Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Left
In the Europa-Center
Centre
Inside Galeries Lafayette
Right
A stand selling souvenirs
Shopping
Shopping Streets
Kurfürstendamm,
Tauentzienstraße and
Friedrichstraße are the
main three shopping
streets in Berlin. You'll
find inexpensive shops
around Tauentzienstraße
and Alexanderplatz.
Friedrichstraße with the
“Friedrichstadtpassagen”
shopping centre and the
Galeries Lafayette depart-
ment store as well as the
west side of Ku'damm
are decidedly upmarket -
which is reflected in the
prices. A good mix of
shops can be found in
the arcades at Potsdamer
Platz, Schlossstraße in
the south of Berlin and
the Gesundbrunnen-
center in the north.
Consumer
Protection
If you feel that you are
not being treated fairly or
if a product you have
bought proves to be
faulty (and an exchange
is refused), you can
contact the consumer
protection association.
d
Verbraucherzentrale
Berlin, Bayreuther Str. 40
•
9am-12:30pm Mon, 9am--
4:30 Tue, Fri, 9am-8pm
Wed
•
(030) 21 48 50
Sales
End-of-season sales
take place at the end of
January and the end of
July. But you'll be able to
find bargains throughout
the year in the depart-
ment stores and shops,
often laid out on special
stands right next to the
main entrance.
Dussmann (
see p119)
, at
Kiepert as well as in the
Kaufhaus des Westens or
KaDeWe (
see p60)
.
Gifts and
Souvenirs
If you're looking for gifts
and souvenirs to take
home, try the Europa-
Center (
see p24)
and the
KaDeWe (
see p60)
. There
are also souvenir shops
in Unter den Linden (near
Pariser Platz), on Pots-
damer Platz as well as at
Checkpoint Charlie.
Art and Antiques
Most antiques shops
are clustered south of
Nollendorfplatz (
see p104)
and in the smaller streets
off Kurfürstendamm.
However, the flea and art
fair on the Straße des
17 Juni (
see p60)
and the
antiques shops in the
S-Bahn arches between
Friedrichstraße and
Museumsinsel are often
much better value and
offer a wider range of
goods and antiques.
Opening Hours
Normally, all shops
are open between 10am
and 8pm on Mondays to
Fridays; on Saturdays
many open at 9am, but
close at 4pm. In the four
weeks before Christmas,
shops are allowed to
stay open until 6pm.
During special events
(for example during the
IFA International Broad-
casting Exhibition or the
Berlinale Film Festival)
special opening hours
may be in force.
Fashion
The best fashion and
designer stores, selling
coveted labels such as
Gucci, Versace, Jil San-
der, DKNY or Prada, can
be found on the west
side of Ku'damm and in
Friedrichstraße. Kaufhaus
des Westens sells a good
large range of ladies' and
gentlemen's fashions
(see p60).
Around Berlin
In Potsdam as in
other small towns, there
are many excellent places
to shop for arts and crafts
items or clothes. A good
place for bargain hunters
is the “B96” shopping
centre, situated on the
national road with the
same number. Here many
fashionable items are
sold at heavily discount-
ed prices. d
B96, exit
Elstal
•
10am-8pm Mon-Fri,
9am-4pm Sat
Music
Apart from large
multi-media and CD-store
chains such as WOM
(Karstadt, Wertheim), Sa-
turn, MediaMarkt, Pro-
markt and Kaufhof, you
will find a vast selection
of CDs at Kulturkaufhaus
How to Pay
Most shops in the
city centre accept credit
cards such as Visa, Euro/-
Mastercard and American
Express, less commonly
Diner's Club. Almost all
shops take EC-cards.
For more on shops & markets
see pp60-1
170
