Treasure hunting at Saturday flea market in Mainz

Every Saturday morning hundreds of people come to the University Mainz campus to hunt for treasures at the flea market.

It starts at 7 a.m. and lasts until 13, which may depend on weather – on rainy days there is less choice and it closes earlier.

This market is opened every Saturday whole year round. It’s easy to access by bus or tram from city centre. The closest stops are: Friedrich-von-Pfeiffer-Weg, Hochschule, Staudingerweg. There is also plenty of parking space around.

What can you find there? Everything! Which strongly depends on personal needs. There are private sellers, who just want to get rid of their belongings. They have mostly clothes, shoes, jewellery, books and toys. More professional traders sell electronics, arts, antiques, furniture, etc.

It’s very common to find stands with everything for just 1€ or as little as 0,25€. If you pay attention you can also find boxes “zum mitnehmen” from which you just grab things for free.

Apart from second-hand stuff, one can also find totally new items: clothes, stationery, house cleaning equipment or food with shorter date to consume but lower price.

It’s good to know what you are looking for to narrow down the focusand just not get overwhelmed, but at the same time it is nice to be opened for opportunity. Sometimes you just find your “treasure” which you weren’t even looking for.

After few hours of shopping you may get tired and hungry. There is a little bar with warm sausages. In summer you can also have an ice-cream.

Another great thing is that some local farmers sell fresh fruit and vegetables, eg. apples, plums, potatoes.

I strongly recommend it if you are looking for unique items and don’t want to spend too much money.

There are also other markets which I haven’t explored yet, but this is a great starting point for Saturday shopping.