Shopping, whether we admit it or not, has a large part to play in any city break and many other types of holiday as well. Moreover, tourists and city-break visitors don't necessarily have the time to seek out all the small, unique shopping experiences only the locals know about, or at least they can't do more than skim the surface.

Our list is unashamedly populist—here are the classic shopping areas and great markets where visitors on a mission can get the best fix with minimum amount of hassle. If you have more time in a place, it's worth consulting the local city guides for more in-depth shopping intelligence. But the shopping highlights and markets we recommend here should be more than enough to satisfy the most insistent shopaholic.