The city's flagship department stores are David Jones, 86-108 Castlereagh Street, and Myer, 436 George Street, where you can pick up Australian and some International labels.

Castlereagh Street is considered Sydney's designer row, although this does not take account of prestige stores in Chifley Plaza, 2 Chifley Square, and the MLC Centre, 19-29 Martin Place. There are shopping malls galore and two splendid Victorian arcades: the Strand, 412-414 George Street (a good choice for Australian designer labels), and the palatial Queen Victoria Building, 455 George Street, also known as QVB. Market City, Thomas Street, Haymarket, has factory outlets and a large market selling all manner of tourist ‘memorabilia'.

There are a growing number of Australian fashion designers making their mark both in Sydney and abroad.  Among the most popular are Paris Fashion Week regulars Collette Dinnigan, 33 William Street, Paddington, and Lisa Ho, 2A-6A Queen Street. Hip label Sass & Bide, 132 Oxford Street, Paddington, produces jeans coveted by the stars and Scanlan and Theodore, 122 Oxford Street, Paddington, is a must for stylish work wear and chi-chi evening wear.

It is worth exploring the length of Oxford Street, just to experience the variety of shopping genres, from the camp end at Darlinghurst, past the small fashion stores of Paddington and on into Woollahra and the top-of-the-range antique shops in and around Queen Street. Further still into Bondi Junction leads to Westfield Bondi Junction, an enormous shopping mall housing every type of store imaginable.

Darling Harbour, Chinatown and The Rocks historic district are teeming with souvenir and craft shops. The Rocks is also the place for shoppers to pick up gems from the major Australian opal fields. The Rocks Opal Mine, 13 Clocktower Square, and Flame Opals, 119 George Street, both have good selections of stones, as does the downtown Gemstone Boutique, 388 George Street. For pearls from the northwest coast of Australia, Paspaley Pearls, 142 King Street, has some world-class examples.

For other Australiana gifts head to the Australian Wine Centre, Shop 3, Goldfields House, 1 Alfred Street, Circular Quay, or Gannon House, 45 Argyle Street, The Rocks, which sells authentic indigenous products that are purchased directly from Aboriginal communities. Gavala, Shop 131, 1st Floor, Harbourside Shopping Centre, Darling Harbour, is 100% Aboriginal-owned and has a wonderful collection of paintings, didgeridoos, boomerangs and more.

There are weekend markets at Balmain (Saturday), Paddington (Saturday), Bondi Beach (Sunday), and The Rocks (Sunday) but perhaps the one with the strongest local flavour is the Sydney Fish Market, open daily 0700-1600, in Pyrmont, offering over 100 species of the freshest seafood in addition to sushi bars and fish cafes.

Shop opening hours are generally Monday to Saturday 0900-1800, with late-night shopping until 2100 on Thursday. Increasingly, shops are opening on Sunday. There is a 10% Goods and Services Tax (GST), which is included on the price tags. There are several duty-free shops in the city centre, as well as at the airport. Shoppers must show their passport and onward ticket on collection of goods.