LET’S GO SHOPPING!

Beyond-the-border-shopping tourism was booming in the region 20 to 30 years ago, with a lot of people visiting Austria to purchase special products of the West.

There may not be such a big difference between the inventories of shops in Hungary and abroad today, but still many people pop over the border for a day of shopping. Bük’s location is particularly fortunate in this respect, because Austria’s largest shopping paradise, Parndorf, and Oberwart in Burgenland, are just a stone’s throw away.

In the 1960s, in the United States, renowned clothing manufacturers sold their inventory of surplus, faulty or discontinued models in huge warehouses called Factory Outlets outside of big cities at a bargain price. The idea reached Europe in the 1980s and swept across the continent. One of the largest such centers in the region is the “wonderland” of Parndorf near Vienna, where the products of leading global brands are available for purchase for even less than half the price. The shopping experience beyond the border is an hour and a half drive along the beautiful Lake Fertő/Neusiedl. The complex—around the size of a small village—awaits visitors with exclusive and branded products in more than 160 stores, and is open from Monday to Saturday. For those wishing to take break and refresh before continuing the shopping experience, there are several restaurants and cafés here as well.

Oberwart that once belonged to Vas county is one of Burgenland’s towns with the most Hungarians. The EO Park just outside of the town is a very popular shopping centre among Hungarians. It awaits visitors with more than 50 stores, excellent gastronomy offers and a whole range of services.

Other boutiques in the small town’s center are also worth a visit, with many Hungarian-speaking (mostly Hungarian) salespeople.

Speaking of shopping tourism, a real big-shot is the shopping “city” called Shopping City Süd near Vienna, around 100 kilometers from Park Hotel. It is perhaps the most significant shopping paradises in the whole continent. As opposed to traditional outlet centers, it does not offer lesser quality or out-of-fashion products from a few years ago, but retailers’ leftover inventories from the previous month.

The shopping center is located in Vienna’s southern suburb, Vösendorf, where stores on around 10,000 sqm of retail space offer the current season’s collections at significantly lower prices than than you can get in city center shops.

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