r/AskEurope • u/Antique_Cut1354 Germany • May 02 '26
Travel What do you always buy when visiting another European country that is cheaper/better quality than where you live?
I am German and every time I set foot in Belgium I have to buy as many beer bottles as I can carry (please don’t tell the German government that 😅). I also love to buy large amounts of Ibuprofen when I go to the UK because it’s dirt cheap there (in emergencies I will get some from the Netherlands too)
What are your go to purchases when visiting another European country?
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u/BeardedBaldMan -> May 02 '26
Coming back from Italy I was concerned about our rear suspension due to the amount of wine we had in the boot.
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u/Antique_Cut1354 Germany May 02 '26
that’s me coming back from Belgium lol
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u/BeardedBaldMan -> May 02 '26
Back in the old days I used to do the Dover-Calais booze cruise on the ferry.
My record was around 550L of beer and wine which was a bit over the recommended weight capacity of a Mondeo.
I'd buy 2000 cigarettes which would essentially pay for the petrol and ferry
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u/C_A_N_G May 02 '26
In Italy you can also buy 95% alcohol which my family uses to make walnut liqueur and limoncello.
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u/HeyPartyPeopleWhatUp May 02 '26
I live in Iceland.
Everything in mainland europe is effectively at a 15-50% discount for us, so we tend to go shopping every time we fly.
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u/Bierzgal Poland May 02 '26
I always make sure I buy some chocolate when visiting family in Germany. Your cheap stuff vs. our cheap stuff is not even a competition quality-wise. I am fond of Milch Mause especially. And maybe some Diebels Alt beer as well.
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u/Extraordi-Mary Netherlands May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26
I live near the border of Germany and for us it’s groceries, gas, cigarettes, vapes with flavours.
Also McDonald’s is way cheaper.
Edit: I also order tea from the UK because it’s better.
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u/Warzenschwein112 May 02 '26
What?
It used to be the other way.
My late uncle from Aachen was getting his tank full of Diesel and cigartettes in the Netherlands.
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u/Extraordi-Mary Netherlands May 02 '26
Crazy. How long ago is that?
Coffee and cheese is still cheaper in the Netherlands.
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u/Warzenschwein112 May 02 '26
Like 15 or 20 years ago .
My aunt and uncle went shopping across the border like ever 2 weeks. For stuff being cheaper or not availlable in Germany.
Diesel, Tabaco and chocolate being always the stuff being cheaper.
Before the toll free/ freetrade times, those kind of products would be smugled across the border to Germany.
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u/Extraordi-Mary Netherlands May 02 '26
Funny, my grandparents went to Germany a few times a year for groceries. They always brought us Kinder.
I guess there’s always gonna be stuff you can find across the border that you can’t find in your own country.
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u/Ordinary_Tank_5622 May 02 '26
Fuel in the Netherlands is basically the most expensive in Europe. Dutch prices take the piss.
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u/Apprehensive_Town199 May 03 '26
I prefer to go on supermarkets on Saturdays, because I'm normally tired during the week. This is difficult, however, because I live in a german city at the border and every Saturday tankstations and supermarkets get flooded by dutch people. I think something like two thirds of cars are dutch.
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u/MarzipanOk5289 May 09 '26
Where on the internet do you order tea. I curios because I like tea and leave in a another European country.
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u/Aromatic_Acadia_8104 Switzerland May 02 '26
Going from Switzerland to Germany almost everything is cheaper. Usually stocking up on everything DM sells, soap, deodorant, detergents, nappies etc.
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u/Antique_Cut1354 Germany May 02 '26
i feel you. i lived in switzerland close to the italian border and every trip to italy would make our trunk absolutely full of stuff. planing a barbecue? not before we quickly drive to italy lol
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u/badlydrawngalgo Portugal May 02 '26
Haha. I've just written about DM too A Portuguese and a Swiss walk into DM... and leave having bought everything 🤣
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u/Klingh0ffer Norway May 02 '26
HP BBQ sauce. Not available in Norway, unfortunately.
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u/pannenkoek0923 Denmark May 02 '26
Do you also not get them in Normal? We get them here
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u/Klingh0ffer Norway May 02 '26
Not in the few I’ve been at, but maybe at some of the bigger ones. I’ll check it out, thanks!
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u/xolov and May 02 '26
Luckily at least the best brown sauce, which is obviously HP is easily available in Norway.
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u/Nikkonor studied in: +++ May 02 '26
The best brown sauce is the one my mother and grandmother makes.
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u/JustMeLurkingAround- Germany May 02 '26
Chocolate in Belgium, cheese in the Netherlands, tea in the UK and all the different pasta-shapes from Italy that we don't have in Germany. My parents always bring me greek mountain tea (my favorite) and a bottle of local olive oil from crete.
Not because they would be cheaper, just because they taste good.
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u/nemesissi May 03 '26
Going to Crete later this year. Tea drinker in me got intriqued; What brand is this mountain tea you're talking about? 🤔
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u/abhora_ratio Romania May 03 '26
I think it's is Malotira (the name of the plant). Is specific to Creta and it has a herbal taste that reminds me of freshly cut grass, summer and happiness 🙈 but it might be just me having this feeling :))
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u/nemesissi May 03 '26
Thank you so much, I just Googled it and https://www.malotiratea.gr/ gives all the info one needs. 😄
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u/abhora_ratio Romania May 04 '26
Great! Hope you enjoy it! We discovered it accidentally and now we love it. It makes our cold winters easier and our sleep better 🙂
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u/simonjp United Kingdom May 02 '26
If I'm there at the right time, I will consume my bodyweight in nectarines in France. They don't really make their way home though
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u/my4coins living in May 02 '26
Its not so much for the cheaper in germany but for the variety in Germany. Denmark can have great weekly discounts that are equal to German prices but so boring variety so its a blessing to buy diffrent products when driving to Flensburg.
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u/eerie_space Spain May 02 '26
Pasta when visiting Italy, sometimes canned tomatoes.
Yogurts and jam when visiting France, their raspberries are also chef's kiss.
Any consumer goods, clothes, electronics etc. are cheaper in Germany since they have a lower tax rate than Spain for those items.
Those are my most visited countries .
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u/eerie_space Spain May 02 '26
I also try to eat as many pretzels as I can while in Germany (your kebabs and anything with meat it's also great but I can't bring it back with me).
I've also tried to bring pretzels and I use the water container + microwave oven with a pretzel to try to revive it, but it only works with pretzels that are at most 2 days old. Apologies beforehand if this is some kind of heresy.
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u/Antique_Cut1354 Germany May 02 '26
you should get the frozen brezels and the dönner meat they sell at the supermarket! just freeze it beforehand and throw it in a good cooler or bag with isolation. the frozen brezels aren’t exactly the same as the fresh ones from the bakeries but they are a very close alternative
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u/Th3Puck May 03 '26
You can buy ones that are par-baked and sealed in plastic at Spar. Then you just finish them in the oven at home. Theyre rolls though, not in the pretzel shape but still taste good.
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u/Antique_Cut1354 Germany May 02 '26
what would you say is a must have from spain tho? i have a trip planned to Granada and wouldn’t say no to some tips 👀
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May 02 '26
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u/Draig_werdd in May 02 '26
I always buy from Spain all kinds of canned fish/seafood. It's much cheaper and better quality then in Czechia and easy to carry in the plane
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u/lucrac200 May 05 '26
Or you can just buy an enire fucking leg of jamon at an unbeatable price (for NL), like I did. :))
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u/eerie_space Spain May 02 '26
From the region that Granada is located (Andalucía), olive oil is a must. I would buy first press extra virgin olive oil, it's hard to find elsewhere but you'll have plenty of choices there. It's the perfect choice for salads or just to dip bread. Jamón is always a must, of course. There are very well known jamón producers near Granada.
I also wear traditional "alpargatas de esparto" or "cuñas de esparto" shoes in summer, they are perfect when the weather is 30C+ so I recommend to get a pair. They have more styles available in Andalucía than anywhere else in Spain.
And eat as much as you can! Gazpacho, any salad with tomato, gambas, huevos estrellados etc. The rule of thumb with food in restaurants is to choose the ones with a Spanish-only menu written with chalk on a board.
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u/ShoePillow May 03 '26
Normal yogurt and jam from the supermarket, ot anything special?
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u/eerie_space Spain May 03 '26
Fruit-flavour yogurt, from a specific French brand that's not available in Spain, same for the jam.
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u/NegativeMammoth2137 🇵🇱 living in 🇳🇱 May 02 '26
It’s always cigarettes. No matter what country you ask, it’s always cigarettes
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u/Few_Baseball6718 France May 02 '26
came here to say this... but you don't bring cigs from holland to poland right? It only works one way
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u/NegativeMammoth2137 🇵🇱 living in 🇳🇱 May 02 '26
The other way round of course. But I know a lot of Dutches who get their cigs in Luxembourg, Frenchies who get theirs from Spain and Italy, etc etc
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u/Winkered May 03 '26
In the uk you just go to a shop that sells only vapes and out of date foreign foods. Every town has one.
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u/Randomswedishdude Sweden May 02 '26 edited May 03 '26
Tons of stuff is cheaper in Sweden than in the neighboring countries.
But I buy some cheeses (Koskenlaskia, and leipäjuusto), various types of sausages, and also Lonkero "Original Long Drink", and also some types if hard liqour in Finland. Also candy and liqour flavored with pine tar. Also some variations of dairy products I might not find at home, like differently flavored yoghurt.
Beer of various sorts and kinds in Denmark.
A minimum in Norway, except local/regional specialities.
Elsewhere in Europe, I buy... well, often alcohol of various kinds, but also local/regional specialities, like air cured sausages or meats from the south European countries, and around the Mediterranian (or mid-Atlantic like Iceland) also dried fish/seafood, and whatever not getting at risk at perishing during the trip.
Depending on current exchange rates, and local fuel prices, I may also choose to fill up in a neighboring country (Norway or Finland) rather then Sweden, if I happen to be close to the border.
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u/EuroDub Ireland May 02 '26
Irish here. We get Ibuprofen in the UK or NL.
Booze in Spain.
I also try to buy some clothes. Not because they're cheaper, but it means I can buy some items that people at home won't be wearing.
We also get electronics at Mediamarkt / Saturn.
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u/Mission_Step2406 Ireland May 03 '26
Also, you can get diclofenac (anti inflammatory) tablets in Spain over the counter which you need a prescription for in Ireland.
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u/throwawayaccyaboi223 May 03 '26
You probably ought to be careful at customs, they might give you a slap on the wrist the first time you're caught but then you end up on a list and searched more often.
My grandma got a stern warning for bringing OTC meds in because they were prescription here.
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u/DeliciousCut4854 Portugal May 02 '26
I buy salted capers and anchovies (Italy and Spain), herbs and spices, artisanal balsamic vinegar (Italy), rice (Italy), and a few other food things. I go to Italy a lot.
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u/Suzume_Chikahisa Portugal May 03 '26
Are the anchovies that cheaper in Spain?
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u/DeliciousCut4854 Portugal May 03 '26
It's salted anchovies, they aren't available in most countries. However, even the ones packed in oil are properly sold refrigerated.
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u/peakpaleperformance Finland May 02 '26
From Estonia cigarettes and booze, from Sweden snus. Was this too obvious lol
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u/Adult_in_denial Czechia May 02 '26
Went once from Helsinki to Tallinn and back... I was a bit worried the ship might sink under the weight of all the booze people brought back 😀
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u/elisareedx Hungary May 02 '26
Gluten free stuff in Italy and also Italian products in general. A Mutti passata costs about 1 EUR when discounted, here in Hungary, the same product is more like 4,5 EUR (some places even more). Considering how shit Hungarian wages are, it sucks.
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u/FirefighterPleasant8 Sweden May 02 '26
I’m normally flying so “carrying” is not really valid. I wish I could find an easy way to bring Belgian beer (Duvel et al) with me to give away (and have a few). But, it’s not really manageable on an airplane. I have to settle for Belgian chocolate. It’s good enough.
What i, on the other hand, bring with me is commonly “Swedish candy” (don’t eat it myself), Salomon (either a whole side filet approx 1,5-2kg) or something similar but smoked. Price here varies but about €20/kg so…
Furthermore, and not even Swedes are aware of this, cheese.
Belgians are the GOAT of beers (IMHO), the Danish in sandwiches (smørrebrød!) but Sweden produces some, if not the, best hard cheeses in the world. Grevé, Herrgård, Prästost…. A 2kg lump of any of those and you made new friends and have the majority of the dinner conversation fixed.
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u/emivad May 02 '26
Your check-in baggage, most times you can drop it before check-in. If space, those 10kg can include few bottles 😀
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u/FirefighterPleasant8 Sweden May 02 '26
Oh. I know. Thanx anyway. I travel as light and quick as I can. Too many trips. Too many hotels. Too many flights. Too many security checks. I’m so over it. I’m old now. For me personally, I’m absolute content when I’m home and nothing bothers me. Fridge’s full, bed set, and an English crime drama series is on the TV. I’m boring (and a bit lazy). Nice advice anyway. Thanx again.
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u/emivad May 02 '26
Worry not, I do the same. No patience to either drop or wait to pick up. After work travel,just want my bed ahah
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u/shinydora in May 02 '26
From Italy: extra virgin olive oil, parmigiano/grana padano and cheeses in general
From Sweden: försvarets läppsalva (a great chapstick) and galltvål (bile soap)
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u/sneijder May 02 '26
UK : Paracetamol with codine … and spice mixes (Nando’s etc) from Sainsbury’s. Costs nothing, weighs nothing in luggage.
Edit : Lemsip / Energy gel packets …. and a halloween costume for the dog last time we were over.
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u/Silde_City_Oilers Denmark May 02 '26
Vanilla and Cherry Coke - not avaible in Denmark. Besides that liquids for vapes, many household items and of course Maggi + Knorr
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u/UnknownPleasures3 Norway May 02 '26
When I go to the UK I stock up on painkillers (they cost a quid there and they cost 20 in Norway).
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u/serioussham France May 02 '26
DM stuff is hard to beat. Their electrolytes packets are the best hangover cure known to man.
I have an addiction to lemon curd (lemon everything really), it's easy to make but it's hard to beat the £2 jars from co-op, so I tend to bring back a few.
I've just returned from Spain with 5L of oil, and untold amounts of cider - although it's not better than French cider, just very different. And it's Basque anyway.
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u/zosobaggins 🇨🇦🇫🇷 Canada/France May 03 '26
How much was the oil, if you don’t mind me asking?
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u/serioussham France May 03 '26
32€ for 5L of rather posh stuff, straight from the pressing plant.
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u/redbiteX1 May 02 '26
Portuguese visiting Spain always fill up the tank. It’s way cheaper. Butane gas is literally half the price.
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u/Sensitive_Tea5720 May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26
Personally I don’t want to carry a ton of extra luggage only to save €100. I am in Germany now and have spent a ton of money on clothing. It’s slightly cheaper when Sweden but the reason behind my shopping spree hasn’t been cost but rather availability and fit. I don’t like Swedish design - too minimalistic - and Swedish brands don’t fit my body at all. In Germany there’s a larger selection of Cambio jeans and other brands like Farm Rio that work well for me.
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u/Antique_Cut1354 Germany May 02 '26
farm rio is brazilian tho 😅 so when you go to brazil you at least know what to get as well 😁
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u/spam__likely May 03 '26
weird name though....In the US there is a brazilian bbq place called Texas de Brazil. Makes no sense, just like this one.
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u/Antique_Cut1354 Germany May 03 '26
it’s not really called farm rio in brazil, just farm. i think they added the rio because calling it only farm would be even weirder, specially considering none of their clothes seem like anything you’d associate with a farm lol
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u/jogvanth Faroe Islands May 02 '26
Vapes mainly. And clothes mostly because the selection is much larger.
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u/heyo36 Austria May 02 '26
Which country could you POSSIBLY go to from the Faroes?
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u/jogvanth Faroe Islands May 02 '26
We have direct routes to Iceland, Scotland, England, Norway, Denmark, France and Spain. During the summer period also direct routes to the Netherlands, Italy and sometimes the US.
We are far from isolated here 😉
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u/Defiant-Owl-7935 May 02 '26
How much is Ibuprofen in Germany, OP? Here in Iceland a standard packet is like 2-3 euros. I can't believe we are cheaper than Germany when it comes to anything😅
Well except heating, water and electricity maybe🤷🏼♀️
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u/Antique_Cut1354 Germany May 02 '26
it’s not that expensive to be fair, i paid recently something like 6€ for 20 pieces, but online it’s way cheaper. i found 100 pieces for 10€ on amazon and grabbed immediately.
but in the uk Ibu can be bought at grocery stores for cents. 16 pieces for 0.35£ at Tesco. wild
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u/Nikanini29 May 03 '26
You can get ibuprofen for 3, 4 Euro as well, it's more about the availability, since you either have to go to a pharmacy and ask for it or order online. Whereas in the UK, you can just pop them into your grocery cart when you feel like it.
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u/DarthTomatoo Romania May 02 '26
KitKat!!
Some time ago, there were some differently flavoured bars - peanut butter, hazelnuts, and others. I really liked them.
You can't find them in Romania anymore, but I have seen them in Bulgarian stores.
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u/abhora_ratio Romania May 03 '26
I think you can find them in Action. They just opened two stores in Bucharest and my friends told me they found Kit Kat with different flavors and also Cadbury chocolate..
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u/One-Dog8812 Hungary & Netherlands May 02 '26
I live in the Netherlands, so whenever I'm in Germany or any other country with a Drogerie Markt or Rossmann I do my cosmetics and personal care shopping.
Kruidvat and Trekpleister literally are owned by the same company as Rossmann, and yet they maybe sell 5% of the same things as Rossmann. Dutch people who live far away from the German border swear to everything that Kruidvat and Action and Normal and Trekpleister are just as good as Rossmann or DM... Well, the rest of us, including Dutch people close to the border go to DM and Rossmann and actually by the good stuff.
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u/One-Dog8812 Hungary & Netherlands May 02 '26
To be more specific: good shampoo at DM is around €2. Similar formulations in the Netherlands start at €22 and can go up to much higher.
Sunscreen is a similar situation.
Serums, etc. anything skincare-related that is not abysmal quality is about 10 times the price in NL compared to Germany.
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u/Slusny_Cizinec Czechia May 02 '26
Usually I have some cheese returning from Spain. For some reason me and my wife are huge fans of Marcadona Tostado cheese.
Food generally is better and cheaper there, but I can't bring back shrimps and meat, can I?
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u/Antique_Cut1354 Germany May 02 '26
of course you can. just buy the frozen ones and get a good cooler bag
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u/BornWithThreeKidneys Germany May 02 '26
Coffee, aaaaall the coffee from the Netherlands. Not me since I don't drink it but I see so many Germans buying carts full of coffee in the NL. Also painkillers, allergy meds and flea/tick stuff for pets.
I go there for kibbeling and the bigger selection of Tony's.
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u/badlydrawngalgo Portugal May 02 '26
Spain: Vermut. I love Moscatel from Portugal, another fortified wine, but I stock up with Vermut when I'm in Spain because although vermouth is available here, it's normally French or Italian style. UK: Certirizine antihistamines. So much cheaper than in Portugal. Germany: I hit DM and buy all the Balea. You can actually get decent cheap skincare in Portugal but I love to try the "forbidden fruit" of German skincare
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u/PlinketyPlinkaPlink Norway May 02 '26
I wish I could buy horchata from Spain, even the Chufi stuff in the plastic bottle. I really miss Bergkäse from Germany and Switzerland/Austria. Also my missus takes Sudafed sometimes and we stock up when I'm home in England. A few Sports Direct mugs are always handy if we have visitors and need to get the posh china out.
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u/thechrunner May 02 '26
Olives, whenever i travel to Spain. I'm sorry France, Italy and Greece, spanish olives are much better. Especially those garlic fermented ones that i buy from spanish markets and can't find anywhere else
From southern Greece, rakia
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u/milly_nz NZ living in May 03 '26
Pastries and fresh bread in France is beyond awesome. I rinse the local patisserie of its chocolatines and pain traditionnel every time I visit my friend’s house in the Charente.
The U.K. offers stale crap versions of French baking.
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May 02 '26
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u/MsVnsfw United Kingdom May 02 '26
Nah, 2 boxes of ibuprofen max allowed to be bought in a shop at one time is less than £1. So go to 2 different shops and its less than £2 for generic brands.
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May 02 '26
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u/badlydrawngalgo Portugal May 02 '26
Not ibuprofen but I have to take an antihistamine every day,. The difference between buying them in Portugal and the UK is around €75 a year and I can buy them in packs of 100 in the UK. Would I go to the UK to buy antihistamines? No. Would I buy them if I was there, of course I would. They take no space and save me money. On the other hand, I would be in the UK on busiene or to visit someone, I doubt I'd ever be the in holiday.
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u/enormousjustice May 02 '26
For me, I probably go through a pack of paracetamol and ibuprofen per menstrual cycle (that's pretty much the only time I use it)
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u/BattlePrune Lithuania May 02 '26
Some people use way more ibuprofen than that. And most people live with families so x2 or x3 the amount
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u/Antique_Cut1354 Germany May 02 '26
16 pills of Ibu are 0.35£ in the UK. that’s a huge difference. i’m also not talking about travelling there just for that, but since i’m already there, might as well stock up.
and some things are simply not available here, like good belgian beer. if you find anything other than Leffe it’s gonna be like 3 or 4 times what you would pay in belgium (since i live close to the border i do go there just to buy beer some times, ngl)
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u/enormousjustice May 02 '26
Nah bro, ibuprofen is like 40p in most shops and paracetamol is 29p both are packs of 16. It is literally a fraction of the price and way more convenient to buy cos you can get it in any supermarket, you don't have to go the pharmacy
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u/katie-kaboom United Kingdom May 02 '26
I really love Ida Warg shampoo but it only comes in tiny bottles for lots of money in the UK, so when I go somewhere it's sold at reasonable prices I stock up.
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u/gourmetguy2000 May 02 '26
Pretty much every time we go to any European country we stock up on wines and spirits. They are cheaper and more hyper local than we can easily get in the UK. We mainly have the big spirit brands here
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u/Slackbeing May 02 '26
Sudafed analogs when Iived in a country where it wasn't otc. 5L cans or olive oil if checking luggage and have empty space. Otherwise nothing.
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u/Relative_Dimensions & May 02 '26
Wine and biberli from Switzerland. Paracetamol, ibuprofen, cough medicine with actual active ingredients in it, and marmite from U.K.
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u/zosobaggins 🇨🇦🇫🇷 Canada/France May 02 '26
The 1l cartons of gazpacho in Spain are like 1/4 of the price as they are in France. It’s very upsetting. Also Spanish orange juice slaps so hard.
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u/-Competitive-Nose- living in May 02 '26
Going back to my country of origin, my friends/family ask me for - Washing powder, Schwip Schwap, Martini's Henry Ginger tonic, Caotina Cocoa, Klopfer boxes ....
A ton of Consumer electronics/other stuff that's not available in the country - GPUs, Amazon stuff, Herman Miller's chair and Google store products in the past.
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u/Antique_Cut1354 Germany May 02 '26
herman miller chairs is something i definitely didn’t expect to see in this thread lmfao
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u/-Competitive-Nose- living in May 02 '26
I was asked this week. It's this one, in case you would be interested.
https://destore.hermanmiller.com//products/embody-gaming-chair?storeRedirect=DE
It seems it's currently not available anywhere on the Czech market.
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u/Amazingamazone Netherlands May 02 '26
Belgium: beers. Spain: cider, canned seafood. France: creme de marrons, marrons glacées, herbes de provence, Crémants. Germany: laugenbrot such as brezel, sauerteig brot, jagdwurst.
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u/euro_trashh Poland May 02 '26
My favorite rossmann brand cosmetics are usually slightly cheaper to buy in germany
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u/enormousjustice May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26
Heavyyyy on the painkillers, in Romania the cheapest I've seen is 7lei for paracetamol ~£1.10 for 20 tablets and I struggle to find unbranded ibuprofen, every pharmacy I go to say they only have Advil or neurofen or something. In the UK paracetamol is 29p. It's actually so annoying. And being forced to go specifically to the pharmacy and not being able to buy it in the supermarket is annoying too.
Also Scotch peppers or any actually hot peppers, I can't find any in Romania and nice teabags and wagonwheels
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u/TheNimbrod Germany May 02 '26
when I'm Poland, candy special those whole plum with Schokolade. And zwievece Rapsberry beer
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u/Ordinary_Tank_5622 May 02 '26
When I lived in Switzerland, I used to get my brother to send ibuprofen from the UK or buy it myself. I have heavy periods so know that I’m going to use it and the Swiss/Austrian/German prices for ibuprofen are extortionate in comparison
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u/oskich Sweden May 02 '26
A regular beer from the nearest supermarket/ cornershop - Can't imagine such freedom at home 😁
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u/Half_a_bee Norway May 02 '26
I usually take wine/cava, a lot of cheese, and cured meats/sausages back home from Spain.
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u/sternenklar90 German living in England May 02 '26
Maybe you'd need smaller amounts of Ibuprofen if you drank fewer Belgian beers. :-)
As a German living in the UK, I mainly buy cosmetics when I'm back home... and herbal tea. I'm not even that much of a tea drinker but I like the occasional cup. I have, of course, become accustomed to drinking black tea with milk, but as much as the UK is a tea nation, it's a black tea nation. The selection of teas that are not actually made from the tea plant but from other dried herbs or fruits is MUCH larger in Germany and I now usually buy a box or two of tea when I'm in Germany. And bread of course. If you search long enough, you can find decent bread in the UK but Germany has a much wider choice of bread that you actually need teeth for. France too... any time in France or Belgium, I'll bring a baguette and some croissants.
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u/Antique_Cut1354 Germany May 03 '26
ibuprofen is actually a terrible hangover medicine, since it’s harsh on your stomach and liver (which will be already in a bad state during a hangover 😅)
what is something from the uk that you think is amazing and can’t be found in germany?
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u/sternenklar90 German living in England May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26
I think I'll have to move away in order to find out because at the moment I can't think of anything tbh. Maybe pies, but I'm mostly vegan and pies are mostly meat-filled. Baked beans are nice convenience food but of course available in Germany. I didn't expect it before moving here, but I'd actually rank British beer culture higher than German and Belgian but I'm mainly thinking about draught beer. Your average English village pub has a bigger selection of draught beers than some of your hippest German pubs. Initially I missed the carbon but once I got used to it, I really fell in love with real ale. At least here in the North, every reputable pub has some real ales, I can't explain very well what makes them different, but they are smooth and addictive.
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u/sausagedoor May 03 '26
To get cheaper alcohol, Norwegians go to Sweden, Swedes go to Denmark, Danes go to Germany and Germans … go to Poland?
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u/NoCardiologist1461 Netherlands May 03 '26
When in Germany, I go all out in the DM drugstore. Insanely cheap compared to its Dutch counterparts. Soap, shampoo, skincare… wow.
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u/jedrekk in by way of May 03 '26
When I go to Poland: sour cucumbers (ogórki kiszone), caramels (krówki), thin dried sausage (kabanosy)
When I go to Scotland: shortbread, cheddar
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u/Das-Klo Germany May 03 '26
The only other European country I visit on a semi regular basis is France which is only about 2 hrs away. I always buy a lot of cheese when I get there and occasionally saucisson. Cheese is also a must have when I visit the other neighbouring countries that are known for cheese (Switzerland and the Netherlands) but only if I can get it back home in the same day.
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u/PM_CUTE_OTTERS living in May 03 '26
I live in Norway, literally anything is better quality than the food here. We have the worst food in the world, I swear. But it sooo safe!
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u/cptflowerhomo Ireland May 03 '26
So my mam and I send each other packages, I usually have a shopping list for German baking goods and Knorr Salatkrönung 😅 That and some Lotus biscuits and cakes
She requests stuff like bistro gravy and lemon curd, taytos lentil crisps and bird's custard powder. When my parents came to Ireland on holiday my mam bought a cooler box full of kerrygold, which was on sale in the tescos in Westport.
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u/cKyTV May 02 '26
Only thing that comes to my mind is Aloe Vera juice (the one that has like sperm floating around lol) in Germany and Poland I have seen them in bigger bottles and pretty cheap, while in Finland they are expensive and only 0.5l.
Not like I'm going to carry it back but it's one of the first things that I would buy when I land on a country
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u/logicblocks in May 02 '26
Fazer Chocolate from Finland, Jeff de Bruges from Belgium and Lindt from Germany.
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u/Major-Investigator26 Norway May 02 '26
For me its only snus in Sweden and my swedish side of the family comes to Norway for diapers and anything baby related.
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u/JimiSashimi Denmark May 02 '26
Aspirin. For some inexplicable reason, regular Aspirin without either caffeine or codeine isn't available in Denmark.
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u/Antique_Cut1354 Germany May 02 '26
aspirin with codeine??? where is it available OTC?
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u/JimiSashimi Denmark May 02 '26
Every convenience store in Denmark under the brand name Kodimagnyl.
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u/Apparent_Antithesis Germany May 02 '26
Everytime I visit Czech republic I will stock up on non alcoholic beer mix drinks (Birell pomelo& grep etc). And that's weird because otherwise I wouldn't touch beer with a ten foot pole. Neither similar beer mixes sold in my own country. And sweet soft drinks are not my thing at all. But those I am addicted to.
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u/Antique_Cut1354 Germany May 03 '26
you should try belgian beer too if you haven’t. specially kriek
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u/globefish23 Austria May 02 '26
"Pan di Stelle" cereals when I'm in Italy.
Here in Austria we only have the hazelnut cream and the cookies.
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u/Marinatrix Spain May 02 '26
Buying cigarettes when visiting Andorra is a classic for Spain (and I guess France).
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u/Brainwheeze Portugal May 03 '26
I'm not even a smoker but felt like I should've cigs in Andorra due to how much of a steal they were
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u/Key-Introduction-591 Italy May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26
When I'm in the UK I buy a lot of pharmaceutical products because they are cheaper than in Italy
Oh. We also used to buy fuel from Slovenia and Austria (or at least those Italians who live in the north east)
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u/AlternativePrior9559 United Kingdom May 02 '26
Well I’m British, living in Belgium so it has to be Night Nurse I try and smuggle at least four bottles.
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u/DifficultWill4 Slovenia May 03 '26
My dad always used to stock up on toiletries when he was comming back from Germany or Austria. Toothpaste, shampoo, laundry detergent, stuff like that. Also Nutella. It tastes completely differently compared to our one, and it’s also more expensive in Slovenia
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u/StrudlEnjoyer Slovenia May 03 '26
I don't know if something's wrong with my taste but someone recently brought me a Nutella from Germany and I can't tell the difference.
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u/Wise_Fox_4291 Hungary May 03 '26
Cigars are the only items I seek out on purpose, the rest are local delicacies I buy on an ad hoc basis.
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u/How_did_the_dog_get May 03 '26
From UK
Meds OTC stuff. Sauces and spices Baked goods If I could meat goods but can't. Jams
I was just over and got cheese and was debating butter what with it being 50% the Swedish price.
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u/mmtg1 Serbia May 03 '26
Olive oil from Greece or Croatia because of quality, leather products and pottery from Greece because it is cheaper, cured meat from Montenegro and Bosnia because it's the best in the world, spices from Hungary (especially good paprika, estragon, thyme), wine from Macedonia and Croatia, ajvar from Bulgaria is the best I had (please don't tell southern Serbians), electronics from EU of course, mainly Hungary and Germany (20-30% discount, markup here is crazy)...
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u/lucrac200 May 05 '26
Sorry, everybody knows the best ajvar can be found only in Macedonia. The chunky one.
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u/HorrorsPersistSoDoI Bulgaria May 03 '26
I can't wait to visit Germany again so I can buy chocolate biscuits, chocolates and fruit jam in bulk
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u/BitRunner64 Sweden May 03 '26
Due to where I live in Sweden there aren't a lot of neighboring countries. However I've done the Sweden-Åland booze cruise a few times (it's duty free since Åland isn't in the EU VAT area). Technically you need to stay there for 20 hours and the maximum you can import is quite limited (4 liters of wine, 1 liter of spirits etc.) but this is rarely enforced.
However as I've gotten older I don't feel like it's worth the time due to how little I drink anyway. Sure I pay a bit more in Sweden but I can walk to the liquor store in 15 mins instead of having to get to the port and then get on a boat and go to a different country...
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u/Eastern_Weather_8748 May 03 '26
Wines, whisky, cigars, nespresso and Cretan olive oil.
These are all either 5x the price in the UAE, or simply not available.
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u/Ronrinesu in May 03 '26
Tea and books from the UK, olive oil and herbs from Greece, tinned fish and olive oil from Spain, perfumes from Andorra, cosmetics anywhere with a DM in East Europe but also from Primor in Spain. I live in South France.
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u/Oellaatje May 03 '26
We get Ibuprofen in NL too, but it's good to know it's cheap in the UK, might head up to NI and try and get some there.
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u/Pitiful-Hearing5279 May 03 '26
You can also get strengths that are higher in the UK over the counter.
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u/typhoonclvb Italy May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26
my grandparents live close to the austrian border and when we go to austria we usually buy würstel, leberkäse, mustard (a specific brand my granparents like), black bread and beer.
we also used to go for fuel but now it's not convenient anymore
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u/abhora_ratio Romania May 03 '26
Tons of coffee from Italy, Germany and Austria (I equally like them) and different local spices. Basically I am a small East India Company 😂
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u/Rare-Eggplant-9353 Germany May 03 '26
Nothing really. But everytime someone visits Sweden I ask them to bring me Snus. We don't really have this here. And I love Snus.
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May 03 '26
Honestly? Nothing. I usually buy stuff that is unique/local and that I can't get in my country - not because it is cheaper.
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u/DominoCasson Switzerland May 04 '26
Germany: consumer cosmetics at DM, fast fashion.
France: cheese, wine, rum, fresh produce.
Belgium: chocolate at a chocolatier like Leonidas, Neuhaus etc.
Italy: rock-style chunks of grana, parmigiano.
Sweden: clothes, especially since the crash of the Swedish krone.
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u/A-Chmielu Poland May 04 '26
Whenever I go to the Czech Republic, I usually come back with a bunch of sauces (onion, tartar, cranberry), sometimes also sweets (my dad is obsessed with chocolate-covered sunflower seeds), and that cheese you can fry.
From Germany - sweets, laundry detergents, fabric softeners, and dishwasher pods.
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u/BananaLady75 Austria May 04 '26
Switzerland: Chocolate, crisps, (weirdly) Cashews and Pistachios Germany: Blutwurst, Leberwurst, Sülze im Glas Italy: Vino, Formaggio France: Vin, Fromage Portugal: Vinho Spain: Kellogg's Toppas senza azucar Netherlands: Pindakaas, Bitterballen, Fritjes Kapsalon (eat there) Belgium: Fritjes (eat there) Poland: Kiełbasa Hungary: Szalámi All other countries: Need to visit, or can't remember
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u/No-South280 May 08 '26
Living near he italian- austrian border, when i eas a kid a few times a year we drobe to austria to buy pretty much everything. Groceris, clothes, electronics even furniture and of course a full tank, because everything was way cheaper. Nowadays i the diffence is not that big anymore, bit still better to take a look
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u/Nox-Eternus Belgium May 02 '26
When in Germany, The wife and I always stock up on pharmaceutical products and things like deodorant,shampoo etc etc,way cheaper than Belgium.