California · best-of list
6 Best Places to Shop in California
All 6 places to shop our route editors picked in California, across 6 destinations, gathered in one list. Each one is a stop on a route you can open and copy into a trip.
Our curated picks
6 places to shop in California, grouped by destination. Destinations with the most picks come first; this is not a ranking.
Downtown LA 1 pick
The Last Bookstore
Downtown LA · On our Los Angeles After Dark route
Huge new-and-used bookstore in a former bank, with a book tunnel upstairs.
Photo: vagueonthehow from Tadcaster, York, England · CC BY 2.0
Hollywood 1 pick
Amoeba Music
Hollywood · On our Los Angeles After Dark route
Enormous independent record store for vinyl, CDs and films.
Photo: Twelve Entertainment · Google
Pasadena 1 pick
Old Pasadena
Pasadena · On our Los Angeles New Year's Eve route
Blocks of restored brick buildings and alleys along Colorado Boulevard, with shops, cafes and bars.
Tip: The parade passes through here; shops open once the street reopens around noon.
San Francisco 1 pick
City Lights Booksellers
San Francisco · On our Pacific Coast Highway route
Beat-era bookstore and publisher with a poetry room upstairs.
Photo: City Lights Booksellers & Publishers · Google
The Embarcadero & Ferry Building 1 pick
Ferry Building
The Embarcadero & Ferry Building · On our San Francisco New Year's Eve route
The 1898 ferry terminal under a clock tower, now a marketplace of bakeries, cheese shops and oyster bars.
Tip: Shops close early on Dec 31; buy picnic supplies in the afternoon.
Photo: Dllu · CC BY-SA 4.0
West Hollywood 1 pick
Book Soup
West Hollywood · On our Los Angeles After Dark route
Packed independent bookstore on the Strip with frequent author events.
Photo: Gary Minnaert (Minnaert)) · Public domain
How we picked these
Every entry is a stop on at least one of TripsCircle's hand-curated routes, chosen by our route editors, who wrote the reason to go shown with each place. These are our curated picks, not a scored ranking: we haven't rated or reviewed them against each other. The list is grouped by destination, and within each destination places that appear on more routes come first.
Prices ($ to $$$$) and visit lengths are rough guides from our route notes, not quotes. Check opening hours before you go.
About this list
How did you choose the places to shop in California?
Each one is a stop on a TripsCircle route that our editors built by hand, and each comes with a written reason to go. This page shows all 6 of them. They are curated picks, not a ranked score.
Which part of California has the most places to shop on this list?
The picks are spread widely: 6 destinations are represented, and none has more than 1.
More lists for California
Best places to shop nearby
Destinations on this list
- Downtown LA 1 on this list
- Hollywood 1 on this list
- Pasadena 1 on this list
- San Francisco 1 on this list
- The Embarcadero & Ferry Building 1 on this list
- West Hollywood 1 on this list
Turn this list into a plan
Open a curated route in TripsCircle, add the spots your crew wants, vote with polls and keep everyone on one shared itinerary.