Shopping in Cochin- A guide on where to buy

Most tour packages to Kerala touch the vibrant Cochin or Kochi also known as the “Queen of Arabian Sea”. Kochi’s mania for shopping almost rivals its obsession with food, and nowadays barely a year goes by without some vast new retail monolith flinging open its doors to the slavering hordes. Among visitors to Kerala , the city’s reputation as a bargain-hunters’ paradise has lingered, though in price terms many items in Kochi can be cheaper and can be “bundled” with more products if you know how to bargain and where to bargain.

Bazaar Road
Running from Fort Cochin to Mattancherry, this two kilemeter stretch of road is where Kerala’s commodities are sold. This is a narrow section of road filled with tiny open-fronted shops advertising wholesale, retail or commission sales. Green cardamom, Pepper, Cinnamon, brown cardamom, cloves, bay leaf are all on offer in teh shops here .Try and pick well-sealed packets rather than open spices as the vacuum packed spices will keep fresh longer.There are many shops along Bazaar Rd, selling spices, pulses etc and is much cheaper to buy here than in Jew Town, where everything is more tourist-orientated. Some are actually whole-salers, but there are plenty shops selling small quantities of spices as well.

Broadway
The area is characterized by narrow roads, quite ironical to its name! One can buy varieties of clothes and spices here. It is a perfect spot for shopping and you will get all kind of stuffs here. Electronic goods, umberllas (from Colombo Umberlla House), spices, clothes, jewellery, leather goods, stationaries, watches the list is too big and broadway adjoins Ernakulam Market where you can get wholesale prices as well.broadway features many hole-in-the-wall spice shops. No need to look for them, the wafting aromas will guide you there.

M G Road
The most important commercial center in Cochin is at the M.G road, which is short for Mahatma Gandhi road. Here, you can buy stuff ranging from clothes to cosmetics to knick-knacks. The road is lined with small and big shops and many shops selling spices. The most popular items that are bought by tourists are handicrafts, spices and nuts. In handicrafts, the most commonly used raw materials are coir, brass, copper, bamboo, etc. Kairali Emprium at M G Road is one of the best place to shop for artifacts, clothes and crafts which are all typical to Kerala . A Kathakali mask makes a nice souvenir and comes in small, medium and large sizes and is available at Kairali Emporium. You can also look at large retail showrooms like Seematti, jayalakshmi Silks and Chennai Silks to get a taste for fashion and the finest quality sarees and other exquisite range of clothes and fabrics.

Jewel Junction
Jewel Junction is famous for its jewelry showrooms and the most popular ones are Bhima, Josco and Alukkas.Jewel Junction and the shops here is a rendezvous of ethnic goldornaments, lightweight jewellery and trendy collection and some diamond showrooms as well. You can shop and buy some traditional jewellery at some of the prestigious showrooms here like Alappat Jewellery, Alukkas, Bhima Jewellers, Ayodhya Jwellery etc

Marine Drive
One can get an amazing collection of readymade items and cotton items on the Marine Drive road and the GCDA shopping compleX. One great thing about shopping in Cochin is that there are many varieties of cotton clothes that would fetch high prices in Western shops. This means that a lot of them make it onto market stalls in Cochin and with a bit of clever bargaining and ‘bundling’ you will get some great buys for a fraction of what they would cost back in your country. There are many fast food joints and cafes on the roadside and one can always stop there to munch on some eatables while on your shopping spree.

Oberon Mall
Oberon Mall is the first full format Mall in Kerala with Multiplex theatre , indoor gaming zone and one of the largest glass domes in South India and is the most happening shopping place now.The mall houses shops that offer branded wear and other items, apart from food courts and amenities for children to play.

Streets around Synagogue at Fort Cochin
In the Streets around Synagogue at Fort Cochin, you will find a unique assortment of items like figurines, colorful bead jewelry, mat, bangles et al made from coir, wood, bamboo, shells, brass, ivory and sandalwood.

In all probability, your predicament over where to buy in Cochin should end here. Though the concept of shopping malls is relatively new in Kochi / Cochin, yet there are a number of places here where you can enjoy shopping and in case you still did not buy anything, dont worry there are lot of shops inside the departure terminal at cochin international airport from where you can buy so many things but at a higher cost than the shopping paradises above.

Enjoy your Kochi Shopping.

Check out our cochin tour packages if you are intersted in a sojourn in Kochi.