Parndorf

Parndorf, a place to go and get back. In the car ride to Vienna, on the highway, about 50 kilometers from the capital of Austria, your eyes are attracted like a magnet to a lot of buildings in pastel colors, standing in a small town, is Parndof Designer Outlet. I heard about this place a few years ago. In the road to Germany, I made a stop among the castles there, but being Sunday, I could not see or buy anything, everything was closed. This time though I got there in the afternoon and we spent here, more on the run, 3-4 hours... shopping and doing more things.

Source

Parndof Designer Outlet is a commercial complex that can be perceived as a small town. Belongs to the McArthur Glen Group and occupies an area of over 37, 000 square meters. You can find over 170 stores and a multitude of dining venues and coffee shops, which was more or less alluring and more crowded in the area-that's where I was, even in the Christmas week.

Shopping Centre is open from Monday until Saturday, but on Saturdays, it opens from 9:30 a. m. to 6 p. m. It is closed on Saturdays. The parking lot is large. The entire town is wonderful. During the winter holidays, the shops were in tune with the season, everywhere lights and ornaments, a maid without blemish... What more? Nice!

Source

Outlet is located on the A4 (Vienna-Budapest), on the right if you have walking direction towards Vienna.

For those arriving from Vienna without a GPS, I found on the site a way to get there, quite comfortable. I also found a bus service (only on Fridays and Saturdays), which departs from Vienna, located across the street from the Opera House. On Fridays the bus goes there from 11 a. m. to 6 p. m. and Saturdays between 09 a. m. and 5 p. m., with a frequency of once per hour. From Vienna, Parndorf, buses run on Fridays between 12 and 17 p. m. with a frequency of once per hour. On Saturdays, they run once every half an hour between 5 p. m. and 7 p. m. or once every hour between 10 a. m. and 4 p. m. Round trip ticket is 8 Euro per person. It's a delight to the eye and full of temptations which you can hardly handle!

You don't have to worry about resting places for those who no longer can withstand the marathon (here I address the remaining men with children). There are enough restrooms (these are a real must-have on hopping marathons), and information panels are thick enough to not get lost in the immensity of the place, or to be able to reach easily and directly the store that interests you.

Right at the entrance of the outlet, there is an extremely nice hotel, but kinda pointless. At least I don't see the point on placing a hotel near an outlet: people are not going to be shopping there for 2-3 days. Anyway, those interested can stay overnight at the Pannonia Tower Hotel for just 12 EUR/person/night, although there is a 1. 5 Euro/night/person tourist tax.

Outlet in Parndorf is where all major brands are. They have renowned companies: Zara, Adidas, Nike, Orsey, Tommy Hilfiger, Laurent, Ralf Jones, Benneton, Mango, Zenga... Discounts are applied, as everywhere, especially to products from last season and vary between 30 and 70 %. But shops are specialized in home accessories or cosmetic stores. To be honest, the prices were quite low, and not as I heard in the folklore of my city. You can buy clothes with 5-10 euros! I have not found anything like it! But if you go there, I'm sure you will find something tempting and won't leave empty-handed. After a journey through several shops, we made a stop for a coffee and an apple strudel at Café Cappuccino. Adorable!

It is a nice place very beutifully arranged, with fresh colours.

I recommend a trip of a few hours in this place, maybe one day, if you have patience to walk through all the stores. I would have, but my brother doesn't.

My opinion

For me, Parndorf is a place to avoid because in about 2 hours, I was beaten after familiarizing myself with the offers that you have to "hunt" with discount stores, while the p-I Hape gave a tour of the stores where I like to get something.

I was bothered by the fact that the only cosmetics they have for example (not sell), are brands of notoriety like Channel. It alo bothered me that there is only one store that sells Swatch watches and that many products are not displayed with their prices (I got a sliver of 10 euros and when I chose a shirt on the shelf they were trying to make me pay 19), that the staff seems bored by the Slavic hordes and they arrange all the merchandise on the shelves. I was annoyed that it stood watching me, as if I was there to steal, not to buy something.

There are pretty much confined spaces, which have hosted shops that I didn't go to, but... in showcase ads we are assured that a new shop will be opened just for us. When and if it will be so, I do not know...

Last but not least, I was annoyed to see that possibilities for dining are only fast-food places (Nordsee, Burger King). There are also sandwiches shops, but they were closed. Don't dispair, a few dozen miles away, there is a truly wonderful place to eat: Paprika Csarda.

Conclusion

If you've never been here and you're in the area, it's worth entering. If you have never been and go/return to/from Vienna, move your sight to the other side of the highway (possibly wind forests) and do your shopping on Mariahilfer Rhinestones or SCS. Under any circumstances, do not make a way Romania-Parndorf, just for shopping there.