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Jerusalem offers distinctive gifts from modern jewelry to traditional crafts to religious icons. The top shopping spots are the Downtown area, the Old City, and the Mamilla outdoor mall. The Hutzot Hayotzer artists' collective just outside the Old City walls is another popular and particularly beautiful spot, where during the August Arts and Crafts Festival you can visit the studios of resident artists and enjoy open-air music performances at night.
Prices are generally fixed in the Center City and the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, although you can sometimes negotiate for significant discounts on expensive art and jewelry. However, bargaining is common practice in the Old City's colorful Arab bazaar, or souk (pronounced "shook" in Hebrew—rhymes with "book"); it's fascinating but can be a trap for the unwary.
Young fashion designers, often graduates of Jerusalem's Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, have opened a stream of shops and boutiques. They’re scattered throughout the city. Several galleries representing Israeli artists are close to the hotels on King David Street.
Stores generally open by 8:30 am or 9 am, and some close between 1 pm and 4 pm. A few still close on Tuesday afternoon, a traditional but less and less observed half day. Jewish-owned stores (that is, all of West Jerusalem and the Old City's Jewish Quarter) close on Friday afternoon by 2 pm or 3 pm, depending on the season and the kind of store (food and souvenir shops tend to stay open later), and reopen on Sunday morning. Some stores geared to the tourist trade, particularly Downtown, reopen on Saturday night after the Jewish Sabbath ends, especially in summer. Arab-owned stores in the Old City and East Jerusalem are busiest on Saturday and quietest on Sunday, when many (but not all) Christian storekeepers close for the day.
Outside Jaffa Gate, Hutzot Hayotzer is home to goldsmiths and silversmiths specializing in jewelry, fine art, and Judaica, generally done in a modern, minimalist style. The work is of extremely high quality and priced accordingly.
Every Friday, local artists and craftspeople hawk handmade jewelry and bags, whimsical puppets, hefty wooden cutting boards, and other pieces at this art market in central Jerusalem. The pace is relaxed and friendly. Stalls run from the pedestrian section of Bezalel Street and continue onto Shatz Street to the small Schieber Park.
Kevork Kahvedjian's collection of 3,500 photographic prints of Jerusalem and the Holy Land dating back to 1860 provides a window into a vanished world. Many of them have been published in history books and adorn the walls of local hotels and restaurants. All are available as high-quality prints in various sizes, mounted and ready for framing.
The artist studios and shops are part of the Nocturno complex, including a home and fashion store that hosts pop-up sales of Israeli designers and the studio of jewelry designer Efrat Yefenof.
Well-crafted wooden toys and games fill the shelves of this vaulted underground shop. Kids are welcome to try out many of them. Gaya also has a branch at the First Station.
Meticulously crafted Armenian tiles and pottery can be found in this family-run store of local artisan Hagop Karakashian, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. Their high-quality work includes plates, bowls, tiles, and plaques painted with peacocks and flowers and can be shipped all over the world.
Bordered by Old City's Jaffa Gate on one end and the Mamilla Hotel on the other, this open-air shopping center features such familiar clothing chains as Nike, The Northface, Mango, and Zara. There's also a growing number of independent Israeli fashion and jewelry designers. The restaurants and cafés all have spectacular views, and the street is lined by Israeli sculptures.
This pedestrian-only strip of Ben-Yehuda Street makes for a fun shopping experience. Street musicians serenade passersby and those seated at the many outdoor cafés. Summer evenings are lively, as the mall fills with peddlers of cheap jewelry and crafts. Some of the city's best restaurants are tucked into the nearby alleys.
In the old neighborhood of Nahalat Shiva, just off Zion Square, is the pedestrian-only Yoel Moshe Salomon Street. Between the restaurants on the main drag and in the adjacent alleys and courtyards, you'll find several crafts galleries, unique ceramics stores, and artsy jewelry and clothing shops.
Known locally as Kenyon Malcha, this sprawling mix of shops covers 500,000 square feet and is one of the largest malls in the Middle East. It includes a department store, a supermarket, and almost 200 shops and eateries, all near the city's two main sports arenas. Expect brands like Mango, Zara, and H&M as well as local chains. On Friday morning there is a range of home-cooked food, breads, cakes, and more on offer before Shabbat.
