One of the top priorities when relocating to another city is to identify the shopping opportunities the exciting new city has to offer.
Berlin is one of the cities offering a truly enjoyable shopping experience due to the variety of options available for all standards and budgets: traditional and new department stores, modern shopping malls, luxury designer shops or small handcraft manufactures, flea and antique markets and bargain stores – they are all here for you to enjoy! And they are all over the city making it so easy and convenient!
From classic German brands such as Karl Lagerfeld, Jil Sander and Wolfgang Joop to Esprit, Escada, Hugo Boss, Adidas and Puma to many international established names in the fashion industry as well as small designer shops or concept stores that are less known to the large audience but very famous among berliners, Berlin is home to a large spectrum of fashion stores to discover and explore. Simply put: Berlin is a shopping paradise!
Department Stores and Shopping Malls in Berlin
In almost every district of Berlin there is a department store where you can usually find of the most common brands and various other stores for groceries or others.
The luxurious shopping center KaDeWe located at the meeting point between Schöneberg and Charlottenburghas from the beginning designed as a superior department store, targeting the upper class offering not only luxurious products but also o gourmet department spread on an entire floor. An alternative to KaDeWe is Lafayette Galleries, which of course is a branch of the luxurious Parisian department store, located in the City East at Friedrichstraße corner Französische Straße. From high-fashion clothing, especially from France but also from international brands to young fashion designers, Lafayette Galleries offers a veritable international shopping experience.
Schönhauser Allee Arcadenis an easily distinguishable shopping center in the area mostly known for small, specialized and exclusive shops (Prenzlauer Berg). Offering about 100 shops the architecturally charming complex hosts various cafes and relaxing areas. Another interestingly looking shopping mall is Das Schloss(The Castle) comprising more than hundred shops and services arranged over four floors and offering a great variety of brands, products and services. Potsdamer Platz Arcades is another very attractive shopping mall offering a pleasant airy area of approximately 40,000 square meters full of all sorts of stores. Wilmersdorfer Arcarden is a modern shopping center in Charlottenburg. Next to Alexanderplatz,Alexa Shopping Mall is a center providing a 50,000 sqm shopping area of fashion and accessory shops, bookshops and electronic goods shops as well as various restaurants. Dussmann Culture Department Store is a shopping center focusing solely on culture related products, being centrally located cloe to Brandenburger Tor. The Europa-Center opened at Breitscheidplatz is a centrally located shopping center offering a wide range of restaurants, companies retail shops varying from clothing, jewelries, bookshops, electronics, cosmetics and travel.
Apart from the mentioned locations, Berlin hosts a great number of other smaller shopping malls spread all over its districts, making shopping an affordable and convenient experience.
Shopping streets in Berlin
Shopping in berlin can be a delight for those who prefer wandering on the streets and discovering the hidden treasures in the form of local designers stores or less “commercial”, (nonconformist) brands. Plenty interesting stores are to be found down narrow alleys or courtyards by those who have the eyes open and a driving curiosity. If you find this appealing, you should start your journey in Mitte, the center of former East Berlin where little design shops and concept stores are spread all over the area. From Soto, which brings together an impressive range of hard, to find elsewhere brands, such as Band of Outsiders, Norse Projects and Our Legacy, to Happy Shop where brightly colored items from brands such as Meadham Kirchhoff or Bernhard Willhelm can be found or the minimalist store Apartment.Sabrina Dehoff, Mykita, Konk, Kaviar Gauche and Andreas Murkudisare only some of the stores you should not miss in this area along with having a coffee and a snack at one of the multitude of fashionable little cafes that stud the area. At the other end of the spectrum, the charming Kurfürstendamm Avenue, which is also one of the famous ones in Berlin, runs for 3.5 km (2.2 mi) through the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district and hosts a large number of luxury outlets such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermès, Giorgio Armani, Ermenegildo Zegna, Bally, Prada, Burberry, Yves Saint Laurent, Jil Sander, Gucci, Valentino, Cartier, Versace and Dolce & Gabbana.
Flea & Antique Markets in Berlin
Next to the fancy and glamorous shopping malls and the small charming shopping areas packed up with designer shops and concept stores, Berlin is also great for art and vintage items hunters. Its many flea and antique markets offer a delightful experience to those loving the dusty cotton, the noise of leather cracking and which enjoy digging through piles of vintage clothing and rare books to find the perfect item. In your treasure seeking adventure you should definitely stop by Museumsinsel, whithin walking distance fromFriedrichstraße S-Bahn station, Moritzplatz, known for a place where you can find second hand everything, Arkonaplatz in Prenzlauer Berg offering an authentic Berlin experience, Berliner Trodelmarkt, one of the city’s oldest ones, Das Alte Bureau, perfect if looking for antiques and Berliner Antik und Flohmarkt, a very popular antique and flea market located in Mitte. Of course there are many others to be discovered as you get to know the city and your way around.
Finally, one day spent shopping around and visiting several shopping hot spots around the city can easily turn into a nightmare (time-consuming and exhausting). Our suggestion is to use the DriveNow service in order to get around the city, make sure you check all the places on your list and of course carry the purchased products safely!
So.. enjoy the Berlin shopping experience!
