Hi all. I am doing some traveling soon and will be in Rome, Barcelona and Marseille, France. I looked on Marklin's website and I see that they do have shops in these cities but I was wondering if anyone had any experience on the quality of these shops.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Chris

That's a very good advice. If you do not want to waste your time, visit these two.

Gotthard is a nice shop quite modern, and their prices are just awesome.

Palau is "the mother" of all model train shops in Barcelona. It is very close to the center. It's somewhat old fasioned, but this too is charming. It used to be a reference shop, but not anymore. Their prices get lower as Gotthard is a very huge competitor.

Hi Chris!

Rome has a nice train shop, which I believe is called Giorni or Gioelli modellismo- its been years so I can't remember. Light on Marklin, but still worth the trip to check out if in town.

If you can get to Bologna, that is the haven for model train enthusiasts. There is "Marklin Shop" -yes that is what its called!- which is almost exclusive Marklin new and used (no website), as well as The Centro Fermodellistico Bolognese (www.cfbonline.it) which is a FANTASTIC shop. Check both of their hours before planning a visit though.

PM me if you need more train info in italy, I'm quite well versed in shopping there at this point

There is a shop called XVM in Marseilles (Rue Jean Roque 30-32 Marseilles 13006). I don't know if they stock Maerklin but they are listed on Maerklin's web site.
You can always check with the Maerklin online shop to see if they can ship to your hotel to coincide with your visit.
I would also recommend that you check out the local brands (ACME, VI Trains, etc in Italy, LSM, Ree Models, etc in France and Electrotren, etc in Spain).
If you are from outside the EU, some dealers will credit VAT on shipments outside of EC, so if your tax total is more than say 40 EUR, it may be worthwhile to ship the items to your house rather than to carry it with you as obtaining a VAT refund at airports/train stations can be rather complex.

Regards

Mike C

Hi Chris

In Rome there are not many shops left - i.e. good shops (at least one of them I used is now only on ebay) - but there is a nice 2nd hand market every 2months or so near EUR in Rome - the next is on Saturday 25 May 9:30-17:00 - address: Roma - Istituto Serafico, Via del Serafico 3 - the Metro station Laurentina metropolitana Line B station is very close.
Ref in Italian here:
http://www.happymodel.it...&id=52&Itemid=59
the website does not say a lot more, but there are usually many sellers of Marklin also from Northern Italy.

And by the way, I know of one shop having Marklin near Piazza Bologna in Rome (Metro station Piazza Bologna) - shop name is "Baby's Store" and it is located on a sidestreet from Viale XXI Aprile just at the very beginning to the left coming from Piazza Bologna.
Address is:
Baby's Store modellismo
Via G.Severano, 35/37
P.zza Bologna
00161 - ROMA
Tel.: 06.44.23.85.78

Hope this can help you when visiting Rome

cheers
Poul

Hey Chris,

Did you get to Gotthard trens in Barcelona? I randomly had a side trip there last weekend while in europe in business, and the shop was FANTASTIC! lots of nice new and used stuff.

If you haven't left for europe yet, I highly recommend checking it out

If you know your hotel itinerary, you can order from online shops and have the items sent to arrive during your visit. I would recommend that you use a courier and not the postal service. You can also check with the hotel about how far in advance of your arrival they might accept parcels on your behalf. You can also check whether there are local MBE Mail Boxes Etc outlets which are owned by UPS. They have set up shop in Germany and are probably doing the same in other countries too. It may also pay to have the items shipped to your home if the dealer will give you the VAT discount. It can be rather time consuming to apply for the rebate at the airport when your flight is leaving in an hour or two, especially if you have visited multiple countries on your trip.

Regards

Mike C