Supermarkets

Below are reviews and tips on Supermarkets in Europe that we have used.

Carrefour is to Europe, what Tescos is to the UK. They are massive in size and massive in numbers. It is the largest Supermarket chain in the world in terms of size and only second to the Might Wal-Mart in terms of revenue.

Carrefour sells the lot. From Tyres and even motorbikes to clothes and DVDs. It would be a similar price range to Tescos for basic food. Carrefour have a fantastic Deli, Fishmongers (with Live lobsters in a tank), Butchers, Fruit and Veg and regional counter. Lots of wine, Beer and spirits too. There is a large one on Calais - ideal for stocking up on the way back.

Stuart is very impressed with the Cheese counter.

Albert Heijn is a Supermarket chain based in Holland. Unlike Carrefour and Aldi, it is just in Holland.

I guess that this is similar to Morrison in the UK. Quite cheap, but unlike massive hypermarkets, quite limited. Although to be fair we only went to one when we stayed in Holland, so there could be massive ones in places like Amsterdam.

The Car Park does have a odd token scheme to let you in and out, where you have to get a token when you pay for your goods (the token looks like a smartie top from the old tubes) and this raises the barrier. Can cause problems and misunderstandings if you are not local or aware of this.

We came across "Extra" when we were in the Ardennes - and on looking they are based The 252 stores are in Northrhine-Westphalia Rhineland-Palatinate, Lower Saxony and Berlin - so limited, but fine for The Ardennes. Varsity and The Rhineland Clearences tours.

Even though the stores are medium sized (again think Morrisons) they actually have good stock, with nice German produce and as you would expect a good range of beers and wine.

The stores are well laid out and quite user - friendly.

The only Maxicoop we have seen is in the French town of Albert. Looking up on the blurb, Maxicoop is based on similar principle to the Co-op. The store in Albert is a god-send for those in The Somme as the nearest Carrefour is miles further in Amiens.

Maxicoop in Albert is quite large and does have a large stock, and again, nice regional products, and wines.

E. Leclerc or Leclerc is like the UK's Asda to Carrefour's Tesco. Leclerc have massive hypermarkets and many supermarkets.

Leclerc does stock a nice range of items, and a tip is if you are eating out during the day - don't pay cafe prices, go in the Leclerc's cafe and get a nice meal quite cheap.

Many of Leclercs are on the outside of towns, near busy Motorway junctions.

Even though the sign looks different to the Orange and Blue one you know in the UK. This is Aldi. For some reason, Aldi have the above sign for central and southern Europe, the one we are used too is for the UK and Northern Europe, but it is the same - no frills - cheap as chips store.

Limited in food to what a Carrefour, Leclerc or Maxicoop has, it makes up for it with cheap decent food.

And it has a nice selection of cheap beers and wine.

It would be unfair to give a full comment on the German "Plus" supermarket as we only stopped in for a few seconds many years ago when Lance wanted some Peach Schnapps.

It is like another Aldi.

Cactus - Little Luxembourg's very own supermarket chain is quite good. I would say like many other continental supermarkets it is like Morrisons or a small Asda.

The ones that we saw are close to the Border crossings, so the Tax for people from belgium, France and Germany is cheaper. Because these stores are seen as Tax havens (Luxembourg is NOT VAT tax free - it is 15% but cheaper than France 19.6%, Germany 19% the UK 20% and Belgium a whopping 21% many consumers cross into Luxembourg to take advantage of this on Beer and Spirits.