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Many of the most famous stores in St Petersburg hide behind richly embellished Italianate, art Nouveau or art deco facades. Popular purchases include vodka, caviar (although it is illegal to take it out of the country unless purchased at the airport or from specialty shops), lacquered homewares, woolen shawls and semi-precious stones, as well as the ubiquitous matrioshka dolls. There is also plenty of Soviet-era memorabilia on sale, though many items are modern reproductions. Prices for all goods are high by international standards, so take advantage of sales where possible.

Nevsky prospekt is the main shopping street, with numerous boutiques, department stores and book stores, including Dom Knigi, Nevsky prospekt 28, in the delightful Art Nouveau Singer Building. Further east on Nevsky prospekt, the pillared facade of the 18th-century Gostiny dvor hides a vast labyrinthine shopping arcade with hundreds of traders selling everything from clothes to alcohol and electronics. Immediately opposite is the 19th-century glass-roofed Passazh Arcade, with more of the same.

There are souvenir markets around the main St Petersburg shopping districts, including Konyushennaya ploschad, opposite the Church on the Spilled Blood and Dumskaya ulitsa, across Nevsky prospekt, from the Grand Hotel Europe. The art market at Nevsky prospekt 32/34, in front of St Catherine Catholic Church, sells oil paintings, prints and portraits drawn on the spot. Food markets also thrive throughout the city; the Kuznechnyy market, off Nevsky prospekt, sells flowers, fresh fruit and vegetables, homemade cheeses and pickles. Most of the street markets operate 0900-1700.

Shopping hours vary but many shops along Nevsky prospekt stay open until 2000 or later. Value added tax of 20% is included in prices and no refunds are available to visitors.

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