Baghdad shops in layers: Abbasid-era wholesale alleys where spices are weighed by the kilo, coppersmiths still hammering trays by hand, and glass-fronted Arasat boutiques selling Iraqi couture. Three days moving from Shorja's chaos to Kadhimiya's silver.
Iraq's largest wholesale bazaar, trading on this ground since the Abbasid era. Alleys of cardamom, sumac, dried limes and loose tea sold by the kilo, alongside amber prayer beads and rosewater. Saturday to Thursday, roughly 08:00–15:00.
The coppersmiths' lane off Shorja, where a shrinking handful of workshops still hammer trays, dallah coffee pots and engraved plates by hand. Ask for tinned interiors if you intend to cook or serve in a piece.
Baghdad's textile souk: bolts of abaya crepe, Mosul cotton, embroidered thobe fabric and Kurdish klash slippers stacked to the ceiling. Tailors in the surrounding lanes will cut a shirt or dishdasha in about 48 hours.
The 1916 Ottoman colonnade shelters stamp dealers, watch repairers, oud makers and old stationers under crumbling arcades. Shutters come down early, but the pillars, hand-painted signage and Haidar-Khana shopfronts repay a slow walk.
Baghdad's upscale strip: Iraqi labels, imported perfume houses, jewellers and glass-fronted concept stores set between the cafés. Most boutiques run 11:00 to 22:00, take card, and fill up only after dark.
The middle-class shopping spine of the city: shoe shops, abaya ateliers, phone-accessory arcades and pastry counters packed shoulder to shoulder. Prices run roughly a third of Arasat for near-identical stock.
Founded in 1970, this state atelier builds couture on Mesopotamian and Bedouin motifs — Sumerian embroidery, Assyrian braid, hand-woven abayas. Its showroom sells scarves, stoles and made-to-measure pieces.
Iraq's largest mall, opened 2015 across five floors in Mansour: international high-street chains, a full hypermarket, cinema and a top-floor food court. Vehicle and body screening at every entrance, so allow queue time.
The covered bazaar ringing the Imam al-Kadhim shrine holds the city's densest souvenir range: silver filigree, Najaf agate rings, prayer beads, rosewater, kleicha moulds and copper incense burners.
Since 1992 sculptor Qasim Sabti's walled Waziriya compound has sold contemporary Iraqi painting, prints and ceramics around a garden courtyard, with a side room of affordable studies and artist books.
The flea market behind Bab al-Sharji: Ba'ath-era radios, Iraqi Airways ashtrays, pre-1990 dinar notes, vinyl, brass locks and camera parts spread on tarpaulins. Cash only, small notes, and haggling expected.
Zayouna's mall and the open-air souk beside it pair Turkish homeware and children's labels with stalls of date syrup, amba pickle, gaymar and Basra dates — the edible souvenirs Iraqis themselves carry abroad.