You set your bags down on a Sunday morning, ready to explore, and the main shopping street in the centre looks like a film set: shutters down, dark windows, not a soul in sight. This isn't bad luck. In several European countries, Sunday closing is the rule rather than the exception, and it catches thousands of travellers off guard every year when they discover it on the ground. The good news: far from being a wasted day, Sunday is often when a city shows its truest face, calmer and more authentic. Here's how to make the most of it.
Why do so many cities close on Sundays?
Sunday closing comes from a long tradition of weekly rest, still written into law in several countries. In Germany and Austria, the “Ladenschlussgesetz” imposes an almost blanket closure of shops on Sundays, with exceptions for bakeries in the morning, petrol stations and a handful of shops in train stations. Switzerland follows a very similar logic. France is more permissive but stays uneven: Paris allows opening in certain designated tourist zones, while a mid-sized town can feel almost deserted past midday. The UK, the Netherlands and Spain, by contrast, have largely relaxed their rules, and the main shopping streets there often stay busy all day.
What (almost) always stays open
Even in the strictest countries, the city doesn't grind to a halt. Here's what you can generally count on:
- Museums and monuments — the vast majority stay open on Sundays, often with smaller crowds than on weekdays.
- Cafés, bars and restaurants — the weekly rest law targets retail, not dining, which runs as usual.
- Markets — many cities hold their best weekly market on exactly this day.
- Public transport — sometimes with reduced frequency, but the service keeps running.
- Bakeries — generally open on Sunday mornings, even in Germany and Austria.
The best activities to plan for Sunday
Rather than fighting the shop closures, turn Sunday into a cultural, lively day — it's often the most pleasant one to explore a city.
- Flea markets — a European Sunday classic: Mauerpark in Berlin, the flea market at Vienna's Naschmarkt, or Waterlooplein in Amsterdam. Great atmosphere and good deals guaranteed.
- Large parks — locals turn out in force, often the best moment to watch a city live at its own pace.
- Pedestrianised districts — several cities close certain streets to traffic on Sundays, a great opportunity to stroll without the stress.
- Cathedrals and grand churches — open, sometimes with a sung service, and often home to a city's most impressive architecture.
- Brunch — a Sunday institution in most major cities, and a great unhurried way to start the day.
To spot free activities that work particularly well on a Sunday (parks, viewpoints, historic districts), our selection of free activities in the city is a good place to start.
City by city: what to expect
How much actually closes varies a lot from one country to another — here's an overview to help you plan ahead.
- Berlin and Vienna — near-total shop closures, but museums, flea markets and neighbourhood life stay very much alive.
- Paris — tourist zones (Champs-Élysées, Le Marais, some department stores) stay open; elsewhere, the city slows down noticeably.
- London and Amsterdam — reduced hours, but most shops in the centre remain accessible.
- Italy and Spain — major tourist cities largely stay open, sometimes with an early-afternoon lull rather than a full closure.
How to avoid a bad surprise
The one habit worth building: check opening hours before building your plan, rather than finding out on the ground. A quick glance at the opening hours listed on a place's Google Maps entry is usually enough, and the local tourist office or your accommodation can tell you exactly what stays open on Sundays in their city. The simplest approach is to flip the logic: save Sunday for museums, parks, markets and walks, and leave the shopping for another day of your trip.
To build a city trip that accounts for these opening hours, without any bad surprises, the CityPlanner app puts together your day-by-day itinerary based on what's actually open around you.
