While shopping hours in Germany have been extended and improved over the years, it still is a tiring and challenging experience during this time of year.

Whether you go by U-Bahn or car, masses of people are crowding the shops and after three hours of walking around, I am beat for the rest of the day. Additionally, at least in the state of Hesse, shops are now closed on the four Sundays before Christmas. This only leaves Saturdays to shop. This also goes for the other one million shoppers crowding downtown Frankfurt and its nearby shopping malls. In our case, with two teens in tow, it adds an additional challenge of having to buy things secretly. At least, we still pretend that Christkind exists and presents should come as a surprise in our family.

This is why I prefer ordering online. Packages arrive during the day while the kids are still in school. I save a lot of time, energy, and money this way. I let my husband do the ordering at night and I do the wrapping and hiding during the day.

Of course, first timers to Frankfurt enjoy the shops’ decorations, the local Christmas market, and children may not only enjoy the lights, but also the hustle and bustle which comes with it. For some reason, there is nothing in regards to besinnliche Vorweihnachtszeit (contemplative peaceful advent season) for me when shopping in Frankfurt on a crowded business day.

For those who want to brave the busy streets, lack of parking spots, occasionally unaccommodating service staff, and the onset of a headache, Nordwestzentrum in Frankfurt has the following hours of operation:

Fri 18 Dec – 8 p.m.

Sat 19 Dec – 10 p.m.

Sun 20 Dec – closed

Mon 21 Dec – 10 p.m.

Tue  22 Dec – 10 p.m.

Wed 23 Dec – 10 p.m.

Thu 24 Dec -   2 p.m. (most retail closes for the day)

Amazon de has improved its delivery service for the holidays. Sit back, enjoy your mulled wine from home, gaze at your neighbors’ window lights, and see what Amazon de has in store for you.

Tags: christmas shopping, Frankfurt, Nordwestzentrum, ordering online

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This entry was posted on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 11:13 am and is filed under Anything German. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.