philly

of venice, rome and florence where should i plan to do the most shopping and why many thanks

Rex

If you've ever driven from Louisville to Cincinnati on I-71, you know the answer to this one: <BR> <BR>Florence Mall, Y'all! <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR> <BR>But seriously, for what do you want to shop?

tina

Philly, there is a great leather outlet store called Cuoieria Fiorentina about <BR>20 minutes south of Florence. You can see it from the Autostrada. We did all of our leather shopping here.What great deals! I got a fabulous purse for $40US. <BR>The same purse at one of their stores in Siena was $150.I also bought a leather jacket for $125. The staff speaks english well and they were very <BR>kind. If you want directions, e-mail me and I will give them to you. Check out their website: www.cuoieriafiorentina.it <BR>Good luck and happy shopping!

Andy

FLorence--for jewelry-go to Ponte Vecchio and go to store callewd S.Vaggi. Ask for Roberto--he had the best deals in FLorence- 18kt at $14-15 a gramm-cheaper and more unusual than our 14 kt stuff we see in States--and get a VAT form--Roberto is great to deal with. After hitting about 5 great stores, we came back to him for our purchaseS!!!! There is another Vaggi in the middle of the Ponte Vecchio that he also owns, but his main location is the one on the corner of the Ponte Vecchio on the Duomo side of the bridge.

Diane

There are fabulous place in all three. We were so busy seeing sights, I need to go back again just to shop! Florence probably had the most shops concentrated in the same general area. We examined the goods in the markets before visiting several shops. You'll get the same prices with negotiating, and there are higher quality items more likely found in the shops. We also had visited a Coin department store in Verona and had a good idea of what department store prices were for comparisons. (A great place for women's cosmetics, by the way...they also gave me a ton of free samples.)