Goa (India)
Mapusa Market -- This market comes alive on Friday, the traditional market day. People from surrounding villages and towns come to Mapusa to sell their wares. This fair has a lot of local flavor and specializes in agricultural produce, vegetables, locally grown fruit, spices, clothes and even plants (mainly during the monsoon planting season). From lottery tickets displayed in great swathes to barbershops, the bazaar sells just about anything you could imagine.
Delhi (India)
Chandni Chowk -- This is one of the oldest and busiest streets in central north Delhi. The markets here offer saris, authentic Indian food, delicacies and more than 1,000 kinds of sweets. There are lots of narrow lanes with many shops selling books, clothing, shoes, leather goods, electronics and consumer goods. Chandni Chowk is home to several famous restaurants/confectioners (Halwais).
Phuket (Thailand)
Wat Chalong Street Fair -- Chalong Temple, or Wat Chalong, is replete with history and legend. Many stories have been told about the miracles performed there and how the wat played a pivotal and healing role in the fighting between Chinese secret societies ('Angyee') in 1876. This site is also a place for vendors to sell their goods from fruits and vegetables to the local arts and crafts that Phuket locals have to offer.
Apia (Samoa)
Marketi Fou -- This is the new market in Apia. It is the place where a large number of Samoans go to either buy or sell fresh produce. All the fruit you would expect to see on sale is available: mangoes, pawpaw, pineapples, coconuts, bananas (four or five types), breadfruit (which is eaten like a vegetable) and more. You may also see a smallish round green fruit called vi. These are generally eaten hard and have a sharp refreshing sort of taste. Of the vegetables that are sold here, most common are the taro and ta'amú. Taro is traditionally the staple food in the islands, but because of a virus called taro blight it has become quite scarce. Ta'amú, a large tuberous vegetable about a meter in length has become a popular substitute.
Paris (France)
Rungis Market -- The market covers 573 acres, an area larger than Monaco. It welcomes 26,000 cars every day and nourishes one-fifth of the French population. Meat, fruit, vegetables, fish and flowers converge here from across France, Europe and the world, before scattering to supermarket aisles or the finest restaurants in Paris. The market opens at 3 a.m., when most Parisians are asleep. Trucks deliver produce from neighboring countries, fish from the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, cheese from Spain, Italy and every corner of France.
Palermo (Sicily)
Vucciria Market -- It's easy to see how the Vucciria Market got its name, which translates in dialect as "voices" or "hubbub." Palermo's most established outdoor market in the heart of the centro storico is a maze of side streets around Piazza San Domenico, where hawkers deliver incessant chants from behind stands brimming with mounds of olives, blood oranges, wild fennel and long-stem artichokes. One hawker will be going at the trunk of a swordfish with a cleaver, while across the way, another holds up a giant squid or dangles an octopus. Morning is the best time to see the market in full swing.
Ballaro Market -- Wind your way through the Albergheria district and the historic Ballarò Market, where the Saracens did their shopping in the 11th century -- joined by the Normans in the 12th. The market remains faithful to seasonal change as well as the original Arab commerce of fruit, vegetables and grain. Go early; the action dies out by 4 p.m. most days.
Los Angeles (United States)
L.A. Farmers' Market -- More than 90% of all the shops and stalls at Farmers' Market are independently owned and operated. Farmers' Market, the Market Plaza and North Market are home to at least 85 different shops and restaurants. Farmers' Market has been described (by the Los Angeles Times) as "the number one place in L.A. to spot stars." Visit L.A. Farmers' Market website for more information.
Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)
Addis Ababa Market -- The Merkato is the largest outdoor market in the world, and you can get anything from tourist goods (T-shirts, wood crafts, etc.) to fabric to metal goods there. Haggling and bargaining are standard procedure, and foreigners (especially those of European ancestry) should expect to be charged higher prices. To ensure a positive experience, maintain a sense of humor, don't be afraid to negotiate aggressively, and above all, don't let yourself be bullied by the many "brokers" who frequent the market. You will be able to negotiate lower prices if you can avoid brokers, and especially if you have a local friend or guide to buy things on your behalf.
Kampala (Uganda)
Nakasero Market -- The market is located at the bottom of Nakasero Hill. It's a vibrant African street atmosphere with shops and roadside traders where you can find textiles, shoes, cheap electronics, budget hotels, restaurants, markets and the busy matatu taxi parks. The Nakasero fresh food market is one of the most colorful in the country.
St. Petersburg (Russia)
Kuznechny Market -- A trip to the Kuznechny Market is an experience in itself, never mind the need to buy anything. Vendors aggressively promote their wares to hapless visitors in a way that only market traders know how. Before you know it, you'll be eating fresh fruit from the tips of knives being thrust in your face, or sampling wafers dipped in more types of honey than you knew existed. If you're planning to purchase, be prepared to put your poker face on and haggle as the starting prices can be expensive.
Guangzhou (China)
Quig Ping Market -- It has over 2,000 stalls along a 1-km-long Qingping Lu and Ti Yun Lu in the north of Shamian Island. It is the largest street market in Guangzhou; over 60,000 people shop there every day. Just like a take-away zoo, you'll find both live and dried starfish, snakes and leopards. Behind the packed crowds and stalls, there are also some jade and antique stalls and the antique shops along nearby Daihe Lu are also worth a visit.
Beijing (China)
Donghuamen Night Market -- This market is a good option when you want to try one of the local dishes. Simmering beef balls, hand-rolled fungus and roast pork pancakes, grilled squid skewers, sea urchins on the half shell -- it's all here. Be sure to bring your appetite if you're heading to this bustling night market.
Wangfujing Market -- This is the largest and busiest market street in Beijing, known not only in China but also abroad. Its southern end connects to the East Chang'an Avenue. The Beijing Department Store is the center of the market street. For newcomers to Beijing, it is an ideal and safe place to shop since most of the shops are state-run, so you will not be cheated or overcharged. You may want to spend your money elsewhere if you are confident in your bargaining skills. Wanfujing shops are expensive!
Batallas (Bolivia)
Batallas Market -- This bustling animal market opens up just before dawn. Many of the animals brought here go directly to restaurants in La Paz. Tourists can sample lamb kidneys, tripe, bull penis soup, and Chanfaina, a soup made with parts of the cow, including the veins, lungs, heart, liver, and kidneys.
La Paz (Bolivia)
Witches' Market -- Located within the lively tourist market, the Witches' Market sells mainly herbs and folk remedies, but also a variety of ingredients intended to manipulate and supplicate the various helpful and harmful spirits that populate the Aymara world. The most prominent products available in the Witches' Market are dried llama fetuses, which are usually buried in the foundations of new constructions or businesses as a cha'lla (offering) to Pachamama. Other common products are colorful herbs, seeds and various parts of frogs and insects for Aymara rituals that help with a variety of problems from illness to bothersome spirits.
Santiago (Chile)
Mercado Central -- Mercado Central offers an eclectic selection of handicrafts, fruit and vegetables. The speciality is fish and shellfish, which can be sampled in the small kitchens down the side of the building, or in the more formal restaurants that are interspersed throughout the market. Enjoy a plate of fish marinade or razor clams in parmesan sauce, while being serenaded by a local mariachi band. Open every day of the year, except on election day.
From Andrew Zimmern Travel site
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