Street Shopping in Mumbai: Mumbai Shopping Guide

Going to Mumbai? Then, I am sure, you will have allocated at least three days of Street Shopping in Mumbai that is wisely combined with the street food tour.

Mumbai means eating umpteen number of lip-smacking street foods and buying all and sundry in various wholesale market places. These two activities apply to both the casual tourist and merchants of retail traders from all cities and towns of India.

I have written about Mumbai street food, what to eat and where earlier in this blog. Now, it is going to be a guide to do Street Shopping in Mumbai roadside shops that sell A to Z that we end up buying whether we need them or not.

Which are the Best Places for Street Shopping in Mumbai

We will be simply awestruck at the range of curios that include:

• Antique items such as grandfather clocks, old copper currencies, wall lamps, and Allauddin lamps, wrist watches that belong to the Gandhian era, etc.
• Handicrafts such as wooden toys and wall décor pieces, bead jewelry.
• Scarves, handkerchiefs, knitwear, shawls, snoods
• Thousands of dress materials for men, women, children, and pets
• Books and office stationeries
• Electrical and electronic goods
• Mobile phones and accessories
• Cameras of various price range

Let us begin our Street Shopping in Mumbai.

Street Shopping in Mumbai: Chor Bazaar

This will be invariably your first stop if you intend to buy antiques, brass items and similar goods. You can also shop for telephones, cameras, and stunning chandeliers.

Beware of an overwhelming range of goods and a hectic crowd of shoppers from every state of India. You will be forced to spend more time than you allotted.

Shrewd buyers would lookout for used goods that are in great shape because the price can be shockingly bargained.

You can also buy laptops and tablet PCs at incredibly low prices.

From wherever you are in Mumbai, reach Grant Road railway station to enter the ‘chor bazaar’ shopping district in Mumbai.

Note: If you really intend to save a sack of money while buying in chor bazaar, enter the street at exactly 4 am (well, a few minutes past 4 am won’t do any harm) on any Friday when the prices are said to hit the lowest. Ask me why Friday morning at 4 am and I have no answer.

Two most bought items in chor bazaar, Mumbai are sports shoes and mobile phones and accessories.

Colaba Causeway, Mumbai

Ah, this is a must-visit Street Shopping  in Mumbai. The area gets colorful with well-dressed Mumbai women who throng the glass bangles and beads made of wood, plastic, and glass shops bringing their holiday guests with them.

The tourists become bewildered for several minutes looking at the range of goods and the number of shoppers.

There are lanes and by-lanes selling fashion apparel, cheap jewelry, sports shoes, and jades/gems.

You can spend a full day at Colaba Causeway buying all that you can buy and still can return to your Mumbai hotel room dissatisfied. There would be a lingering feeling of longing to visit this shoppers’ paradise in Mumbai.

Mumbai’s shopping practice is to bargain hard unblinkingly. You will always end up with a satisfactory deal. I must say it is a win-win deal.

The famous Colaba Causeway shopping area in Mumbai is very close to the Fort and Gateway of India.

Street Shopping in Mumbai Crawford Market

Don’t be deceived after looking at the stacks and baskets of fruits and vegetables in the above image of Crawford Market, Mumbai.

To start with, this Street Shopping in Mumbai place originally started selling fruits and vegetables at wholesale prices.

As the years passed on and the shoppers number increased, other goods such as expensive bone china cups and saucers, numerous porcelain crockery, drinking glasses, and more.

A later day addition that one can buy in Crawford Market is all kinds of home decoration items that include:

• Wall lamps
• Cushions for sofas and divans
• Wooden wall decoration
• Blinds and curtains
• Bedspreads and blankets
• Pillow covers
• Soft toys (stuffed toys in various animal shapes)

I read that nowadays, one can also shop for travel accessories in Crawford Market.

To sum it up, Crawford Market in Mumbai is a wonderful Street Shopping locality.

Fashion Street Shopping in Mumbai

This is the most visited textile shopping area in Mumbai, both by the traders and tourists. At unbelievably cheap prices, you can buy t-shirts, salwars, denim, sweaters, shorts, windcheaters, sunglasses and whatnot that is to do with fashion.

You can bargain and buy clothes and dresses for just born to grandpas and grandmas at Fashion Street Shopping in Mumbai.

Street Shopping in Mumbai Linking Road

It is here in Mumbai where young boys and men throng throughout the day not to buy anything but to look at the girls and young women that come in large numbers to buy luxury and trendy clothes, hats, earrings, danglers, pendants, eye coolers, footwear, and handbags.

Leather goods market, Mumbai

If you want to do street shopping in Mumbai’s famous Dharavi area, you can buy all kinds of leather goods that include belts, wallets, leather jackets, leather handbags for women and of course fashionable leather footwear.

Street Shopping in Mumbai Hill Road Market

Hill Road Market is located close to the popular Bandra railway station. This is a major arterial road that turned fully commercial. On both sides of the road, there are shops, shops, and nothing but shops where you can buy to your heart’s content that include:

• Footwear
• Leather belts
• Ladies handbags
• Bangles
• Women’s’ dresses
• Necklaces and rings
• Caps
• Sunglasses
• Myriad fancy items

Remember the unwritten rule of Mumba: Bargain unflinchingly.

However enthusiastically you shop, without knowing, you will get hungry.

You have more than a handful of restaurants and street food kiosks selling anything and everything that Mumbai is famous for.

Other sightseeing attractions of Hill Road, Mumbai:

• Mehboob studios
• Bandra Fort
• Bandstand Promenade
• Mount Mary Church
• Elco Arcade
• Marks & Spencer mall

Watch a short video below of Hill Road Market in Bandra, Mumbai.

For street shopping and eating, I think the Hill Road Market matches equally with y=the Colaba Causeway, Mumbai.

Street Shopping in Mumbai Natraj Market

It seems Mumbai has these big shopping streets near every major suburban railway station such as Church gate, Andheri, Bandra and Malad.

The Natraj Market is located close to the Malad railway station. Similar to the Colaba Causeway and Hill Road shopping paradises, you get everything in Natraj Market at unbelievably cheap prices, making you wonder how come every fashionable item are so damn cheap in Mumbai without compromising on the quality?

What can you buy in Natraj Market?

Well, Natraj market is one more shopping district I Mumbai, where you can buy from A to Z.

You can buy:

• Hundreds and thousands of varieties of churidar, kameez, and salwar
• Cosmetics such as lipsticks, perfumes, vanity cases, nail polishes
• Hair clips and brooches
• Fashion footwear and casual sandals and flip flops
• Replica jewelry
• Sarees similar to what the Mumbai celebrities wear
• Dresses for kids and children
• Curtains and blinds
• Sofa cushions
• Handbags

With so many entry and exits, you are likely to get lost in the melee.

For a quick bite, try panipuri and sandwich that is being sold by several ready-to-move vendors.

Street Shopping in Mumbai Irla Market

Irla Market is located in the posh residential area Vile Parle, Mumbai.

As you saw in the video above, you can buy cheap but colorful jewelry, affordable footwear, dress materials, and readymade dresses mainly for women, lehengas for weddings, imported cosmetics, handbags, motifs for drapes and curtains, and many more.

Nearby places to see:

• Juhu Beach
• Tirthankara Jain temple
• Lady Velankanni Church
• Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health

Street Shopping in Mumbai Lokhandwala Market

Lokhandwala Market in Mumbai is a wonderful place to buy crockery, clothes, and groceries. It is a favorite shopping area among college girls as they get hundreds of choices of very fashionable dresses at very cheap price.

The shoppers will several eateries that sell the Mumbai local favorite ‘pav bhaji’. Good bakeries are also lined to buy juicy and succulent pastries.

Lokhandwala market is located in bustling Andheri West that is home to posh residential complexes and towering skyscrapers. Andheri West is really an affluent locality.

Hindmata Cloth Market, Mumbai

Well, the name says it all. Retailers, wholesalers, and individuals throng this ethnic fabric and dress market because of the long-range of dresses and also throwaway prices.

Sarees, lehengas, and t-shirts are bought in truckloads by the wholesale traders who come from nearby villages and small towns and from other states as far as away from Kerala and Tamilnadu.