Christmas shopping in (and around) Luxembourg

Before we start with this guide, those of our readers who have lived in Luxembourg for a while will likely not see any new suggestions on this list. This guide is meant to be more useful to group the best spots for Christmas shopping together, especially if you're one to stick to the same place for Christmas shopping.

I've left it a bit late...any tips to not go insane?

Yes, actually. Now I can't guarantee a stress-free experience, but as an advocate of organised fun, here are some tips which might smooth the process of last-minute Christmas shops.

• do your Christmas shopping early in the day. There is nothing worse than having to buy a certain amount of presents and also fight your way through the crowds. 
• A bit of forward-planning might not go amiss. Plan out who you need to get presents for, what shops you could go to, and a route which means you aren't running around unnecessarily.
• Plan a budget for presents. The last thing you want is to go out, get stressed, and spend way more than you wanted to.

Now...let's get on to the actual guide! The locations mentioned in this article can for the most part be seen on the above nifty map.

What are the best central places to do Christmas shopping?

Luxembourg 

The first place on this list is the infamous Auchan in Kirchberg.

Likely known to most of our readers, Auchan is a good place to do some Christmas shopping due to the variety of the shops available. The big supermarket has many gift options available, ranging from electronics to clothing. Fun fact: if you're planning on buying baby clothing, Auchan's range is excellent if the little baby/toddler happens to be on the taller side.

A further benefit of going to Auchan for your Christmas shopping is that the shopping centre will have extended hours ahead of the big day, much like other shopping centres. Shops that might be good for Christmas in particular include Rituals, Neuhaus, Oberweis, and Sephora for most conventional presents.

The Belle Etoile shopping centre in Strassen should be equally useful if that happens to be closer to your neck of the woods than Auchan. After all, you don't want to run all over the country in search of Christmas presents. The Belle Etoile has mainly the same shops or types of shops as Auchan, especially since its expansion a few years ago. One shop that's particular good for gifts is Nature et Découvertes, which has a mish-mash of products on offer, including delicious tea (the salted caramel tea in particular is wonderful!), candles and diffusers, and homeware. At Belle Etoile you can also find Maisons du Monde, which is great for candles and small homeware items.

Luxembourg City is an obvious choice for Christmas shopping, catering for most budgets. Fancy purchasing your loved one that Chanel bag? Well, the shop is there so go ahead. For those of us who might not be able to afford Chanel, there are still plenty of shops worth checking out, that you probably know very well. One thing I would recommend for Christmas shopping is to head to the Gare neighbourhood. There are two shops in particular that are useful there: Hema and Saturn.

Hema is great for little gifts at smaller prices, so is a perfect place for stocking fillers. As well as that, Hema has some wonderful wrapping paper and gift tags. Saturn is great for all things tech and has more competitive prices than Auchan, so if you do get the chance, maybe it's better to buy your brother Red Dead Redemption 2 at Saturn. What's more is that all shops will be open the next few Sundays ahead of Christmas (well, today and next Sunday, that is).

Two shops warrant an honourable mention on the basis of having either everything you could need in a shop or surprisingly happening to have whatever it was you're looking for. For the former, I would recommend Action, which offers homeware, stationary, and much more all for very reasonable prices. As for the second, the Specialbuys section of Lidl could surprise you! Whilst a bit of a lottery in terms of what the shop offers, it's worth keeping an eye on the Lidl catalogue as they may well be selling that food processor you've been wanting to get your sister. Both shops exist throughout the country (for example, there is an Action at BelvalPlaza, so that and the other shops there make it worth a visit if you're looking for small presents and that happens to be your local area).

An honourable mention also goes to Brico shopping centre, as it has both a Casa (for home goods) and a Hema, and Lidl isn't too far either.

I really don't like the shops in Luxembourg, they all seem a bit samey and pricier than they should be. Is there anywhere else I should think of going or should I stick to Amazon?

Belgium, France, and Germany

If, for whatever reason, the shops in Luxembourg aren't your cup of tea, the beauty of Luxembourg is of course that you can drive over the border (or get a train to two of the below options) and peruse the shops there. In this sense, I would definitely recommend going early as the combined sensation of driving to somewhere particular and then being overwhelmed by the amount of shoppers there will definitely leave you exhausted.

In Belgium, we have the MacarthurGlen designer outlet which is good if you're trying to be a bit thrifty with your shopping. It's worth remembering that many higher end shops have a specific stock designed for outlets (pun intended) and this may differ in both style and quality to the stock in their ordinary shops. That said, outlets are still a good option for presents, especially if you want to treat someone to a nice pair of cufflinks or a tie.

In France, Metz is a good option for a shopping city. The city boasts an electronics and books department store, Fnac, and shopping centres, and even has a Primark if you're from the British isles and pining for one of the staples of the high street. The great thing about Metz is also that everything is in walking distance, which makes it a good option to try and get your shopping done in one destination.

© pixabay

Finally, Trier is also a good option for over-the-border shopping as it has multiple department stores and many shops throughout the city centre as well. Again, for our predominantly Anglophone readership, there is a TK Maxx in Trier and as you know, you can find....well, everything in a TK Maxx, which makes it worth a visit. Trier is also known for its Christmas markets, which reminds me to suggest perusing this Christmas market and whatever your local Christmas market is as many independent traders offer various wares and you might just find something unique for one of your loved ones.

This is by no means a comprehensive guide and it doesn't really emphasise any places that are off the beaten track either. Many people tend to have a utilitarian approach to Christmas shopping and ideally want to get it done in one place. For that reason, this article simply details general areas that are worth visiting. If you have any recommendations, please let us know in the comments and share the love!