96 Best Places to Shop in Switzerland

Trois Pommes is the central boutique of a series of designer shops scattered through the Storchengasse area. The racks are heavily stacked with such high-profile international designers as Jil Sander, Versace, Donna Karan, and Dolce & Gabbana. There are locations throughout Switzerland, including several others within Zürich.

The oldest watch company in Geneva, Vacheron Constantin sold its first design in 1755.

Cute novelty and antiques shops line the staircase street of Via Cattedrale.

All the top designers can be found in the stores lining the pedestrian-only Via Nassa.

Bern boasts a whopping six small Christmas markets. Throughout December, hot mulled wine adds spice to the arts and crafts, colorful decorations, and seasonal produce lining the stalls set up around the Bern Minster, Waisenhausplatz, Kornhausplatz and more, open daily from late November until December 24.

The Zibelemärit is a remnant of a 15th-century Autumn Market that lasted two weeks; 19th-century farmers' wives, notably from Fribourg, developed the habit of coming to Bern on the first day of the market to sell their excess produce, particularly onions. Today half the 200 stalls that line the City Center on the fourth Monday in November display a vast assortment of items made with onions—everything from wreaths to alarm clocks to soup. Some say the best time to browse the annual market is just after it opens at 4 am, when stalls are candlelit; you may be treated to a predawn dusting of snow, and confetti battles—a major part of the festivities—do not yet rage.