Shopping Centre shopping in Europe
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Powerscourt Centre
This upmarket shopping mall in an 18th-century town house is where discerning shoppers quietly visit boutiques, beauty salons and the 1st-floor art, craft and antique shops. The Design Centre and FCUK are also here, as is a great vegetarian restaurant and a wig store. The courtyard Powerscourt Cafe is a pleasant spot to gather yourself.
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Alexa
Power shoppers love this XXL-sized mega-mall that cuts a rose-hued presence near Alexanderplatz. Besides the usual mainstream retailers, there's also a store by German rapper Bushido, the Kindercity interactive indoor playground and Loxx, the world's largest model railway.
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Stadsfeestzaal
The 19th-century neoclassical architecture of this former city festival hall is jaw-dropping, particularly when viewed from the champagne-glass-shaped platform rising beneath its glass roof. It contains a shopping mall, but the building is the real star.
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Centre Commercial La Part-Dieu
Adjacent to the Part-Dieu train station, Lyon's vast indoor shopping centre is dominated by a pencil-shaped tower nicknamed le crayon.
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Bridge Mills
A general purpose shopping centre in an old mill building by the river at the western end of William O'Brien Bridge.
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TsUM
This purely Soviet monolith is where you should head when replacing any lost or damaged essentials.
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El Corte Inglés
For general shopping, trendy clothes and shoes, try pedestrianised El Corte Inglés.
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Fünf Höfe
Munich usually feels more cosy than cosmopolitan, but one exception is the Fünf Höfe, a ritzy shopping arcade whose modernist design is as interesting as the fancy flagship and concept stores lining its passageways. There's plenty of steel and glass, fountains and public art as well as a great 'hanging garden' with real vines dangling from the ceiling.
Shopping options include Armani, Alessi, D&G and even a branch of the Japanese department store Muji. Cafés invite refuelling and people-watching, and there's also the Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, an art space with high-calibre changing exhibits. Entrances to the Fünf Höfe are on Theatinerstrasse, Salvatorstrasse, …
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Samovodska Charshiya Complex
Roughly opposite the Hotel Bolyarski, ul Rakovski veers upwards from the main road, ul Stambolov. On and behind it is the Samovodska Charshiya Complex, the town's historic centre of craftsmanship; blacksmiths, potters and gunsmiths, among other artisans, still practice their trades here. The numerous bookshops and purveyors of antiques, jewellery and art are also housed in appealing Bulgarian National Revival houses.
It's a great place for shopping, or just a stroll, as is the equally appealing old residential quarter of Varosha just above it.At the beginning of ul Rakovski, a prominent map signposts the name and location of each shop in the charshiya, in both Bulgarian a…
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Nový Smíchov
Nový Smíchov is a vast shopping centre that occupies an area the size of several city blocks. It’s an airy, well-designed space with plenty of fashion boutiques and niche-market stores – for example, you could check out Profimed, which has all the dental-care products you never knew you needed. Besides all the big brand names, there’s also a large computer store, a food court, a virtual games hall, a bowling alley, a 12-screen multiplex cinema and a huge, well-stocked Tesco hypermarket.
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Vinohradský Pavilon
Housed in a lovingly restored 1902 market pavilion, this small but searingly trendy mall – completely refurbished in 2006 – has three floors of brand-name boutiques (including Tommy Hilfiger, Sergio Tacchini, La Perla), Sony electronics, jewellery, shoes and household goods. There’s a very good café on the ground floor run by the Ambiente local restaurant group. Oh, and it has that obligatory adjunct to all Prague shopping malls – there’s a supermarket located in the basement.
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La Vallée Village
This shopping centre within the Disneyland Resort, 30km east of Paris, contains some 75 big-name outlets (Christian Lacroix, Kenzo, Versace et al) offering discounts on last season’s clothing, accessories and tableware. From Paris, take RER line A4 (€5.60, 30 to 35 minutes) to the Val d’Europe station. Alternatively, Cityrama Tuileries) three times weekly, departing at 10.15am and returning at 4pm; book in advance.
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Stadsfeestzaal
The 19th-century neoclassical architecture of this former city festival hall is jaw-dropping, particularly when viewed from the champagne-glass-shaped platform rising beneath its glass roof. The historic building was gutted by fire in 2001, and reopened in late 2007 as an ultra-upmarket shopping mall extending from the Meir south to Hopland, but the luxe boutiques are a bonus – the restored building is the real star.
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Altmarkt Galerie
The Altmarkt area is Dresden’s historic centre and the starting point for most visitors, though it’s still undergoing considerable renovations. Many restaurants have set up streetside tables, and when markets aren’t operating it’s nice to sit outside and gaze across the square. The modern glass Altmarkt Galerie shopping centre is also excellent.
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McArthur Glen
Most factory-outlet stores are situated in two main zones. One is Pont Sainte Marie, about 3km northeast of Troyes' city centre along rue Marc Verdier, which links av Jean Jaurès (the N77 to Châlons-en-Champagne) with av Jules Guesde (the D960 to Nancy). McArthur Glen is a huge strip mall with 84 shops. Adjacent Marques City (%03 25 46 37 48; www.marquescity.com) brings together 30 more stores.
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Friedrichstadtpassagen
Get your mitts on international couture, edgy Berlin fashions, gourmet treats and other goodies in this strikingly designed and interlinked trio of ritzy shopping complexes (called Quartiere). Don’t miss Jean Nouvel’s shimmering glass funnel inside the Galeries Lafayette, the dazzlingly patterned art-deco-style Quartier 206 and John Chamberlain’s tower made from crushed automobile parts in Quartier 205.
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Atrium
This slick new shopping arcade is three stories of useful shops, including clothing and accessories, sporting goods, toys and luggage. It is one of Moscow's more practical places to shop as it is not as exclusive as some of the more centrally located shopping malls. The mall contains a large Arbat Prestige store (a cosmetics boutique), a massive children's play centre and plenty of places to eat.
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Niki de Sainte Phalle Promenade
Hanover's compact city centre makes it ideal for shopping, although most of what you will find is modern, international fashion. The Niki de Sainte Phalle Promenade - a subterranean shopping strip running below Bahnhofstrasse - is a good place to shop. In addition, a pedestrianised zone full of shops extends south from the Hauptbahnhof, along Bahnhofstrasse, Georgstrasse and Karmarschstrasse.
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Central Hali Shopping Centre
This elegant, covered market hall, built in 1911, has three floors of shops and cafés. Stalls on the ground floor sell varied produce, including fruit, vegetables, pastries, wine and cheese. Upstairs there’s a cheap food court and more shops. The centre also holds a pharmacy, post office, bank and ATMs. Despite the posted opening times, the place is invariably closed before 10pm.
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Palác Flóra
You could be anywhere in the capitalist world in this shiny, glittering shrine to consumerism. Slick cafés share floor space with girly emporia of tiny T-shirts, sparkly make-up and globalised brand names (Hilfiger, Sergio Tacchini, Nokia, Puma, Lacoste, Guess, Diesel, Apple), a full food court, an eight-screen multiplex and an IMAX cinema that keep the crowds coming in the evenings.
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Chiado
The Chiado, a wedge of wide streets between Rua do Crucifixo and Rua da Misericórdia, is elegantly 18th century, with upmarket shops and cafés. It leads up to the contrastingly weblike Bairro Alto (upper district), a fashionable 17th-century residential quarter, now the Lisbon Soho with one-off designers, vintage boutiques, record shops, restaurants and boho bars and cafés.
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Rua 5 de Outubro
Rua 5 de Outubro has rows of artesanatos (handicrafts shops) selling pottery, knick-knacks and cork products of every kind - postcards, wine bottles, hats, shoes, even umbrellas made of cork. The shady side of the mercado municipal is a good spot for finding cheaper pottery. There are more upmarket shops along Rua Cândido dos Reis, northwest of the centre.
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Kanyon
The ritzy Kanyon is home to multinational names such as Harvey Nichols, Wagamama, Georg Jensen, Le Pain Quotidien, Birkenstock, Mango and Mandarina Duck. It also has a few locally based stores, including Vakko, Ottoman Empire (funky T-shirts screen-printed with Ottoman-influenced motifs) and Remzi Kitabevi (an excellent chain bookstore with a big English-language selection).
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St John's Shopping Centre
The largest shopping centre in Liverpool, St John's is smack-bang in the heart of the city. With over 100 shops and a food court, there's no need to see the light of day.
Some might grudge the exaggerated role shopping plays in the cultural life of Liverpool, but there's no arguing with the popularity of this giant complex. Come and see scouser mall-folk at play.
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Galleria Alberto Sordi
This elegant stained-glass arcade appeared in Alberto Sordi’s 1973 classic, Polvere di Stelle, and has since been renamed for Rome’s favourite actor, who died in 2003. It’s a serene place to browse stores such as Zara, AVC, Feltrinelli, Coccinelle, Gusella and the Bridge, and there’s an airy café ideal for a quick coffee break.
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