Traditional Delft pottery. Avoid anything that says "Holland" on it, or depicts windmills. Check out the antique stores if you want something really traditional.
The shopping area in the city spreads roughly from the "Zuidwal" on the south to the "Choorstraat" on the north. The national and international stores like C&A, H&M and McDonald's concentrate on the southern part of the city, while the more alternative small stores and gift shops can be found more to the north. Apart from some supermarkets, shops are usually closed on Sundays and on Monday mornings.
Vrouwjuttenland: In this short street along a canal, near the New Church, alternative clothing and gift stores can be found. Pipe or cigar smokers should definitely visit "Van Renssen". The street also contains a organic / health food supermarket. On summer evenings, once a week there are performances of musical artists, performing from a boat on the canal. Check the health food supermarket for the exact dates.
Choorstraat: Just around the corner from the Vrouwjuttenland, the Choorstraat can be found. This pleasant small street offers a variety of stores, like a drugstore selling all sorts of tea, an international gift store selling everything from tajinnes to buddha statues, a chocolate store, a gameshop and a large book store with many international newspapers.
Hippolytusbuurt: At the end of the Choorstraat, untill Wijnhaven is Hippolytusbuurt. This is one of the two major canals. It boasts the one of the oldest shops in the world. The Fish shop dates from 1342. The Tourist information point is here. A funny little sweety shop, two toy shops, two hairdressers, a maroccan butcher with an excellent selection of olives and tapanades and two upmarket restaurants.
Bastiaansplein: The newest shopping area in town, consisting of a large supermarket (7 days a week open until 10:00PM) and several clothing stores. Tiles in the street light up at night.
Voldersgracht: For those who need good advise on tasteful alcoholic beverages, they definitely should visit the store Wines and Whisky's. Furthermore the Voldersgracht holds a large record shop, which sells a wide range of LP's and CD's from all ages. The street also has a religious gift shop, the Bijbel-In.
Martinus Nijhofflaan: The "Hovenpassage" is a covered shopping area, 15 minutes of walking outside the city centre. The shops are smaller and less alternative, but it contains a wide variety of stores and a large supermarket, the "C1000". Another large supermarket, the Albert Heijn, is on the other side of the street.
Oude Delft: Wine shop "Van Dorp" is located near the Old Church. The shop is in the vaulted basement of a monumental house. The atmosphere inside is cool and tranquil and worth a visit by itself. The shop has an extensive selection of wine in every price category. The customer service is highly personal and very friendly. Because the shop doesn't lend itself to much browsing the shopkeeper (a wine connoisseur himself) will try and find out what is to your liking and then recommend a suiting wine without pushing expensive wines. The venue can also be hired for wine tasting sessions. A visit here will cure you from supermarket wine forever.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Delft
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Delft - updated Apr 2024
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Delft Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
