Liège Shopping

  1. Entrance to médiacité
by Nemorino
 
  • 1. Entrance to médiacité
      1. Entrance to médiacité
    by Nemorino
  • 2. médiacité sign with reflections
      2. médiacité sign with reflections
    by Nemorino
  • 3. Narrowest part of médiacité
      3. Narrowest part of médiacité
    by Nemorino
  • Any kilometers of shops
      Any kilometers of shops
    by wandeljp
  • You'll not be alone there (lol)
      You'll not be alone there (lol)
    by wandeljp
 

Most Recent Shopping in Liège

médiacité: Controversial new shopping mall
Nemorino profile photo

4.5 out of 5 starsHelpfulness

Nemorino 2616 reviews
1. Entrance to m��diacit��
2 more images

When I first saw the signs pointing to “médiacité” I thought it had something to do with mendacity, but actually it means Media City and is a new shopping mall and urban development project that was inaugurated in 2009.

Though I generally have something of an aversion to shopping malls, I must say that I immediately felt right at home in this one because it is very bright and cheerful and doesn’t smell of cheap perfume. And it supposedly has all the latest design features to promote energy efficiency and sustainability, but I didn’t know that at the time.

It turns out that médiacité is not only a shopping mall with 124 shops and restaurants, but also includes offices, radio and television studios, a cinema and (soon) an ice-skating rink. The whole complex covers more than 6.5 hectares of what used to be an “industrial wasteland”, part of which was the site of an abandoned tire factory.

My photos show the narrowest part of médiacité at a point which used to be the intersection of two streets. The city closed off this intersection so that the two halves of médiacité could be joined together, but there are signs on the doors saying that people who want to get to the other side are welcome to walk through and also to walk their bicycles through.

Their website says: “Go green and come on two wheels. We are proud of our 200 secure places for bicycles.”

They aren’t quite so proud of their four parking garages with 2,350 spaces for car parking, and indeed these have been severely criticized by environmental groups for bringing unnecessary motor traffic into the city.

My immediate reason for going into médiacité was to get in out of the rain, but I also had lunch there at a very nice vegetarian cafeteria and then found a bookstore where I bought a book to read on the train on the way home. (It turns out that French books are more expensive in Belgium than in France, just as German books are more expensive in Austria than in Germany, even though all these countries use Euros as their currency.)

Second photo: médiacité sign with reflections.

Third photo: The narrowest part of médiacité. The closing off of these streets has been criticized by neighborhood and urban planning groups who say that “the closing of the rue d’Harscamp -- which isolates a district from the rest of the city” is a blatant illustration of “this totally anti-urban conception.” They say the two parts of the médiacité could just as well have been connected by a pedestrian bridge, leaving the streets intact.

>>Next tip!

Updated Nov 9, 2011

Website: http://lechainonmanquant.be/editos/la-mediacite-ou-le-mirage-du.html#forum306

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La Batte open air market: Liege open market
wandeljp profile photo

3.5 out of 5 starsHelpfulness

wandeljp 952 reviews
Any kilometers of shops
2 more images

La Batte open air market

It's one of the biggest markets of Belgium.

You find so every thing there. But it's known for the diversity of world food.

I must say that Liège have a great multicultural population.

---oooOOOooo---

C'est un marché parmi les plus importants du pays.

Vous trouverez ici tout ce que vous pouvez imaginer. Mais je dois dire qu'il est réputé pour la nourriture en provenance de toutes les parties du monde.

En effet, Liège compte une importante communauté culturelles.

---oooOOOooo---

What to buy: Food , drinks, clothes ... so what every thing.

What to pay: Most of it is, Belgian norms, very cheap!

Updated Jun 29, 2008

Address: Along the Meuse river.

Related to:
 Hiking and Walking
 Budget Travel
 Backpacking

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Maison Massin: Do you like Speculations?
m-joy profile photo

3.5 out of 5 starsHelpfulness

m-joy 158 reviews

Les speculations (spicy little cakes) and Belgian waffles are a speciality of Liege. You get the waffles in nearly every café in the old town. For taking the home try a little insignificant but excellent shop called Maison Massin,

Written Apr 19, 2005

Address: Rue Puits en Sock, 8.

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Chocolat
m-joy profile photo

3 out of 5 starsHelpfulness

m-joy 158 reviews

Liege is a brilliant place to try and buy some excellent chocolates. The most famous and best chocolatiers are Galler in the Rue du Pot d’Or and Pierre Marcolini in the Rue de la Regence.

Written Apr 19, 2005

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