We are about to leave on the 21-day Europe tour, and my wife is really interested in knowing if there are any yarn shops in the towns or cities along this tour. She's a dedicated knitter who does create her own knit sweaters and does so with a great sense of accomplishment. Having some yarns acquired along our tour would be such a memento.
I was in Europe with a knitter as well, and the first stop in any city we went to was a yarn shop:)
This site was invaluable:
For the record of the locales in we visited the best shop in her opinion was the Bon Marche dept. store in Paris (best selection of needles), and the shop near the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam (best selection of Yarn)...owned and operated by an American lady.
I was on the 21 day tour several years ago. I found two yarn shops, one in Haarlem and the other in Rothenburg. Take a look at www.planetpurl.com.