The Five Best Places To Buy Stuff You Actually Like: A Guide To Shopping In Europe

We teamed up with our well-travelled friends at Contiki to bring you a fail-safe guide for some of Europe’s best and most unexpected shopping destinations.

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A lot of shopping in Europe is kind of underwhelming; you buy some trashtastic fridge magnets for the folks, maybe some duty-free booze for your friends, and the only souvenirs you can afford for yourself are a few museum postcards and your plane ticket stubs. But with a little bit of planning and foresight you can skip the Eiffel Tower keyrings and Big Ben tea-towels and instead bring home something truly unique for a surprisingly low price. Here are the best spots in Europe to buy stuff you actually want.

(Feature image via Simon & His Camera on a Flickr Creative Commons licence.)

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Records: London, England

Could you go shopping for music anywhere else in Europe? London was the epicentre of punk music; the city that brought dub, reggae and ska to white people’s ears; and the place where dance music’s pioneers have forged new sounds since the 80s. No matter what your tastes are, if you love music, there’s something for you in London.

To fill those gaps in your collection, let your genre interests determine your itinerary. For jazz, soul, reggae, and hip hop, visit the legendary Honest Jon’s (278 Portobello Road, W10 5TE). For more cutting-edge dance sounds, head to Phonica (51 Poland Street, W1F 7LZ). And for indie-rock mixed with a wide selection of other genres, plus a lovely café, look no further than Rough Trade East (91 Brick Lane, E1 6QL), a huge 5000+ square foot temple to recorded music.

Top tip: Suitcases can be brutal to 12″ records, particularly if you have a long way to go before home. Consider buying a record mailer to protect your haul before packing them up.

(Image via Paul Hudson on a Flickr Creative Commons licence.)

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Shoes: Lisbon, Portugal

 

Lisbon isn’t the first place you might think of for shopping, what with all of the doom and gloom about sovereign debt and the lingering effects of the recession. But what you’ll find in Lisbon is anything but doom and gloom – Lisbon is a vibrant city that parties on despite its difficulties, and the people who live there are as well-dressed as Parisians or Florentines. And they always have immaculate shoes.

For exquisite hand-made shoes for both men and women, visit Sapateria do Carmo (Largo do Carmo 26), one of Lisbon’s oldest shoe shops. If you’re a man after something formal with a fashion-forward edge, don’t hesitate to stroll in to The Lisbon Walker (Rua da Madalena 68), a delightful boutique that specialises in hand-made men’s shoes and belts who are also happy to throw in a bottle of wine with your purchase. For whip-smart street footwear, visit the so-cool-it-hurts Sneakers Delight (Rua do Norte 30–32).

Top tip: Strolling around hilly Lisbon is hard work. If you find yourself in need of a breather, duck into Ginginha do Carmo (Calçada do Carmo 37) for an espresso and a cheeky nip of ginja (a Portuguese sour cherry liqueur), or Manteigaria (Rua do Loreto 2) for arguably the city’s best pastéis de nata (Portuguese custard tarts).

(Image via Rustam Aliyev on a Flickr Creative Commons licence.)

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Jewellery: Venice, Italy

Let’s start with the bad news: shopping in Venice is something of a nightmare. Because Venice attracts so many tourists, many of its shops sell cheap crap – think tacky carnevale masks or imitation Burano lace made in Hong Kong. Don’t even think about shopping for Murano glass unless you’re an expert – the number of competing certification schemes make trying to sort out the fakes from the real deal almost impossible unless you have the cash to splash on some Venini originals.

Venice does, however, harbour a few great jewellery designers whose work remains inimitable. The most famous of these is Gioielleria Attilio Condognato (San Marco 1295, Calle dell’Ascensione), a family business that specialises in macabre memento mori such as rings with openable coffins and luxe skull brooches. At prices starting around 2000€ per piece, though, this might be more of a window shopping experience.

For something more affordable but no less unique, head to Antonio Massaruto Sculture (San Polo 2279/B, corner Rio Terrà Primo and Rio Terrà Secondo) where you can pick up some wonderful pieces starting at a more reasonable 100€, or for more traditionally Venetian cameo rings, brooches, and coral pieces, drop by Eredi Jovon (San Marco 5325, Ponte di Rialto) where items start from around 40€.

Top tip: When shopping in Venice, try to make up your mind on your first visit to a shop – you might never find it again in Venice’s labyrinthine streets.

(Image via Kuster & Wildhaber Photography on a Flickr Creative Commons licence.)

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Champagne: Épernay and surrounding villages, France

If you want to bring back some real-deal champagne for the folks at home, Paris isn’t going to cut it – with the exchange rate as it is now, you’ll fork out almost as much for a bottle of Moët there as you would here in Australia.

To bag a real bubbly bargain, take the train east from Paris to Épernay, one of the two big centres of champagne production. Here you can find a mind-boggling array of champagne producers you’ve never heard of because their product doesn’t make it out of France. The best part is that the bottles of these brands are usually high-quality and often absurdly cheap (starting from 10–15€ per bottle).

The tiny villages that surround Épernay are the beating heart of the Champagne region, and the home to some of its best bargains. Try renting a car and visiting as many as you can, particularly Ay, Cumières, and Le-Mesnil-Sur-Oger – you’ll discover any number of tiny producers willing to give you samples of their excellent drops. Hautvillers deserves a special mention for being the resting place of the famous winemaker/monk Dom Pérignon – if you drive through, drop in to G. Tribaut (88 Rue Eguisheim) to sample some of the village’s best.

Top tip: If you’d like to do a cellar tour in Épernay, consider skipping Moët & Chandon or Pol Roger for Mercier (68–70 Avenue de Champagne), France’s most popular Champagne brand, which has an excellent cellar tour and dirt-cheap bottle prices at the cellar door.

(Image via Dan Dickinson on a Flickr Creative Commons licence.)

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Woodwork and ceramics: Granada, Spain

Granada’s rich history quite literally looms over the city: it’s hard to escape the hulking fortress of the Alhambra, which has previously served as a palace for, respectively, Jewish, Moorish, and Christian rulers of Granada. The interior of the Alhambra is an amazing feat of workmanship, coated in soul-stirringly beautiful stone, ceramic, and wood artefacts – make sure you visit it.

Those traditions of craftsmanship live on in the shops of Granada. If you’d like to deck your home like a Nasrid palace, drop in to Artesanía del Árbol (Calle Antequeruela Alta 1) to pick up some stunning taracea woodwork, ranging from small tchotchke boxes to sideboards and coffee tables. (The owner is happy to arrange international shipping for you.) For authentic Granadan ceramics, visit Fajalauza (Carretera de Murcia 15), which has been operating since 1640. For other homewares such as fabrics and leather, stroll through the historic Albayzín (Moorish district) and pop into the stores that interest you.

Top tip: The stores of the Albayzín are more like a Moroccan marketplace than a Spanish shopping mall – you can, and should, haggle with the owners for the best deal.

(Image via Harshil Shah on a Flickr Creative Commons licence.)

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If you’re in need of a bit of shopping therapy outside your local Westfield, head over to Contiki and check out their eight Ways to travel through Europe. Whether you’re a high energy shop till-you-drop-type or you prefer easy pace excursions, they’ve got a trip style that’s perfect for you.

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Chad Parkhill is a Melbourne-based writer and editor. He is the Program and Production Coordinator for the Emerging Writers’ Festival, and has written for  The Australian, The Lifted Brow, Killings (the blog of Kill Your Darlings), Meanjin and The Quietus amongst others.