Shopping

Langkawi is Malaysia's most popular destination for duty-free shopping. The entire island is a duty-free zone for alcohol, cigarettes, chocolates, perfumes, cosmetics, leather products and other items that would normally be taxed heavily if sold on the mainland. This is why Langkawi is popular among local visitors and international tourists as the shopping, for certain products, is cheap! You can shop around the whole island, but the best places to hunt for goods are the shops in Kuah Town, the capital of Langkawi. Here, there are several shopping malls along with shops that retail the cheapest products. The Langkawi International Airport in Padang Matsirat is also another good place for shopping. Electronics are not exempted from tax in Langkawi, so you're better off buying things like cameras and mobile phones in major cities like Kuala Lumpur.

Kuah Town, the capital and main jetty of Pulau Langkawi, is the hub for shopping on this island. Visitors and tourists can choose from many different shops in town that compete heavily to provide the cheapest range of goods. Kuah is popular for their range of alcoholic beverages, from whisky to beer and wines to spirits. Other than alcohol, there are other duty free goods such as cigarettes, fashion clothing, bags and chocolate.

The Langkawi Fair Shopping Mall is the biggest mall in Kuah, with over 100 shops and a departmental store. Here, there are many fashion outlets and electronic products on sale, along with fast food counters, money changers and a tourist booth. Teow Soon Huat is another large duty free mall with 60 outlets, 12 restaurants and a supermarket. It has a family oriented concept so household products and food are popular items here. Saga Shopping Center is one of the most established shopping destinations in Langkawi with a typical range of duty free goods. Finally, travel around the Kuah Town Center and look among the shop lots for great bargains on liquor, tobacco and confectionery. The most popular shops are Wawasan Baru and Eastern Native as they seem to provide the best prices with good discounts.

The Oriental Village in the north of Langkawi is a popular duty free shopping zone for visitors. Built like a cultural village, the many retail outlets are housed in neat rows of landscaped shop lots on a pleasant garden with ponds and trees. The prices for products found here are quite competitive. Besides shopping for duty free stuff, you can also get some cool souvenirs and traditional handicrafts, such as Batik.

Pantai Cenang, next to Pantai Tengah, is a popular beach destination for tourists. Here, there is a main road along the beach that is lined with shops and stalls offering duty free shopping for modern and traditional goods. Souvenirs and handicrafts such as beads, wooden carvings and fabrics are popular goods. On Thursday nights, there is a traditional night market called Pasar Malam that takes place in Temoyong.

The Pasar Malam is a traditional Malaysian style of shopping, where traders set up make-shift stalls during the night and sell all sorts of stuff, especially food. Finally, the Zon Duty Free Shopping Complex is a popular mall in the area, located next to the Underwater World Langkawi but built within the same complex.