Scandinavia is world renowned for its stylish, distinctive homeware and fashion, with cutting-edge designer clothes and items by the bucketload on display everywhere you look. Whether your tastes are more minimalistic or quirky, you’ll find yourself enthralled by what’s on offer; just be careful not to overstuff your suitcase by the end of the trip! As well as mooching around the streets of big cities and exploring the smaller hidden away shops in towns, Scandinavian countries are full of shopping malls and department stores where you can find a whole host of shops under one roof. You can go out on the shopping trip of a lifetime, then round it off with some festive fun on a trip to Lapland. You may as well while you’re in Scandinavia!
The Stroget (Strøget)in Copenhagen is one of Scandinavia’s most heavily visited and most talked about shopping areas, and is also officially the longest pedestrian shopping street in the whole of Europe, making it an attractive travel destination for shopping enthusiasts all over the world. Shops aside, The Stroget is a sight to behold in itself and a total joy to walk around. It’s also completely pedestrianised, so not a single car or bus can be found along its 1.1 kilometre stretch. The street stretches from City Hall Square to Kongens Nytorv square, covering the Frederiksberggade, Nygade, Vimmelskaftet and Østergade streets of Denmark’s capital.
Though overflowing with the biggest in high end brands and stores such as Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci and Mulberry, the average or budget shopper doesn’t go uncatered for, with stores such as Zara and H&M to the style rescue, amongst many a designer craft, toy, food, homeware and accessories shop. It also boasts some extremely good eateries where shoppers can take a leisurely break from a busy day browsing and spending and have a coffee and a bite to eat and sample some Danish cuisine at the likes of the kitsch Royal Smushi Cafe, Café Norden, or Café Europa.
Finland is also one of the great Scandinavian countries for a range of fascinating goods reflecting the interesting and often bizarre Finnish culture. Helsinki, of course, is the hotspot for fashion, craft items, artwork and fresh food, and hosts several shopping malls, some focusing more on traditional Finnish goods while others embrace the more modernistic, big brands. The Kamppi centre is widely regarded as the cities fashion centre and is a must visit for all fashion geeks and lovers who will be overwhelmed by its 120 stores which also include leisure, home and food.
Another thing that is a must in Finland is making a trip to Lapland, one of most beautiful sights in the world that is really like no other. Once you’ve soaked up the atmosphere, enjoyed the aesthetics and spent a pretty penny on some seriously fab goodies to take back home (it’s a terrific place to do some Christmas shopping), you can call in and see what Santa is up to. You may catch him making the preparations for next Christmas’s magical Christmas Eve sweep!
