Vienna residents needn’t be shopaholics to urgently require a new pair of shoes, business
casual clothing, or goods and services besides food and pharmaceuticals on a Sunday. A not-so-secret tip for newcomers to Eastern Austria: Shopping across the Austrian border in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary mean you scratch that consumer itch any day of the week – and often on days that, in Austria, are public holidays.
Ride The Rails to Bratislava
A quick tour over the border to Slovakia lands you in a Sunday-shopping world.
In Bratislava, three major shopping malls and a central market are open on Sundays. A solid bet in the Slovakian capital is the Eurovea Shopping Centre. It is open until 21:00 every day, and visitors can choose from 181 shops. In Eurovea, there’s enough to keep even die-hard shopaholics busy for many hours. After shopping, 39 restaurants overlooking the River Danube will feed you, too.
Travel time by train from Vienna Hauptbahnhof to Bratislava Hlavna station is just over an hour, so spare the environment and ride the rails.
Shop Sopron
Just over the Hungarian border is a small town offering Sunday shopping and beauty treatments.
The malls in Sopron are smaller than those in Bratislava, but a quaint downtown shopping experience offers its own pleasures. There are professional beauty services on offer, for instance at the Sopron Plaza. Shopping, manicures, and a quick visit to the hairdresser can
be combined in Hungary while those facilities are closed in Vienna.
Sopron Plaza has 42 shops (open 9:00-20:00 daily) and a cinema – although unless you speak Hungarian, the cinema might not be an entertaining option for you.
Czech it out!
The Freeport Fashion Outlet is open every day until 21:00, even on bank holidays. The outlet mall lies in the no-man’s-land between the Czech and Austrian borders, approximately 77 km
north of Vienna, about an hour’s drive. With 225 brands in 75 shops, the outlet also serves customers looking for niche products, such as skiing equipment.
The mall describes itself as a “shopping paradise for the whole family”. Besides the favorable prices and wide selection of goods, you can also find a professional hairdressing salon there and some cafes and restaurants.
Many Austrians (and Metropolitans) find the lack of Sunday bustle here soothing; a respite
from commercial pressure to buy for work and work to buy. But those aching for a Sunday shopathlon (or just in dire need of a haircut) may well find all they need just across the
border.
