199 Best Places to Shop in Germany

This third-generation artisan shop offers a taste of the old-world treat marzipan, using a family recipe that dates back to the turn of the 20th century. The vintage-style shop features candy-striped wall paper, vintage tools, and rows of handmade marzipan, all wrapped in delicate packaging.

This cool beauty shop offers an assortment of goods. You'll find everything from lovely scented candles to lotions and body products to makeup and cosmetics, with popular, ethical brands like Dr. Bronner, Börlind, and Susanne Kaufmann. But the real gem is the basement-level men’s spa and barbershop, which welcomes guest barbers from around the world, and the women’s beauty salon, which offers makeovers and hair care.

This pastry shop is renowned for its Schneeballen, which translates as snowballs but does not really describe the fried dough strips wrapped into balls and slathered with confectioners sugar or sprinkles or drizzled with chocolate or a vanilla glaze, or all of the above. This is the signature pastry of Rothenberg, and no visit  can be considered complete without sampling one or more varieties. If you can't decide which baseball-sized treat to indulge in, opt for a mixed bag of golfball-sized.

Munich's Viktualienmarkt is the place to shop and to eat. Just south of Marienplatz, it's home to an array of colorful stands that sell everything from cheese to sausages, flowers to wine. A visit here is more than just an opportunity to find picnic makings; it provides an opening into Müncheners' robust—though friendly—nature, especially at the Viktualienmarkt's Bavarian Biergarten (beer garden).

Inside a beautiful old building in the heart of Mitte's Hackescher Markt shopping district, 14 oz. sells high-end denim (Denham the Jeanmaker, PRPS, Edwin), along with sneakers, accessories, knitwear, and outerwear for both women and men.

This tiny shop on Torstrasse is the flagship menswear outlet for designer Wibke Deertz, who uses fabrics and inspirations from her travels around the world to create a collection of handmade, limited-edition pieces, including pants, shirts, jackets, and accessories.

This old-fashioned-style liquor store harkens back to the age of the green fairy—complete with antique wooden cabinets and vintage absinthe fountains—although the primary ingredient, thujone, is now strictly regulated in countries around the world. A friendly proprietor is on hand to help you choose which of the more than 100 different varieties you’d like to carry home.

The first German branch of this Australian luxury cosmetics label opened in 2013 in Mitte to the joy of many Berliners. The entire line of Aesop’s natural skin, hair, and body care products is sold here, in a lovely shop decorated with handmade jade-green tiles and a vintage 1950s farmhouse sink.

Shop for both traditional and trendy takes on Bavarian and alpine attire, including Dirndls and Lederhosen.

Inside the Old Pharmacy, the tiny Keramikstube offers locally made crafts, books, gifts, and beautiful traditional handmade pottery (shop closed on Sunday). There is also a café on-site which is open daily.

This gallery shop opened in the mall-like Hackesche Höfe shopping area in 2001, promoting the red and green Ampelmännchen, the charming symbol used on the former East German traffic lights. The brand now operates five shops in Berlin, and you can find the logo on everything from T-shirts and umbrellas to ice cube trays and candy.  It's a perfect stop for souvenirs.

This impressive store covers several storefronts and carries the newest apparel, shoes, jewelry, handbags, and accessories, such as iPhone covers. It's a Hamburg classic that carries both international brands and several German designers.

You'll find cuckoo clocks, beer tankards, porcelain, glassware, and much more at this old and atmospheric shop near the Rathaus, run by the delightful Anneliese herself.

Set on Türkenstrasse, a street lined with antique shops, this store specializes in 19th- and 20th-century watches, jewelry, and fountain pens, as well as vintage posters, photographs, and cameras.

The Antik-Center Hamburg has a treasure trove of "antiques" from the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. The staff ship purchases anywhere in the world.

In Antike Uhren Eder, the silence is broken only by the ticking of dozens of highly valuable German antique clocks and discreet negotiations over the high prices. There is a highly covetable selection of prestige vintage watches to browse also. 

Anton Maller has been making violins and other stringed instruments for more than 40 years. This store, in the beautiful Goethehaus, is open weekdays only.

Most of Berlin’s flea markets operate year-round, regardless of the freezing winter temperatures, but this indoor hall offers some shelter inside an old warehouse near the Arena/Badeschiff complex on the Spree River. The weekend market features tables of kitchenware and rows of old bikes and mechanical parts, which can obscure the real treasures, so be prepared to spend some time digging.

A great place to look for designer secondhand finds, this tiny shop is tucked away near West Berlin’s Savignyplatz. You’ll find labels like Hermès, Versace, Chanel, and Jil Sander on the racks.

Find upscale designer day wear, evening wear, jeans, handbags, and other accessories for men, women, and kids, ranging from classic to trendy, at three adjoining Pfüller shops. Everything is displayed elegantly, and personal service is impeccable in this three-story shopping destination. Pfüller has separated its equally upscale children's collection to a separate multifloor store directly across the street, called Pfüller Kids.

The finely executed, modern gold and silver jewelry pieces and collectibles here are impeccably crafted, in a sleek store design unusual for this historic city.

The two storefronts here are filled with wacky knickknacks, useful home appliances, and modern home accessories, all at reasonable prices.

While markets in former East Berlin districts are perfect for unearthing both trash and treasures, the antique market on Strasse des 17. Juni is at the high end of the spectrum. Open on weekends, the Berliner Trödelmarkt und Kunstmarkt is home to one of the city's more curated selections, with vintage and high-end secondhand jewelry, housewares, silverware, books, and toys. The flea-market stands are nearer the Tiergarten S-bahn station, while handicrafts begin past the Charlottenburg gates.

A few blocks from the Kö, this concept store stocks mostly Scandinavian labels favoring minimalist design and neutral colors.  

This high-end boutique carries various luxury fashion brands as well as custom-made clothing, cashmere sweaters, and Italian shoes.

A destination for interior decorators, Böhm consists of three old houses full of lamps, mirrors, precious porcelain, and elegant furniture.

Tucked into a small courtyard near the New Synagogue, this charming candy store has been making and selling handmade sweets for more than 100 years. The brightly colored sugar bonbons are pressed on vintage molds into leaf, raspberry, and diamond shapes, and more than 30 different varieties are available.

For an enormous selection of contemporary and traditional caps and hats from international brands as well as its own Hut-Breiter Munich label, stop by the family-run Breiter, which has been selling hats for over 160 years.

The flagship location of this upscale regional department-store chain has glass elevators that rise and fall under the dome of the central arcade, whisking you to multiple floors of designer boutiques. There is also a clearance Breuninger Outlet at Rotebühlplatz 25.