Everyone is looking forward to the New Year holidays. Some people are going to visit their parents this holiday season, some are opening the ski season, and some are buying suitcases to go to Christmas sales. If you are one of the latter, we suggest taking a closer look at Europe, where New Year’s discounts reach up to 70%.
OneTwoTrip has selected for you five European cities famous for their sales, where a weekend trip will not cost you your shopping budget. We advise you to decide on your plans immediately after reading the article, while tickets and hotel rooms are still available.
Milan, Italy
Not including the fashion capital of Italy in the list of the best shopping destinations is practically a crime against humanity. This season, the largest stores are preparing discount promotions from January 5, and this festival of generosity will last until the beginning of March. But we advise you not to delay; the most interesting items and popular sizes will be sold out at the beginning of the sales. Discounts are promised up to 75%.
People go to Milan for brands. The city center, namely the “fashion square” between the streets of Montenapoleone (via Monte Napoleone),
SantAndrea (via Sant’Andrea),
Gesu (via Gesu) and Della Spiga (via della Spiga),
is replete with the names of world famous designers: Armani (Emporio Armani),
Versace,
Dolce & Gabbana,
Pinko. Other fashion brands are represented in separate boutiques. If you are not chasing the latest collections, go to large shopping centers and outlets in the suburbs, there are four of them: Serravalle,
Fidenza,
Vicolungo and mono-brand outlet Max Mara.
Some shops and boutiques are usually closed on Sunday and Monday morning; the rest of the time you can count on an average schedule from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. with a lunch break. Large shopping centers are open until 21-22 hours without days off or breaks.
Please note that on January 6th, the day of Epiphany for Western Christians, stores will most likely be closed.
Flight + hotel: from 29,500 ₽ per person (2 nights)
Dusseldorf, Germany
Germany is an excellent place for lovers of inexpensive, high-quality clothing, and Dusseldorf is considered the fashionable center of German shopping. Sales here start before Christmas, discounts grow proportionally: the closer to the holiday, the more you can save.
After the New Year, prices drop and the sale reaches its peak with 50% discounts around the second half of January. True, at this time difficulties already begin with finding the right sizes. So our New Year holidays are the best time for shopping in Dusseldorf.
The two most famous shopping streets in Düsseldorf are Königsallee and Schadowstraße. On Royal Street – this is how Koenigs Alley is translated – you will find Chanel boutiques,
Prada,
Kenzo and other famous brands. The Kö Galerie deserves special attention,
the most prestigious shopping gallery in the city, located in the center of Koenigs Allee. Here you will find not only clothing boutiques, but also, for example, the Möet & Chandon.
If you are not ready to go to boutiques even during the sales season, go straight to the nearby Schadow Strasse, where H&M, Zara,
are waiting for you
Mango and other mass market stores.
Please note that in Germany no store, even in shopping centers and during sales, is closed on Sundays.
Flight + hotel: from 26,200 ₽ per person (2 nights)
Madrid, Spain
We chose Madrid because sales here start earlier than other Spanish cities – usually attractive “Sale” (or “Rebajas”) signs appear in Madrid store windows as early as January 2-3. Almost everyone has sales: from small shops of local fashion designers to large shopping centers. Discounts reach 50% by January 10, and the lowest prices can be caught in February. True, by this time you will no longer find popular sizes and interesting models.
Madrid is the capital of inexpensive brands. Here you will find stores of almost all popular mass brands. By the way, most of them are local, Spanish: Desigual,
Bimba and Lola (Bimba y Lola),
Massimo Dutti and, of course, Zara,
Promod and Mango. You will find stores of these brands in the Arguelles area.
For expensive brands, go to the Salamanca area (Barrio de Salamanca),
it is here on the so-called Golden Mile that the boutiques are located: Adolfo Domínguez, Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, Manolo Blahnik, Loewe, Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu, Cartier, Tiffany & Co and others.
And for clothes from unknown local designers and original avant-garde brands, come to the area between Chueca Square and Fuencarral and Hortaleza streets.
Flight + hotel: from 38,900 ₽ per person (2 nights)
London, UK
New Year’s sales in London begin immediately after Christmas, on December 26, on the so-called Boxing Day. Discounts on this day should range from 50 to 75%.
We recommend starting your shopping tour on the main shopping street, Oxford Street. Here you will find Debenhams and Selfriges, which stock quality but sometimes boring brands. There are also more youthful brands on Oxford Street: Zara is open here,
Topshop,
John Lewis and H&M.
If you are looking for brands, your path lies on Bond street. The names of the stores will please the eye of a true shopaholic who is not limited by a budget: Versace,
Prada,
Chanel,
Ralph Lauren and Louis Vuitton. There are also boutiques of the English fashion houses Burberry and Mulberry here.
Don’t pass by the most famous and largest London department store, Harrod’s – however, you won’t, the department store windows will stop even the most inattentive pedestrian. At Harrods, you’ll find everything you need on five floors, from clothes to electronics, toys and kitchenware. In the first days of sales there is a real bacchanalia going on here, so we advise you to stop by a little later: the prices will, of course, be higher, but you will also get much more pleasure from walking between the aisles.
Flight + hotel: from 29,400 ₽ per person (2 nights)
Paris, France
The capital of France was included in this list for the same reason as Milan, but you can’t count on high discounts here: the ceiling is usually 50%, although some stores offer 70%. Sales will traditionally begin on the second Wednesday of the new year, in 2017 it is January 11, and will last until mid-February. Discounts always start at a modest 20%.
Large and well-known shopping centers are steadily reducing prices, so be sure to check out Galeries Lafayette,
You can find not only famous clothing brands there, but also household goods, dishes and electronics. Please note that even with discounts, shopping at Galeries Lafayette cannot be called economical; it is one of the most expensive shopping centers in Paris. But why not take a walk and see, the gallery is very beautifully decorated during the New Year holidays.
If you don’t want to walk around one shopping center, walk along the streets of the French capital. One of the main havens of haute couture is Avenue Montaigne. Here you will find boutiques of Cartier, Chanel, Dior, Givenchy, Kenzo, Karl Lagerfeld, Prada, Giorgio Armani – it sounds like music, really?
Chanel and Prada are too expensive for you? Then go to Rue de Rivoli,
There are several discounts here, and the price-quality ratio is optimal. In general, ask at the tourist information point closest to your hotel for the Paris Shopping Book – a free address book of the most visited shopping centers, department stores and markets in Paris. The fact is that there are so many shops in Paris that we cannot list them in a separate large article.
Flight + hotel: from 33,200 ₽ per person (2 nights)
Photo: Jussi Hellsten
Helsinki, Finland
The Finnish capital is not the cheapest city in Europe, but during the sales period there is something to profit from. In addition, Finnish goods are known for their good quality. So coming here during the New Year holidays – and Christmas sales in Helsinki start on December 25th – is a good idea.
Look for “Ale”, “Alennus”, “Sale” signs in the windows and expect -50-70% of the starting prices. Also pay attention to the mysterious “Maksa 4, saat 5” (“Pay 4, get 5”) or “Ota kolme, maksa kaksi” (“Take three, pay two”).
Shopaholics in Helsinki usually first go to Stockmann on Aleksanterinkatu Street, a shopping center well known to St. Petersburg and Muscovites. Here you can find not only high-quality clothes in different price categories, but also very nice household goods.
Another large shopping center where you can find stores of many inexpensive brands is Itäkeskus. This is the largest mall in Northern Europe. Of the names familiar to us, you can find H&M, Mango,
Esprit and Zara. By the way, there is a “Stockmann” here too, although not as big as on Aleksanterinkatu.
Pay attention to local brands – Seppäla (clothing, shoes, cosmetics),
Luhta (sportswear),
Reima (famous brand among parents). Less known, but no less interesting are the Marimekko and Makia stores.
For luxury brands, head to the very center of the city, to the Northern Esplanade (Pohjoisesplanadi). Here you will find Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Hermès, as well as avant-garde designer labels. The boutique of COS, popular among fashionable Russian women, is also located on this street.
Flight + hotel: from 18,700 ₽ per person (2 nights)
* Prices for flight + hotel are indicated at the time of writing. The cost indicated in the material and the final price may differ.
