As we are campers (while in North America, anyway) supermarket tourism is a way of life for us. While in Scotland years ago, we discovered the William Low's between Perth and Crieff (I believe it's no longer there) and were knocked out to find an entire aisle of chocolate biscuits (e.g. Club and Penguins). I also noted that the high-fat fresh cream sold in Marks & Sparks (for ladling onto fresh fruit, etc.) is higher (48% or 54%, I think) than the highest I can get in Canada (about 45%) -- Markies or otherwise. I guess someone cares about Canadian arteries...

Forgot to mention -- it was very hard to find peanut butter in Scotland. There was one brand (Sunlight or Sunrise or something like that) available in a tiny jar. (I was looking for familiar foods for a fussy two-year-old at the time, not trying to replicate home, btw.)

I LOVE THIS THREAD!!!<BR><BR>I, too, am a grocery and drug store shopper abroad. I agree with many of the posters who say that many things in Europe eem to "taste better" than things here in the U.S.<BR><BR>One thing in particular I like is candies, juices, etc. made from black currants. I have never understood why black currants have not caught on here in the states.<BR><BR>Some other things I get when overseas:<BR><BR>Nivea For Men shaving cream in a tube<BR>Timotei or Nivea For Men Shampoo<BR>Candies (especially at Spar grocery stores).<BR><BR>For those of you living here in the states, there is a grocery store in Cincinnati called Jungle Jim's (www.junglejims.com) that has one of the best selection of foreign foods I have ever seen. They carry Heinz baked beans, Coleman's mustard in the tube, Violet Crumble bars (an Australian treat!), and much, much more. If any of you are ever in Cincinnati, I highly encourage you to visit it! Also, Columbus has several really good japanese grocery stores (because of the Honda plants here), as well.

have found blackcurrant sweets at Chinese supermarkets in Toronto (guess because of the Hong Kong connection?)

What a great thread! This is making me want to visit the UK again (as if I need another reason). We always stop at the grocery stores for snacks and to peruse. In England I prefer Waitrose, but M&S is close. Crisps, individual trifles and puddings, Pappadums, 2-litre bottles of hard cider (sounds like a healthy diet, no?), those great cheese and pickle sandwiches, Indian food from the deli. You can buy great inexpensive boxes of tea and jars of marmalades. In Amsterdam, I spent almost an hour in a pharmacy as they had fantastic lotions and soaps at bargain prices. In Paris, you can buy inexpensive creme de cassis at the grocery store. Much better than what you can buy here in the U.S. It's also great to pick up magazines - some of my best souvenirs from my trips.

Off to France on Saturday to spend a day in French supermarkets and have a wander round Boulogne - living in London has some perks!

No, you are not alone! My husband and I always try to hit at least one grocery store in each city we visit. To us it is so much more interesting to see the day-to-day life of the area and not just the spots for tourists! Even the small stores in Europe seem to have a great selection of what we would call "gourmet" items. I would love to shop like that every day and carry the wares home in a basket! We also hit the department stores. We love the appliance floors at Harrods and La Samaritaine. Nothing like a british gent trying to sell you a top rate washer/dryer combo! I love the compact and efficent appliances they sell in Europe. The basement i BHV in Pais if full of great household supplies for everything.

Like pretty much everyone we look forward to checking the local grocery stores at my destination. We don't need foodstuff as we stay in hotels, but we always check out the different types of chocolates and cookies especially in England and France. This is only my opinion, but I find the quality is much better compared to the ones we get in the US. Someone mentioned the Milky Way bar in the UK and I find that the chocolate is much better than the US-made Milky Way bar. Therefore, we end up buying alot of these snacks to bring home.

The thing that the English have all over the States is their crisps/potato chips. I’ve had them flavored with marmite, various cheese flavors, beef, bacon (fabulous!), and roast chicken (horrible) + most of the flavores available in the States. I cannot believe that some national manufacturer in the U.S. hasn’t hit upon the bacon flavoring. It’s a “natural!”

Well, nolife, you really tapped a travel trend. I, too, love to visit markets, grocery stores, kitchen and bath stores, etc. On a recent trip to Tuscany, I was staying in a farmhouse and needed a plunger for the toilet. Now, that is not a word in most travelers phrase books! After wandering around the COOP (a giant warehouse style store) I finally swallowed my pride and asked for help. You would have died laughing to watch my gesturing! Another amusing discovery...wine in juice-box sized containers. I only wish I had bought more because they transformed my rides on the vaporetto into sunset cruises.

My husband works for a food chain so we always look at grocery stores. I love that the wine is cheap in Europe. Also there is an amazing variety of sweets and interesting flavours of chips, like oregano or olive.<BR><BR>The most interesting thing I saw was a cucumber vendor in Turkey. A cart full of cucumbers, a few peeled. When you bought one, he would salt it for you.

SCARLETT Roses chocolates are sold ALL OVER BRITAIN not just in LONDON.Next time you visit try to go somewhere other than London,there is more to England than just London.To think that certain things are just sold in London is downright silly.

First place my wife wants to go when we get to France is one of the markets like Geant, or Monoprix in Paris.

I'm a Brit living in America, the produce here seems to be of a much poorer guality than in England.The supermarkets her maybe bigger but I feel we have a much better choice of goods at home.I'm not bashing America,this thread as just made me think of all the British foods I miss,Salad cream,flakes,produce,lemonade,proper crisps,chocolate biscuits,cream cakes,bread,english butter etc

At first the name turned me off, "clotted cream..." and then I tried it! What is the stuff, anyway? Is it available in the states under a different name?

This idea of going to grocery stores abroad is brilliant. I'm going on my first trip across the Atlantic from the USA to Ireland in a couple of months with a college pal, and I will deffo suggest this for a rainy morning in Dublin.<BR><BR>To those who talk about produce being better in England over that in the USA - where in the USA are you referring? I've lived on both coasts, in the Southeast and Southwest and in the Midwest and the quality varies vastly depending upon where you live. Here in the Northeast the produce is a grade down from what can be had in N. California, for instance.<BR><BR>Also, this *is* America...I'd wager if I looked in Indian/Asian/Spanish/Euro groceries that are found in most urban areas, I could find 75% of what's been mentioned in this excellent thread. <BR><BR>Indian food stores are a particular hobby of mine, though the surprise I find in the can or bottle purchased often isn't a pleasant one to the taste buds ;)

Every year I take at least one picture of the display case of a German butcher shop and a bakery. The bread! The variety. I like supermarkets as well, always curious to see what's out there. I do that in Mexico too -- amazed that there is an aisle for cooking oils, and one for pastas. Their sales are not like ours either, in mexico. All sodas, or all snack foods are a percentage off during the sale. I liked a large market I went into in Switzerland - Migros, I think. Boy, did it have variety. I was recently on a hunt for scrapbooking materials, and evidently it is a hobby that has not hit Germany or Switzerland, but I had a good time just looking in stationery stores and department stores. You never know what you will find. here in the US we have very few "health food" stores, but in Germany they are all over.

Ewwww...CLOTTED CREAM?<BR><BR>What is IT??????

This is about more than just grocery stores, it seems to me. Don't we travel to get a glimpse into other cultures? We (and I include myself) spend so much time rushing to museums and monuments. I've vowed (after recent 4th visit to Paris) to spend more time next visit in residential neighborhoods, eating and shopping where the locals do. I just heard an interview on local NPR station with author of a new book called The Art of Travel (I think), about just that - this other aspect of travel.

I've taken my family twice to Europe (2 kids). Once to Paris and Amsterdam and once around Italy. We've gone into grocery stores (big & small) in every city we visited. My kids actually enjoy looking at all the different and unfamiliar things. We generally stop to pick up snacks and drinks for our hotel room and end up looking around and spending extra time in the store. In fact, my kids actually request to look in these stores, to see what new candy bar, flavored cheese doodle, or soft drink they'll discover.