Berlin. A shopper’s paradise. Here you could truly shop until you drop! Fashion freaks, bargain hunters, trendsetters – they all come looking for the latest fashions, hippest décor items and antique chic. From Bikini Berlin in City West to Mall of Berlin in City Ost or the legendary KaDeWe department store, the list of shopping streets and promenades is sheer endless. But if you think that there’s THE shopping centre or THE pedestrian zone in Berlin: think again.
Shopping in Berlin is different. The real treasures are to be found far off the beaten path and away from the usual shopping destinations: at Berlin’s more than 50 flea, arts and antique markets. On weekends, these markets attract large crowds of local collectors, bargain hunters and tourists.
I have compiled for you our own Top 5 places to hunt for bargains, discover treasures or just pass some time.
Flea Market at Mauerpark
The Flea Market at Mauerpark is a cult classic. All year long, you’ll find everything here from locals holding a household clearance sale to designers with set prices and private vendors selling old clothes, arts and crafts, and all sorts of junk. Food stands of all sizes are also part and parcel of this market. Staple foods include organic sausages, Turkish specialties as well as the classic split pea soup from the field kitchen.
Address: Bernauer Straße 63–64, 13355 Berlin
© visitBerlin
Flea Market in Straße des 17. Juni
The Original Berliner Trödelmarkt, Berlin’s largest and probably best-known flea market, is held on Straße des 17. Juni every Saturday and Sunday of the year. The market was founded in 1973 and is the city’s oldest flea market. Old furniture, oil paintings, antiques, porcelain, silverware – here you’ll find lots of curiosities, including stands with an enormous selection of buttons or autograph cards.
Address: Straße des 17. Juni, at Tiergarten S-Bahn station
Schöneberg Flea Market
If you’re looking for a “real” flea market where you can barter and haggle, then Schöneberg City Hall is the place to go. The Flea Market at Schöneberg City Hall, open every Saturday and Sunday, is the exact opposite to the professional vendors at Straße des 17. Juni or the designers of Mauerpark Flea Market. This is an old school rummage sale, offering knick-knacks, attic finds and households clearances with porcelain, books or old children’s cassette tapes.
Address: John-F.-Kennedy-Platz 1, 10825 Berlin – Schöneberg
© visitBerlin
Indoor Flea Market at Treptow Arena
The market next to Treptow Arena has an enormous advantage over the rest: being indoors, it can be visited rain or shine. This flea market is a popular hangout spot for young, urban single person looking for something to do on a lazy Sunday morning. Which makes the Indoor Flear Market at Treptow Arena an ideal place a different sort of “hunt”. The best strategy: find some funny, odd or rare curiosity as the perfect conversational item to get to talking and start a little flirt. Telephone numbers are exchanged over a snack of deep-fried doughnut holes.
Address: Eichenstraße 4, 12435 Berlin – Treptow
Nowkoelln Flowmarkt at Maybachufer
Private second-hand goods, art, music and original handmade crafts have been sold at Nowkoelln Flowmarkt since May 2010. Every second Sunday in spring and summer, local vendors set up their stands to sell their treasures. Food stalls, bands and DJs are all part of the programme. This local flea market even has spawned a little brother: the Kreuzboerg Flowmarkt at Moritzplatz in the Prinzessinnengärten.
Address: Maybachufer 31, Neukölln
© visitBerlin
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