The market area around Lal Chowk is the commercial heart of Srinagar and the best place to shop for everyday goods at local prices rather than tourist prices. The streets radiating out from the clock tower — particularly Sherwani Road, Maulana Azad Road, and the lanes heading north into the old city — are dense with textile shops, dry goods sellers, spice merchants, and hardware stores. The craft shops here are less polished than on Boulevard Road but the prices are correspondingly lower.
For spices, the market is particularly worth visiting: saffron (buy it here rather than from airport stalls, which are often adulterated), dried Kashmiri chillies, fennel seeds, shahi jeera (black cumin), and the spice blends used in wazwan cooking are all available from the spice sellers in bulk at good prices. The dried fruits and nut sellers are also excellent — Kashmiri walnuts and almonds are among the best in India. The market is busiest mid-morning and again from about 4pm onward; midday and early afternoon are quieter.