La Rambla & Barri Gòtic
Step inside this enchanting vintage boutique for beautifully crafted apparel from the past, mostly sourced from local homes: 18th-century embroidered silk…
Must-see shopping in Europe
Vesterbro & Frederiksberg
Unisex, multi-brand Kyoto pulls cool hunters with its awesome edits of mostly Nordic labels: think hardy S.N.S. Herning knits, Wrench Monkey shirts, Norse…
Kyiv
The ‘biggest store selling Ukrainian brands in the world’ (as it markets itself) is strategically set on the central bul Khreshchatyk. Set over four…
Copenhagen
Design fans hyperventilate over this sprawling department store, its four floors packed with all things Nordic and beautiful. You'll find everything from…
Budapest
One of the biggest flea markets in Central Europe, Ecseri sells everything from antique jewellery and Soviet army watches to Fred Astaire–style top hats.
Milan
A team of creatives have breathed new life into this formerly abandoned 16th-century monastery. Now an atmospheric design space, it's composed of a bistro…
San Lorenzo & San Marco
Vintage couture for men and women is what this extraordinary rabbit warren of a boutique – surely the city's largest collection of vintage – is about…
Venice
Transform any home with these locally woven, strikingly original Venetian linens. Whimsical cushions feature chubby purple rhinoceroses and grumpy scarlet…
Historic Mitte
Follow your nose to this scent-sational made-in-Berlin perfume boutique, where a 'scent test' reveals if you're the floral, fruity, woody, or oriental type…
Vilnius
The tools, materials, processes and final results of a whole range of traditional crafts – weaving, papermaking, bookbinding, leather-working,…
Old Town
The stunning medieval lane of Katariina Käik is home to the Katariina Guild, comprising eight artisans’ studios where you can happily browse the work of…
Paris
If you only get to one open-air street market in Paris, this one – stretching between the Bastille and Richard Lenoir metro stations – is among the very…
Lviv
This award-winning gingerbread shop is a must-see, even if you are on a sugar-free diet. The delicious tooth-rotters are decorated in everything from…
Tridente, Trevi & the Quirinale
Opened by designer Cristina Bomba over four decades ago, this gorgeous boutique is now operated by her fashion-designing children Caterina (womenswear)…
Laugavegur & Skólavörðustígur
This is where Reykjavík goes high fashion, with labels such as Marc Jacobs and Vivienne Westwood. But we really enjoy its Scandinavian designers …
Tridente, Trevi & the Quirinale
Rome’s best-known shoe designer, Fausto Santini is famous for his beguilingly simple, architectural shoe designs, realised in boots and shoes made with…
San Polo & Santa Croce
A nonprofit cooperative runs this little shop, selling goods made by inmates of Venice's prisons as part of a social reintegration program. The toiletries…
Monti, Esquilino & San Lorenzo
Sublimely cut and whimsically retro-esque, Tina Sondergaard's handmade creations for women are a hit with the local fashion cognoscenti. Styles change by…
La Latina & Lavapiés
One of Europe’s most creative jewellery designers, Helena Rohner has a spacious boutique in La Latina. Working with silver, stone, porcelain, wood and…
Oxford
The most famous bookshop in the most studenty of cities, Blackwell’s is, with its vast range of literature, treatises and guilty pleasures, a book-lover’s…
Reykjavík
Kolaportið is a Reykjavík institution. Weekends see a huge industrial building by the harbour filled with a vast tumble of secondhand clothes, old toys…
Milan
Brainchild of Sardinian fashion designer Antonio Marras, this eccentric concept store has an almost cinematic feel. Hidden in an ivy-draped courtyard, the…
Vatican City, Borgo & Prati
This family-run deli is a fantasyland of Italian edibles. Whole prosciutto hams hang in profusion. Cheeses, olive oil, dried pasta, balsamic vinegar, wine…
Stockholm
An ultraclassy department store founded in 1902, NK (Nordiska Kompaniet) is a city landmark – you can see its rotating neon sign from most parts of…
Corso Magenta & Sant'Ambrogio
Installed in a former tie factory not far from Corso Magenta, this iconic interior-design studio is a challenge to find. Once inside, though, it's hard to…
Madrid
The extraordinary tiled facade of this wonderful old shop conceals an Aladdin’s cave of ceramics from all over Spain. This is not the mass-produced stuff…
Kyiv
Kyiv's beautiful, light-filled, central market, built in 1910–12 for traders coming to Kyiv from Bessarabia, is not to be missed. The arrangements of…
Salamanca
This boutique has to be seen to be believed, with pinks, yellows and oranges everywhere you turn. It’s fun and exuberant, but not just for kids. It also…
Neukölln
At this lively canal-side market, thrifty kids mix it up with Turkish-Germans and pram-pushing mums. Stock up on olives, creamy cheese spreads, crusty…
Kraków
Highly atmospheric book emporium selling English-language fiction and nonfiction, both new and secondhand. There’s a cafe area with loads of character,…
Murano, Burano & the Northern Islands
Nason Moretti has been making modernist magic happen in glass since the 1950s, and the third-generation glass designers are in fine form in this showroom…
Venice
Kids and adults alike are thrilled at the magical, miniature insects, butterflies, shells and birds that Vittorio Costantini fashions out of glass using a…
Helsinki
Originally founded by architects and designers Alvar Aalto and his wife Aino Aalto in 1935, this iconic Finnish company maintains the simple design…
Brussels
This stylish bookshop located down an alley has a small but classy English-language section. Check the website for forthcoming literary events, many of…
Reykjavík
Talented designers show their works at this long-running women’s art-and-design collective. Highlights include the bracelets and purses made from soft,…
Budapest
‘Death by chocolate’ has arrived in Budapest by way of Gyula, a city in Hungary’s southeast where the delectable handmade filled bonbons sold here are…
Copenhagen
Rolf Hay’s fabulous interior-design store sells its own coveted line of furniture, textiles and design objects, as well as those of other fresh,…
L'Eixample
You never know when you might need flowers, and this vast, packed-to-the-rafters florist never closes. Established in 1960, it has two spaces on Carrer de…
Old Town
Archetypal of Tallinn's amber-suspended medieval beauty, this cobbled 13th-century courtyard offers rich pickings – a cosy chocolaterie-cafe, a guesthouse…
Murano, Burano & the Northern Islands
Mind-boggling miniatures are the trademarks of this Murano glass-blower, but you’ll also find some dramatic departures: chiselled cobalt-blue vases,…
