Grande-Île Shopping Walk (Self Guided), Strasbourg

Strasbourg's Grande-Île has the city's smartest and most famous shopping streets, an exciting destination for fashion, food, jewelry and much more. Rue des Hallebardes is one of the most elegant shopping streets, with stores and boutiques principally catering for women's fashions, jewelry and perfume needs.

Stroll along rue des Orfèvres and rue de la Mésange to find gourmet caterers, jewelry stores and leather goods. For clothes, gifts and decorations, make it rue des Grandes Arcades and Grand rue, and then explore the alleys leading off these streets, which are packed with small shops. If unabashed luxury is your thing, "le carré d’or," between rue du dôme and rue des Orfèvres is surely for you. This is where Strasbourg’s main luxury stores can be found.

Souvenir hunters are best off browsing the shops clustered around the cathedral. Among the items on sale are locally-made pottery pieces and stuffed toys in the shape of a stork. The white stork is an emblem of Strasbourg. Other shopping attractions in Grande-Île are Galeries Lafayette and Printemps, two department stores that are situated near place Kléber.

In addition to the dizzying variety of shopping options here, the district is known for its fascinating architecture, a blend of French and German influences that earned it a World Heritage Site designation in 1988.