Markets and shopping

Hit the shops and markets

Whether you’re looking to stock up on supplies during your lakeside holiday, want to browse charming homewares or would like to connect with local artisans and producers at a vibrant outdoor market, you’re spoilt for choice for shopping around the lake.

From malls to cute boutiques

You’ll find almost everything you could need during your stay on the lake at Charlestown Square, the largest shopping and entertainment centre in the Hunter region, between the lake and the ocean at Charlestown. You can also re-supply at the major shopping centres of Stockland Glendale in Glendale and Lake Macquarie Square in Mt Hutton.

Take the opportunity to wander the villages dotted around the lake to unearth gems like the Sisters on the Sandhills boutique at Blacksmiths, which offers boho-inspired coastal fashion and homewares, and Common Circus’s general store and cafe at Belmont, where you can browse chic homewares while sipping a seriously good coffee.

You can also take home a design-inspired souvenir from the Shop MAC gift store at the award-winning Museum of Arts and Culture yapang in Booragul, or visit the distillery door of Newcastle Distilling Co. at Warners Bay to pick up a bottle of bespoke vodka, gin, brandy or liqueur.

Browse for treats and treasure at a market

Visiting the lake on a weekend? Make sure you check out the regular local markets on the waterfront as well as away from the foreshore. Head to the Lake Macquarie City Farmers Market, which is held every Saturday from 7am in a large covered area at Stockland Glendale shopping centre, for freshly picked produce from local farmers as well as just-harvested oysters and other gourmet foods.

Take your time wandering around the more than 100 stalls of Homegrown Markets, which sprawls out over the grass expanses of Speers Point Park every first and third Sunday of the month from 10am.

Then there’s the Warners Bay Markets, which offers fashion, homewares, jewellery and more on the Warners Bay Foreshore from 9am every third Saturday, the Pelican Foreshore Markets at Pelican Foreshore Park near Blacksmiths, W yee Markets held every 2nd Saturday of the month at the Community Hall and Grounds and the Shop & Feast at Morisset, held on the first Saturday of the month, and the Lions Club of Toronto Monthly Markets in Toronto every third Sunday.