On March 29th the German capital features one of the bravest nights in terms of shopping fever? the so called ?The Long Shopping Night?. This year Berlin celebrates the16th long shopping night for over 500,000 shopaholics to indulge in a extra spate of retail therapy among 350 shops, stores, restaurants and bars.

Shops and entertainment venues stay open until midnight to the delight of big spenders everywhere. So if you're in Berlin this Spring bring your flexible friend and cut loose; If not, then you'll have to wait until Autumn for a second bite of the Long Shopping Night cherry.

On this regard, there's a new tendency among young Europeans that is travelling in small groups of 3-5 people. This way of travelling, apart from being safer especially for girls who seem to be the best travellers in terms of kilometres run per year, is also cost-effective. There are many ways we can demonstrate this: from the train tickets that often apply reductions to groups, to museums entrance, up to accommodation and food expenses. If you think about it, many places offer jugs of beer for as cheap as 8-10 euros and you can drink as much as you want for 2-3 euros only.

Not to speak about some ?pizzerie? where they cook giant pizzas for up to 6-8 people at ridiculous prices. Then if you look for cutting off the accommodation costs, many young backpackers, students or travellers often opt for private apartments where they can cook their own meal, chill out after a day in the city, guest new friends for a drink, or whatever they wish. We too have often chosen this alternative as prices range from an average of 80-120 euros for a central apartment in an European Capital city.

Take the Berlin example, with less than 80 euros per day, you can rent out studios for 3-4 people. Basically with 25 bucks guys, you can make your day and save a lot! And more and more, apartments owners are renting out their apartments to tourists, not only to residents.

Getting back to our shopping topic, if you are in Berlin the following little suggestions and info may be of some help. KaDeWe is the biggest store of the continent from clothes to food (Tauentzienstr., 21; Sh?nenberg; ph. +49 (0) 30 21210; U-Bahn Wittenbergplatz) whilst the cheapest one is Wertheim in Charlottenburg district (Kurf?rstendamm 231; ph: +49 (0) 30 880030; transport: U-Bahn Kurf?rstendamm). Specialized in backpacking gears is the Bannat (Lietzenburger Str.65, Charlottenburg; ph: +49 (0) 30 882 7601) whilst for unceasing readers you should try Dussmann a huge Emporium for books, cds and software right in Mitte (Friedrichstr.90; ph: +49 (0) 30 2025 2400) or East of Eden in the heart of East Berlin.

It's an international independent second-hand book shop hosting regular events (readings, open stage, exhibitions and live music) in the reading room. You can choose among 10,000 second-hand English language books! (Schreinerstrasse 10, Samariterstr; U-Bahn Samariterst). If you are in the area and still prefer to indulge in small cosy bookshops why not try the ?Books in Berlin??It has a good section for English narrative too and used books in general (Goethestr.69, Charlottenberg; phone number: +49 (0) 30 3131233).

Well we hope this brief introduction to Berlin Shopping fever was quite exhaustive to give you an idea of what you can do and expect while there. So save up some money and let's meet there!