Top of the shops: World retail therapy capitals in focus

WHO doesn't enjoy a mammoth shopping session? 

Well, no doubt about half of you reading this will be grinning widely and nodding furiously at this sweeping assumption, and the other half will be pointing vigorously at yourselves and saying, “me. That's who.”

But 'shopping' does not just have to cover designer clothes, shoes, handbags and other basic essentials without which the human race simply cannot survive (at least, according to the first half of you mentioned above). We bet among those of you who shook your heads violently or pulled grim faces at the merest suggestion would be in your element with an open purse or wallet in, say, a hardware store, record store, sports emporium, bookshop, or even supermarket. There's little as uplifting as going out to buy something for yourself, or as a gift for someone else, that neither you nor they need but will absolutely adore.

Some people plan their entire holidays around shopping – after all, it's not exactly a seasonal activity, like the beach or the ski slopes. And there's nothing worse than having budgeted for an Olympic retail therapy break than getting there and finding absolutely zero to buy, and not a single decent shop to part with your cash in.

Luckily for us, the US-based platform dedicated to helping you save money when you shop – unnecessary money, that is. As in, not shelling out on parking or public transport and depleting your in-store budget – has researched where in the world people think the best shopping is to be found, and why.

Focusing solely on cities, the results show that the number one European shopping destination is also considered number one in the world.

Would you like to hazard a guess as to which country it's in?

How 'shoppable' are the world's top cities?

Let's start with the big blue ball in the Milky Way that we all share. If an inter-galactic tourist turned up and wanted to know which parts of Planet Earth offered the best retail therapy experience, what would you tell them?

WeThrift found that the overwhelming majority would say Madrid. And if said extra-terrestrial tourist didn't want to travel too far after 'doing' Madrid, you could direct them to world number six, which is Barcelona.

Out of a possible total score of 100, Spain's capital got 76.5, and Barcelona, 64.7. 

Much of the research was objective – WeThrift examined how many shopping centres, or malls, a city had (24 in Madrid and 13 in Barcelona), how many flea markets or, as we say in Spain, rastros, you would find there (18 in Madrid and 15 in Barcelona), how many designer stores (250 for Madrid and 228 in Barcelona), how many antiques shops (14 for Madrid, 21 for Barcelona), how many charity shops (47 in both), and how many furniture shops (114 in Madrid and 179 in Barcelona).

Cost of transport, weather, and other 'comfort features' that count

WeThrift also analysed non-shopping-related features which, nevertheless, do contribute heavily towards how comfortable, pleasant and convenient a retail experience is.

Annual rainfall might surprise you for its inclusion in the evaluation. But let's face it – unless you're reading this midway through a Spanish summer, when the thought of it would seem like sheer bliss – being caught in a downpour when you're intending to enjoy yourself isn't going to improve your day for you.

Barcelona, being in the Mediterranean basin, has a much higher annual rainfall, at 61.4 centimetres (about two feet) than Madrid, in the central high plains, with 41.5 centimetres (around 1'4”), but mainland Spain's east coast gets most of its yearly wet weather concentrated into short periods in spring and autumn, when near-monsoon-like conditions can suddenly strike, and persistent showers are more likely to happen at the beginning and end of winter.

If you want to stay dry in Barcelona or anywhere else on the Mediterranean, it's best to visit when the seasons are not about to change, since this is where warm air and cold sea, or cold air and warm sea, collide, and the pre-coastal mountains 'lock' it all in, causing torrential deluges.

This said, deluges normally only last for a few days before the sun comes out brightly as though it'd never happened – and, given that Barcelona has 13 shopping centres, which are indoors, what better excuse than to make a beeline for one of them and refuse to leave?

Public transport costs are also taken into account, and although, in general, southern and eastern Europe does better than northern Europe, modern and built-up metropolitan areas in Asia, and the USA, Madrid turns out to be far more economical than Spain's second city. WeThrift uses US dollars for the comparison – and based upon mid-market rates at the time of publication, US$1.00 was €0.93, or €1.00 was US$1.07.

Madrid, for a single journey on public transport, was calculated at €1.53, or US$1.64, and Barcelona at €2.45 (US$2.63).

But don't forget that, as in most cities worldwide, unless you only intend to make one return trip to a specific destination on a single day, it is always far better value to buy a travel card that covers either one type or all modes of metropolitan transport, if possible for a full day, week, month or however long you are staying rather than for a set number of journeys. Doing so in either Madrid or Barcelona will have you spending considerably less than €1.53 or €2.45 per journey.

Perhaps the 'Safety Index Score' aspect will surprise you, but it's an element that makes a huge difference: You're not going to have fun plundering all the designer boutiques – and furniture and antiques shops – if you're worried about being robbed in the process...or worse.

This score deals with perception of safety, as well as actual safety, and as Spain is statistically one of the countries with the lowest rates of violent crime in the world, the fact its capital earns 70.08 out of 100 (and nowhere breaks the 80 barrier) is probably par for the course.

Barcelona only scores 51.43, although anecdotal evidence says it is not really any less safe than Madrid, or not significantly so; and it's still higher than many other cities on the list, with rankings in the 40s – including London, with 46.75 out of 100.

Finally, one of the more subjective point-scoring elements is how many times a city has featured on social media posts with the hashtag #shopping.

This automatically produces an advantage for English-speaking cities, or those which attract tourists from Anglophone countries, despite the multi-lingual nature of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

So the fact London gets a whopping 199,638 #shopping hashtags may not shock anyone, but Madrid still manages 38,544 and Barcelona, 36,035.

How do Spanish cities compare with the rest of the world?

Aside from the UK and USA, with two entries each, Spain is the only other country with more than one entry, and impressive ones, too, at number one and number six.

With Madrid earning 76.5 out of 100 and number 15, the Polish capital of Warsaw, getting 55.2, the whole of the top 11 has at least 60 points, but only the top four have over 70.

These, after Madrid, are the Czech capital of Prague (75.1), which scores better on cost of public transport at €1.24 (US$1.33) and safety (75.89), has a proliferation of charity shops (218), but higher annual rainfall – 68.7 centimetres (2'3”).

London, in third place, with 74.2, has slightly more shopping centres (34), hugely more flea markets (75), a similar number of designer shops (257), significantly more antiques shops (40), and a few more charity shops than Madrid or Barcelona (74), although numbers may not be a reliable guide, given that the UK capital's population and area size is larger than either, meaning perhaps a similar ratio of all of these per head or per square metre.

London's furniture shops are practically the same in number as Madrid, at 117, and its annual rainfall very slightly more than that of Prague, but it falls down on the safety score and also on the cost of public transport, at €3.31 (US$3.55).

The Japanese capital of Tokyo, with an eye-watering 246 shopping centres, a safety score of 76.68, plus 441 designer shops, 240 furniture shops, 45 antiques stores, 29 furniture stores – but only 11 flea markets – is joint third with London, albeit with cheaper public transport at €1.60 (US$1.72); but its wet weather lets it down. Tokyo gets a soggy 148.2 centimetres (4'10”) of rain per year – although not as much as Singapore, in fifth place on 65.8 points and with cheaper public transport (€1.31, or US$1.40), which gets an annual drenching of 236.6 centimetres (7'9”) of rain.

As for which ones Madrid and Barcelona beat, these include some of the most famous shopaholics' paradises and normally the first names that spring to mind when you think about the ultimate retail indulgence: New York City and the French capital of Paris, at seven and eight, followed by Hong Kong, the huge Turkish city of İstanbul – the cheapest for transport, at just €0.36 (US$0.38), slightly ahead of Barcelona and London on safety with 52.45, but only one charity shop for its 15 million inhabitants – the Irish capital of Dublin, scoring a total of 60, with a whole 175 furniture shops, 83 charity shops and 253 designer boutiques, but only 48.45 for safety, fairly expensive for public transport at €2.89 (US$3.10), and with 91.9 centimetres (slightly over three feet) of rain per year, but still ranking just above Los Angeles.

The star-studded California city has less rain than Madrid, 340 designer boutiques, seven charity shops, 75 furniture shops, 20 shopping malls, is fairly cheap for public transport with a similar price to that of Tokyo, a higher safety score than that of London but lower than Barcelona, and comes 12th overall with 58.8 out of 100.

Just below it is the Scottish city of Edinburgh, with slightly less rain than Dublin, marginally cheaper public transport than Barcelona, only six shopping centres and seven flea markets, but does better on safety, just below Madrid at 69.79.

Germany's capital, Berlin, just about breaks the €3 mark for transport costs and is wetter than Barcelona, but very slightly drier than London, scores 57.97 for safety, has 26 shopping centres, but only two charity shops.

Poland's capital, Warsaw, is another cheap city for transport, coming in at just under €1, with similar rainfall to Berlin and London, 24 shopping centres, but a very high safety score, at 73.71.

One-fifth of Europe's best shopping cities are in Spain

Two-thirds of the world's top 15 shopping cities are in Europe – and among the top 15 European retail destinations, Spain has more entries than any other country.

The UK has two, with London third again and Edinburgh eighth, as does France, with Paris coming sixth and the south-western city of Bordeaux 15th, scoring 49 out of 100 and fairly average in terms of rainfall, public transport, safety and shop numbers.

Spain features three times in Europe's top 15, and twice in the top five, given that Barcelona now moves up to fourth, behind Prague and London.

In fact, WeThrift points out that Barcelona has more furniture shops than any other city in Europe analysed by the portal.

Madrid, top in its home continent as well as worldwide, has the lowest annual rainfall of all cities examined in the Europe ranking and second-lowest worldwide, giving it 'the perfect conditions for a sunny shopping spree', according to WeThrift.

It can be chilly in winter, though, given its altitude – the second highest-up capital city in Europe after Andorra la Vella – so if you want to guarantee a 'sunny shopping spree', spring and autumn might suit you better.

That said, compared with northern Europe as a whole, temperatures even in winter tend to be slightly higher, so if you're happy enough buying your Christmas presents in London, Paris or Berlin, Madrid is normally a little warmer in the coldest season.

Paris, İstanbul and Dublin come fifth, sixth and seventh respectively, followed by Edinburgh, Berlin and Warsaw, then the Portuguese capital of Lisbon makes an entry at number 11 – with a safety score and public transport cost similar to those of Madrid, although slightly fewer shops and shopping centres across the board, besides furniture (162).

Amsterdam is 12th, with higher rainfall than the two Spanish cities and a safety rating somewhere in the middle – 66.78 – plus a similar amount of shops, but the Dutch capital falls down on public transport prices, which are only a couple of cents lower than those of London.

Spain's third entry is also its third city, in terms of size and population – and although it's on the Mediterranean, its annual rainfall is not much greater than Madrid's, albeit concentrated into the times of year when seasons change.

Valencia, with its iconic and beautiful Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias ('City of Arts and Sciences', or CAC), its elaborate and aristocratic-looking architecture, vast sandy beach, its nine kilometres of urban garden in what used to be the river Turia cutting through the main hub, and its very compact, mostly-walkable city centre is easy to reach from its airport by public transport – the metro, or underground rail network, runs straight into the terminal and takes you to the heart of the metropolis and right outside its main train station – and is also the 13th best shopping destination in Europe.

Transport costs about the same as in Madrid, and on top of its six shopping centres, four flea markets (as well as the permanent indoor ones – the Colón, the Central and the Lonja or silk exchange), 211 designer boutiques, 36 charity shops, 136 furniture shops and three antiques shops, Valencia also has the second-best safety score in Europe.

Prague is the safest shopping destination, WeThrift found, at 75.89 out of 100, but Valencia beats the high-ranking Lisbon, Warsaw and Madrid with an impressive 74.43. In fact, visitors and residents, even lone women, say they feel perfectly safe pottering around Valencia's streets in the dead of night.

Marginally drier than London, with an average number of designer boutiques but only eight shopping centres and a safety score of 53.82, Sweden's capital, Stockholm, comes just below Valencia at 14 – but its public transport costs are its weakest point. London and Amsterdam will seem cheap in comparison with the Scandinavian city's scary €3.80 (US$4.07) per journey, nearly three times the price of transport in Madrid.

Best worldwide cities for 'thrift shopping'

WeThrift also looked at the top cities for grabbing a bargain – charity shops selling good-quality fare, second-hand stores with wares that you wouldn't realise weren't brand-new, and flea markets full of treasures – and Spain's two largest cities also appear.

Again, other than the UK and Italy, which each have two, it's the only other country with more than one entry.

Scoring out of 20, London is hard to beat with its exceptional 19.2, putting it firmly in first place, but after Paris (16.7), Madrid comes joint third with Prague at 14.2, and Barcelona slots in at number six with 13.3, beaten by Rome with 14.1.

After Barcelona, in descending order, are Dublin (12.9), New York City, Singapore, Taipei in Taiwan, Milan in Italy, Edinburgh – the last to score 10 or above – İstanbul and Hong Kong jointly at 13 with 9.6 out of 20, and Tokyo bringing up the rear with 9.2.

It's not all about the capital

Naturally, the WeThrift analysis looked at the biggest cities in their countries, so plenty of other, much smaller cities, large towns, or even small market towns and villages probably have excellent shopping undiscovered by international visitors. 

Given that Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia have all been singled out for their splendid retail experiences, Spain would seem a great place to start if you're looking to spend – particularly as Spanish municipalities, whatever their size, are frequently very self-contained and self-sufficient, with even villages home to just a few hundred residents having almost everything you need on hand locally, right down to bars, restaurants and sports centres.

Here's a tip, though. If you've made a beeline for a city or large town in Spain you've never been to before, with a view to shopping until you're dropping, and after wandering around aimlessly for ages, find yourself thinking, “well, this is boring. There aren't even any shops!”, check out a map and see if it has a street named C/ Colón, or C/ Mayor. 

For some reason, these seem to be the names of the streets with the best buying options, the most clothing stores, and the most designer boutiques. We're not entirely sure why, but it rarely fails.

And just to prove the most fabulous stores are not always limited to the largest cities, WeThrift includes a 'bonus section' – the 'most Instagrammed shopping centres' in Europe.

Based upon the number of hashtags, top of the list is Paris' famous Galeries Lafayette, followed by Milan's trademark Vittorio Emanuele precinct – both of which are just as likely to make it to social media for their stunning design as well as their actual retail facilities.

And one of them is only a small town – fourth, after Manchester's Trafford Centre, another UK venue that's regularly Instagrammed is Bicester Village in Oxfordshire. As well as picturesque, Bicester is famous across Britain for its concentration of designer boutiques, and reputed to be a favourite shopping venue for Princess Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge.

Spain comes in at number five, with La Roca, near Barcelona – a quaint, sunny and beautiful outdoor mall, pedestrianised, cobbled and tree-lined, and again at six with the sophisticated, ultra-modern-looking riverside complex, Puerto Venecia, in Zaragoza, the country's fourth-biggest city and the capital of the otherwise very rural, remote and charmingly-rustic inland region of Aragón.

These two come ahead of La Vallée Village in the outskirts of Paris, Magna Plaza in Amsterdam, the Zlote Tarasy in Warsaw, and the Paradise Centre in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia.

Anyway, if you feel a bit affronted that your town in Spain doesn't feature in any of the rankings and fully believe that's an oversight you can't quite forgive, don't forget to snap it up on camera and Instagram it – or mention it on any of your social media pages with the hashtag #shopping. 

At the very least, you'll help put it on the map, and show everyone else out there in cyberspace what they're missing.