The Zeil is Frankfurt's main shopping street and one of the most expensive retail strips in Germany — measured by turnover per square metre, often the most expensive. Pedestrianised since 1983, it runs for about 600 metres between the Hauptwache to the west and the Konstablerwache to the east, and its great mid-20th-century department stores (Galeria Kaufhof, Peek & Cloppenburg) sit alongside the newer cathedral-of-glass shopping centres MyZeil and Zeilgalerie.
MyZeil, designed by Massimiliano Fuksas and opened in 2009, is worth a look even if you have no intention of shopping — a huge funnel-shaped opening cuts through the centre of the building, with the longest escalator in Germany running up its side. At the eastern end, the Konstablerwache hosts the city's biggest farmers' market on Thursdays and Saturdays. The Zeil itself gets crowded at weekends and during the long Christmas market season (Römerberg) when it is the main route between the centre and the station.