10 Best Places to Go Shopping in San Francisco

Pier 39 is one of San Francisco’s most popular waterfront shopping and dining destinations. When you’re not here for the broiled seafood and the famous clam chowder offered by the wide variety of seafood restaurants, it’s a great place to be in San Francisco for souvenir hunting.

The pier has all sorts of specialty shops – there are well over 50 spread across 2 levels. Head up to the upper section to shop with fantastic views of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges, as well as Alcatraz Island. There’s a great mix with almost everything from sports gear to jewelry, with excellent gift ideas in between. You'll also find a Build-A-Bear Workshop, a Houdini’s Magic Shop, and even a shop just for left-handers known as Lefty’s San Francisco.

Union Square is surrounded by stores of all kinds: high-end designers like Hermès and Gucci, upscale department stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Barney’s New York, as well as high-street brands like H&M and Brandy Melville. With a shop at every corner, Union Square deserves its label as the shopping hub of San Francisco. Littered with outlets for all tastes, the square is the place to come if you want to window-shop or if you can’t decide what kind of shopping you want.

The square itself is quite pretty in the spring and summer months, with manicured flowerbeds and patches of grass to rest on between shopping sprees. The area attracts a lot of visitors, so if you want to avoid crowds, this is probably not the place to be. A morning shop will help you avoid the peak times, though.

Ferry Plaza Farmers Market is a highly popular local shopping destination at the Ferry Building on The Embarcadero in San Francisco. Managed by CUESA (Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture), the marketplace is held thrice weekly – on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday – and features a wide variety of produce and artisanal foods from local Californian farmers.

Each day at the market offers a different scene. The biggest is on Saturday, when it features 100 vendors. The line of tented stalls surrounds the Ferry Building and it’s a great place to hit for breakfast and lunch during your weekend strolls along the Embarcadero.

Hayes Valley is a fashionable neighbourhood found in the center of San Francisco that boasts quirky boutiques, craft coffee vendors and artisan shops. This neighbourhood finds itself the envy of many others, especially since it’s home to Hayes Street. Color saturates every corner of this long stretch of road that runs all the way to Golden Gate Park. Expect to find buildings painted in vibrant colors or adorned with street art, with outdoor beer and cocktail bars strewn with fairy lights. Boutique shops are rife. Be sure to visit Welcome Stranger or Modern Appeal Clothing for stylish goodies.

Westfield San Francisco Center is a large shopping mall in Downtown San Francisco that features over 100 shops and restaurants spread across 9 floors. You’ll find all the luxury brand stores here such as Burberry, Rolex, and Tiffany & Co., as well as department stores Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s.

An elegantly curved escalator system gets you from floor to floor. And if you’re feeling peckish during your shopping spree, there’s a wide range of options, from fine dining at the Executive Order Bar & Lounge to many casual diners that serve dishes from around the globe.

Stonestown Galleria is a shopping mall just north of San Francisco State University and bordering east of Lake Merced. It has 2 floors with brand retail shops and is anchored by a Target department store. It’s the local go-to indoor shopping spot for Lakeshore and Park Merced residents.

Besides jewelry outlets such as Pandora and Swarovski, you can shop for affordable clothes at Zara, H&M, and Uniqlo. A great selection of bars and restaurants includes options for dine-in and takeout, serving anything from Korean barbeques and American steaks to Mexican broils, Hawaiian poke lawn bowling, and gourmet Chinese noodles.

Japan Center offers a quirky shopping experience in the heart of Japantown in San Francisco. The shopping mall was originally a cultural and trade center that opened in 1968. Your shopping experience here is like a walk back in time. Most of the merchants have kept their arts and culture alive since their great grandparents first settled over 160 years ago.

Japan Center is an exciting place to explore and find authentic Japanese goods. It’s where to go for one of the most amazing arrays of Japanese specialty shops outside Tokyo. Beautiful sashes and kimonos are the highlights at Sakura Sakura, while Neat Asian Things has affordable wear for men. It’s the obvious grocery shopping place for imported Japanese goods, too. When you’re feeling peckish, there’s a Benihana for broils and steaks, as well as various conveyor belt sushi spots in the area.

Embarcadero Center is an oceanfront shopping complex spanning 4 blocks and with a boulevard that stretches for some 3 miles from Pier 39 to South Beach Harbor on San Francisco's eastern bayside. It offers one of the most scenic shopping walks in San Francisco, with palm tree-lined walkways and with views to the piers as you head toward the Ferry Building on the waterfront.

Whether you’re shopping for the latest look or a gift, there are over 70 stores and fashion boutiques to drop into and browse. And to replenish, there are around 25 cafés and restaurants along the promenade as well as at street level.

Head down to Alemany Farmers’ Market on 100 Alemany Boulevard in Bernal Heights for a laidback weekend with a great range of fresh goods and street food. You’ll find affordable prices and a bustling community atmosphere at the market, which opens every Saturday from dawn to dusk.

The longstanding and certified farmers’ market dates back to 1943, it was among the first of its kind in California. Various stalls run by small Californian family farmers each feature their freshest produce, including leafy greens and multiple varieties of strawberries and other berries you might never have known of or tried before.