The global map of shopping has changed, and you may need to update your flight schedule. Paris used to be the destination for the impulsive shopping spree, and Tokyo was a place where you could enjoy a culture trip while also doing some shopping. Seoul’s dermatology hallways and Singapore superblocks are now the destinations of choice for shoppers who want to combine shopping with dining. This year’s Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards Shopping confirms the shift. Half of our top 10 destinations are in East and Southeast Asia where the future is already being played out in beauty laboratories, skybridge malls, and nightmarkets. The dominance of Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Bangkok marks Asia’s rise as the global arbiter of retail futurism, where brands launch serums that will not hit Bergdorf’s for sixteen months, and where twenty-somethings queue at 5 a.m. for Supreme drops while their mothers negotiate Birkins in Ginza’s secondhand luxury boutiques—and where staff can spot a fake stitch from across a showroom.
Europe’s fashion capitals, meanwhile, endure through reinvention, their centuries-old maisons sharing streetscapes with carbon-negative boutiques selling €3,000 sneakers grown from mushroom leather. Cape Town and Dublin are this year’s wildcards. They show how shopping can be powerful when it is grounded in local makers, charity shops circuits, rhythms of everyday life and not legacy logos. These destinations, taken together, show how the best shopping destinations are no longer just about products, but also about the promises of transformation, the theatre of discovery and the notion that the right purchase could sharpen or upgrade the person carrying the bag. According to our readers, these are the 10 best shopping cities in the world.
1. Seoul
Shopping in Seoul The K-beauty industry operates in two time frames at the same time: a 600-year old market and hanok village that hold the line for craft and a K Beauty ecosystem that treats launch dates like software updates. It is because of this collision that people are now flying in with half-empty luggage and location spreadsheets. Seongsu-dong will be your starting point. Amorepacific A former car repair shop has been transformed into a beauty laboratory. Custom lipstick counters are layered over monthly art exhibits so that retail feels like a research project. Gwangjang Market pulls the camera back to old Seoul, alleyways festooned with vintage silk hanboks hang just a few steps away from ajummas frying bindaetteok—proving that shopping and eating are essentially the same activity here. You can also visit Myeongdong. Olive YoungThe flagship store of’s serves as a dashboard for cosmetic innovations. Its Trend Zone updates stock based upon what Koreans actually search for before the rest the world catches on.
Cheongdam pairs are luxurious. 10 Corso Como Sulwhasoo has a flagship where you can book TUS Moon Jade Hand Service in between ginseng consultations. Nearby, Garosugil frames TamburinsBukchon’s narrow alleyways hide buncheong ceramics that are only available by appointment. Yiyeha Personalize your perfume with a personalized engraving Granhand. Together, the city is less like a series of districts and more of a test laboratory for how people will live, dress, or take care of themselves in the future.
