Berlin is a great shopping city and you can find anything you want. But keep in mind that you’ll pay less for goods made in Germany and the European Union than for goods imported to Germany from the United States. German porcelain, china, crystal, and cutlery, for example, are prized for their quality, and their prices are lower here than in the United States.

The main shopping boulevard in the western part of Berlin is the famous Ku’Damm (short for Kurfürstendamm). Quality stores, in addition to stores carrying souvenirs and T-shirts, line the street. The specialty stores on the side streets around the Ku’Damm, especially between Breitscheidplatz and Olivaer Platz, are good shopping grounds.

Another good shopping street in western Berlin, close to Ku’Damm, is Tauentzienstrasse and its intersecting streets: Marburger Strasse, Ranke Strasse, and Nürnberger Strasse. Europa Center (Tauentzienstrasse), Berlin’s first shopping mall, dating back to the 1960s, contains dozens of shops joined by restaurants and cafes. Neues Kranzler Eck, an upscale, outdoor retail “passage” created right on the Ku’Damm at Joachimstaler Strasse, is newer and trendier.

The Uhland-Passage, at Uhlandstrasse 170, has some of the best boutiques and big-name stores in Berlin. Shoppers interested in quality at any price head to Kempinski Plaza (Uhlandstrasse 181-183), home to some of the most exclusive boutiques in the city, including haute-couture women’s clothing. You find trendier boutiques along Bleibtreustrasse.

The Potsdamer Platz Arkaden (U-/S-Bahn: Potsdamer Platz), one of the most comprehensive shopping malls in Berlin, contains over 100 shops scattered over three levels. Unter den Linden is emphatically not a shopping street, but Friedrichstrasse is. This was the main shopping street in eastern Berlin (now Mitte) before World War II and before the Wall. It has regained its former prominence and is decidedly upscale.

Berlin Flea Markets

A flea market in Germany is called a Trödelmarkt or a Flohmarkt. There are over 50 of them scattered around the city, some dedicated to antiques and books, others to clothes, kitsch, and whatnots. The Flohmarkt Boxhagen Platz (Boxhagen Platz; S-Bahn: Frankfurter Tor), is a favorite Sundayshop-and-stroll spot for Berliners, who come to find pieces of kitsch, nostalgia, sort-of antiques, and used clothing. The market is open every Sunday from 10am to 6pm. In Mitte, behind the Bode Museum on Museum Island, the Antik- und Buchmarkt am Bode Museum (Kupfergraben 1; S-Bahn: Friedrichstrasse), is open Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 5pm and sells a mishmash of books, antiques and collectibles. Another market to check out if you’re in Mitte on Sunday between 10am and 4pm is Flohmarkt am Arkonaplatz (Arkonaplatz; U-Bahn: Bernauer Strasse), where you can browse for clothing and bric-a-brac. If nothing catches your fancy, just take a seat at one of the many cafes around Arkonaplatz and enjoy the scene in one of Berlin’s hippest neighborhoods. For the locations of other Berlin flea markets, visit www.visitberlin.de.

 

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.