Now that you are all settled, having taken an apartment for rent in Berlin, do you want to know where to go shopping in Berlin? The German metropolis is packed with shopping possibilities, whether you prefer a straight-laced mall with high-street names or an open-air bohemian market.
This tour will walk you through some of Berlin’s best shopping areas. It includes some of the city’s best flea markets, as well as glamorous complexes that showcase high-end goods and more, as well as numerous legendary shopping boulevards.
- Kurfürstendamm
Kurfürstendamm, Berlin’s most renowned shopping street, is home to boutiques from an extensive list of notable fashion labels, including Versace, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Burberry, and Gucci. If you enjoy high-end fashion, this is the place to be in Berlin.
The Kurfürstendamm is equivalent to Berlin’s Champs-Élysées and Spain’s Las Ramblas. It stretches over 3.2 kilometres from end to end, cutting the capital in half, beginning at the south gate of the Tiergarten and finishing in the lake-dotted district of Halensee.
Strolling up and down this world-famous street will keep shoppers entertained. Amongst the plane trees, names like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Prada, and Gucci will flash past, while legendary places like the Hard Rock Café will call when thirst strikes. Kurfürstendamm also specialises in stylish fine dining and roadside cafés with a Parisian flair.
- Gropius Passagen
With 94,800 square metres (1,020,418 square feet), this is Berlin’s largest retail mall, with department stores, clothing stores, restaurants, and a cinema. Popular brands such as H&M, C&A, and G-Star Raw are available, as is a Kaufland supermarket. The shopping centre is situated south of Neukölln and north of Berlin Schönefeld Airport.
- Mall of Berlin
The Mall of Berlin is one of the largest contemporary retail malls in the German city. It spans a 500-metre-long block between lively Potsdamer Platz and lesser-known Wilhelmplatz, with approximately 300 businesses and services. The mall is open from 10am to 9pm, Monday through Saturday, and offers a comparable selection as Gropius Passagen, but with a few more upscale stores.
If you want to hit high-street names, this is the place to go. Several of Europe’s biggest brands, from Zara to H&M, are present, as are elite designer ateliers like Tommy Hilfiger and Armani. Did shopping make you hungry? Currywurst, Asian street cuisine, and ice cream abound at the food court, everything under one roof.
- Hackesche Höfe
The Hackesche Höfe is a bustling neighbourhood of the Mitte zone that has been a shopping destination for Germans since it opened in 1906. It’s a few bends north of the Spree from Alexanderplatz, with the entrance rising slightly above Rosenthaler Street.
The magnificent Art Nouveau exteriors are likely to be the first thing you notice. Those are August Endell’s original Jugendstil designs. Pass beneath them to access a labyrinth of little courtyards where leather goods merchants coexist with creative idea workshops. There are also plenty of cafés packed with students to add to the atmosphere.
- Boxhagener Platz Market
Boxhagener Platz Market is a haven for bargain seekers looking for unusual and eccentric items to add to their collections. It’s a once-weekly market held on its eponymous plaza, Boxhagener Platz, which is one of the primary gathering places in Berlin’s hipster district of Friedrichshain.
By 10 a.m., the market is generally in full flow. It’s a jumbled collection of kiosks selling anything from vinyl records to dusty old books. You never know what you’ll find when you search around. After that, walk south to Gabriel-Max-Strasse, which is lined with craft beer booths and cosmopolitan cafes.
- Potsdamer Platz Arkaden
Potsdamer Platz Arkaden is a significant commercial district in Mitte, Berlin. Under a gleaming glass roof, the complex spreads in a series of light-flooded thoroughfares that connect Tilla-Durieux Park in the south to the eponymous Potsdamer Platz in the north.
There is an estimated 40,000 square metres of shop space within. There is a genuinely unusual mix of retail enterprises filling that space, ranging from wrapping paper stores and health food stores to pharmacies and opticians.
With its German bierkeller and sleek Italian pizza places, the onsite food hall is a hit with diners.
- Arkonaplatz Flea Market
If you’re looking for something more traditional and maybe more entertaining, check out Berlin’s flea markets. You may discover almost everything here, including antiques, rare recordings, and other intriguing goods.
Arkonaplatz Flea Market is a historic market that attracts a weird and odd assortment of booths. It has been in operation for at least 100 years and continues to operate from the same position on the extreme north-eastern part of the Mitte area.
Teacups, antique candelabras, long-forgotten artworks, fading pictures, and wartime treasures are among the curious items on display at Arkonaplatz Flea Market. Even if you’re not looking to purchase, it’s a terrific place to be. There’s great people-watching, especially if you get a seat in one of the wonderful coffee shops on the square’s south side.
- Markthalle Neun
Markthalle Neun is one of 14 trading venues constructed in Berlin in the 1800s. It’s also one of the most successful, as it’s still operating from a position on the Spree’s south bank, right off Lausitzer Platz in hip and happening Kreuzberg.
The biggest draw is the cuisine. You may munch your way through a variety of inventive goodies, such as tofu stir-fries, artisan bread, and Italian salamis, to mention a few. Delicatessens sell products from all around Germany and Europe, as well as specialty coffee beans and fine wines. It’s definitely one for the foodies.
- Neukölln
Neukölln is more than simply a terrific spot to shop; it’s also a Berlin neighbourhood. It flows south from Kreuzberg to the capital’s far southern outskirts, where it finally empties into the Dahme’s canals.
Stick to the northern areas of the neighbourhood, right off the Sonnenallee, for shopping. There are eccentric vintage emporiums like Let Them Eat Cake, intricate antique merchants like Amira, and several Arabic jewellers on the streets. If you head over to Karl-Marx-Strasse, you can also do some high-street shopping.
- Thai Park
Thai Park is holy territory for any seasoned Berlin eater. Preussenpark, as it is officially named, is located in a small piece of residential Wilmersdorf on the extreme south-western edge of town. What is the name of the game? Thai street food.
This little patch of grass is host to one of Europe’s largest gatherings of Thai chefs. They come every day of the week to sell wonderful Southeast Asian staples. The papaya salad, peanut-topped pad Thai noodles, and coconut
massaman curries are standouts. You may also get important Thai cuisine items that are difficult to find elsewhere in Germany’s capital city.
- Unter den Linden
Unter den Linden is possibly Germany’s most renowned street. It is little under 2 kilometres long and connects Museum Island on the Spree to the Brandenburg Gate in the centre of Berlin. There isn’t a more iconic location to fill the bags.
Understandably, the majority of the retail here is upmarket. Fashionable apparel stores and custom tailors coexist alongside artisan chocolatiers and large banks to provide a diverse and elite mix of establishments. There are also a few small delicatessens where you can stock up on supplies for the obligatory picnic in the neighbouring Tiergarten.