Top shopping neighborhoods in New York City

updated 12:24 p.m. ET May 1, 2006

Here's a rundown of New York's most interesting shopping areas, with some highlights of each to give you a feel for the neighborhood.

DOWNTOWN

Lower Manhattan & The Financial District: South Street Seaport (tel. 212/732-8257; subway: 2, 3, 4, 5 to Fulton St.) carries the neighborhood's torch. Familiar names like Abercrombie & Fitch, Ann Taylor, and the Sunglass Hut line Fulton Street, the Seaport's main cobbled drag; several tiers of largely nondescript shops and a large food court fill the levels at Pier 17, a waterfront barge-turned-shopping mall. There's nothing here you can't get anywhere else in Manhattan; come for the historic ambience and the wonderful harbor views. For a store list, visit www.southstreetseaport.com.

Century 21, the king of discount department stores, is across the street from the World Trade Center site. Electronics megamart J&R is still going strong, now occupying a full city block, with great prices on everything from cameras and computers to CDs and software.

Chinatown: Don't expect to find the purchase of a lifetime on Chinatown's often very crowded streets, but there's some quality browsing to be had. The fish and herbal markets along Canal, Mott, Mulberry, and Elizabeth streets are fun for their bustle and exotica. Dispersed among them (especially along Canal St.), you'll find a mind-boggling collection of knock-off sunglasses and watches, cheap backpacks, discount leather goods, and exotic souvenirs. It's a fun daytime browse, but don't expect quality -- and be sure to bargain before you buy. (Also, skip the bootleg CDs, videos, and software -- these are stolen goods, and you will be disappointed with the product.) Mott Street, between Pell Street and Chatham Square, boasts the most interesting of Chinatown's off-Canal shopping, with an antiques shop or two dispersed among the tiny storefronts selling blue-and-white Chinese dinnerware. Just around the corner, peek into Ting's Gift Shop (18 Doyer St.; tel. 212/962-1081), one of the oldest operating businesses in Chinatown. Under a vintage pressed-tin ceiling, it sells good-quality Chinese toys, kits, and lanterns.

The Lower East Side: The bargains aren't quite what they used to be in the Historic Orchard Street Shopping District: which basically runs from Houston to Canal along Allen, Orchard, and Ludlow streets, spreading outward along both sides of Delancey Street -- but prices on leather bags, shoes, luggage, linens, and fabrics on the bolt are still quite good. Be aware, though, that the hard sell on Orchard Street can be pretty hard to take. Still, the district is a nice place to discover a part of New York that's disappearing. Come during the week; many stores are Jewish-owned and therefore close Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. Sunday tends to be a madhouse.

The artists and other trendsetters who have been turning this neighborhood into a bastion of hip have also added a cutting edge to its shopping scene in recent years. You'll find a growing -- and increasingly upscale -- crop of alterna-shops south of Houston and north of Grand Street, between Allen and Clinton streets to the east and west, specializing in up-to-the-minute fashions and edgy club clothes for 20-somethings, plus funky retro furnishings, Japanese toys, and other offbeat items. Before you browse, stop in at the Lower East Side Visitor Center, 261 Broome St., between Orchard and Allen streets (tel. 866/224-0206 or 212/226-9010; subway: F to Delancey St.), for a shopping guide that includes vendors both Old World and new. Or you can preview the list online at www.lowereastsideny.com.

Soho: People love to complain about superfashionable SoHo -- it's become too trendy, too tony, too Mall of America. True, J. Crew is only one of many big names that have supplanted many of the artists' lofts that used to inhabit its historic buildings. But SoHo is still one of the best shopping 'hoods in the city -- and few are more fun to browse. The elegant cast-iron architecture, the cobblestone streets, the distinct rich-artist vibe: SoHo has a look and feel unlike any other Manhattan neighborhood.

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SoHo's shopping grid runs from Broadway west to Sixth Avenue, and Houston Street south to Canal Street. Broadway is the most commercial strip, with such recognizable names as Pottery Barn, Banana Republic, Sephora, and A/X Armani Exchange. H&M, the popular Swedish department store with cutting-edge fashions sold at unbelievably low prices, has two stores that face one another on Broadway. Bloomingdale's has opened up a downtown branch in the old Canal Street Jeans space. Prada's flagship store, also on Broadway, is worth visiting for its spacious, almost soothing design alone (by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaus). A definite highlight is the two-story Pearl River Chinese emporium, which offers everything from silk cheongsam (traditional Chinese high-necked dress) to teaware.

The big names in avant-garde fashion have landed in SoHo, but you'll also find one-of-a-kind boutiques, such as the Hat Shop, 120 Thompson St., between Prince and Spring (tel. 212/219-1445), a full-service milliner for women that also features plenty of off-the-rack toppers, plus shoe stores galore and high-end home design and housewares boutiques.

Nolita: Not so long ago, Elizabeth Street was a quiet adjunct to Little Italy. Today it's one of the hottest shopping strips in the neighborhood known as Nolita. Elizabeth and neighboring Mott and Mulberry streets are dotted with an increasing number of shops between Houston Street and the Bowery. It's an easy walk from the Broadway/Lafayette stop on the F, V line to the neighborhood, since it starts just east of Lafayette Street; you can also take the 6 to Spring Street, or the N, R to Prince Street and walk east from there.

Nolita is clearly the stepchild of SoHo -- meaning don't expect cheap. Its wall-to-wall boutiques are largely the province of sophisticated shopkeepers specializing in high-quality fashion-forward products and design. More and more, it's become a beacon of ethnic designs from around the world. Indomix (232 Mulberry St.; tel. 212/334-6356; www.indomix.com) offers beautiful beaded tunics and other colorful South Asian styles by five top designers in India. Sol (6 Prince St.; tel. 212/966-0002; www.solnewyork.com) sells everything Brazilian, from the über flip-flop, Havianas, to teeny-weeny bikinis. Texan-born designer and skateboarder Tracy Feith (209 Mulberry St.; tel. 212/334-3097) creates irresistibly pretty slip dresses, skirts, and tops in eye-popping colors and light-as-air Indian silk in his eponymous store on Mulberry Street.

Nolita is also an accessories bonanza; stop in at Sigerson Morrison for great shoes or Push for eye-catching jewelry.

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