Things to do / Travel Guide
There is no shortage of shopping opportunities in central California and there are still a large number of locally-owned shops and boutiques that are able to hold their own against the influx of shopping malls and big name brand stores.
Shopping in San Francisco, California
San Francisco is a shopper's paradise because it's both intimate and worldly with virtually every possible niche, style, era, fetish, and persuasion available, from big shopping malls to locally-owned and varied boutiques scattered throughout the city. In Chinatown, you can find homeopathic herbal medicines of the Orient, while over near Union Square, label stores such as Chanel and Versace offer their wares. Also, San Francisco is the birthplace of The Gap, and there's even a Gap on the corner of the famous Haight and Ashbury Street.
Chinatown, with its big, impressive Chinese gate located down on Grant Avenue, sells everything from jade to cheap plastic toys to Oriental linens, in a variety of multi-generational family-owned stores. Chinatown is located on Grant Avenue between Bush Street and Columbus Avenue.
In Pacific Heights there's Fillmore Street, which is home to some of the best shopping in San Francisco. Although the boutiques are somewhat expensive, the food is relatively cheap and tasty.
Tattoos, vintage clothing, hair dye, smoking accessories, sandals, tie-dyed clothing, and patches from your favorite rock-folk bands of yesteryear can be found in incredible abundance along Haight Street and Ashbury Street. The six blocks between Haight Street and Central Avenue are filled with shops selling everything from incense to furniture to antique clothing.
Fisherman's Wharf is all about the out-of-town tourists, and virtually every store along Jefferson Street sells the same type of bric-a-brac, but highlights of this area also include the “built-by-chocolate” Ghirardelli Square, the Cannery waterfront marketplace, and the Anchorage Shopping Center. Located in the shopping district of Fisherman's Wharf is the 45-acre Pier 39, a great place to take the family; it's got lots of amusements for the kids and over 100 shops. Keep in mind that stores in SF close early in the evening, with the larger department stores and the touristy areas staying open about an hour or two later.
Shopping in Berkeley, California
Today Berkeley is still home to tie-dye and paraphernalia shops as well as coffee houses, restaurants, and great book and record stores.
Shopping in San Simeon, California
Shopping is a favorite activity for the local residents of San Simeon. For starters, prices around San Simeon are (for the most part) cheaper than they would be in San Francisco and the Bay Area. If you're looking for small bits of art or jewelry, San Simeon is home to a tight-knit artist community, which is known throughout the Golden State for creating affordable jewelry and, at the other end of the artistic scale, giant sculptures. Just outside of San Simeon lies Cambria, a great place to go shopping, especially if you're in the mood to purchase some locally-created and inspired art. Just south of Cambria there is another charming little artist colony called Harmony, which is a good bet, if art and jewelry are your thing.
Shopping in Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is a great place for shopping. The downtown area along Pacific Street is pleasant, lined with shops, cafes, and restaurants, and not terribly large. Santa Cruz, however, is the worldwide headquarters of a very famous brand name: the O'Neill Surf Shop. The O'Neill Surf Shop is a truly worldwide phenomenon that created the wet suit for surfers who wanted to go into the chilly, frigid waters of central and northern California. Originally conceived in the 1950s, the O'Neill Surf Shop has become the number one wetsuit manufacturer on earth and, within Santa Cruz County, there are four different O'Neill Surf Shops.
Shopping in Monterey, California
On your way to the Monterey Bay Aquarium you can stop by Cannery Row. Just off Steinbeck Square you'll find the National Steinbeck Center Museum Store where you can pick up just about all of the author's works. There are also lots of antique and “heritage” shops throughout the area, the most interesting of which is the Cooper Shop which produces vintage reproductions of toys and furniture from the 1800s.
Shopping Malls in San Francisco Bay Area, Carmel, Napa Valley, Central California Coast
Shopping
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