   Zainab Market

   One of the cheapest market in city, Zainab Market is a labyrinth of small shops selling handicrafts and casual clothing including export-surplus or slightly defective genuine name brands such as Adidas, Nike, Polo etc. manufactured locally for export or very good copies of the real thing for a fraction of the real price! Check out the brass-ware, the pashminas, the rugs and the leather goods as well, all for very reasonable prices. But don't be shy to haggle. It's expected and quoted prices are invariably 30-40% inflated.
7. 7

   Zebunissa Street

   It is one of Karachi's most renowned shopping area and one of the city's most vital arteries which used to be called as 'Karachi's Piccadilly Circus' by British tourists, as it is lined with historic colonial buildings from the British Raj era. It is now home to Karachi's biggest high end shoe shops such as Metro, Sputnik, English Boot House together with Gold Souks and other retails shops. It also houses one of Karachi's largest Atrium Malls.
8. 8

   Co-operative market

   is one of the oldest and major marketplace in Saddar, selling the most diverse goods from clothing to electronics at reasonable prices. You can find a huge number of potential gifts such as traditional souvenirs, rugs, all types of handicraft, and other cultural products of Pakistan.
9. 9

   Ocean Mall

   This is the Pakistan's tallest building which is recently opened. It is 393ft high skyscraper and houses a large upmarket shopping mall houses many local and international brands. It also houses a big food court and Cinepax, four grand cinemas, one of them being a 3D cinema.

   Teen Talwar, Clifton 10AM-2AM Website
10. 10

    Park Towers

    One of the oldest upscale shopping in town still attracts many visitors. Has shops of various downtown boutiques, a food court, a superstore, an indoor kids' theme park and art gallery.

    Shahrah-e-Firdousi, Clifton Website
11. 11

    Rainbow Centre

    is famous as the hub of video entertainment in Pakistan and reported to be one of the largest CD and DVD market in Asia.
12. 12

    The Forum

    Known as one of the few good and modern shopping mall in city. Includes shops, food court and Ebco superstore.

    Khayaban-e-Jami, Block 9, Clifton

Travel tips by Wikivoyage contributors (CC BY-SA 3.0). Verify opening hours before visiting.