Italy Shopping Advice
 

Hi Guys,

As usual great forum :D

I am going to Italy with my wife in 2 days and we will be going to Rome, Venice and Florence. Im trying to see which outlet malls we can visit and what are the range of price there as an example.

Is it a sale season now or has this finished? We are not looking for designer brands hence we expect prices to be lower i hope :)

Thanks

In Florence, the central market is a great place to shop--open air vendors etc. I have heard of an outlet mall outside of Florence but have not gone. A google search on " Florence outlet mall" will show several results.

The prices will shock you--wait until the $$$ is stronger.
The possible exception is leather in Florence--if you negotiate.

Unless you are looking for styles not available in the US - don't bother. Everything is much cheaper here. Especially if you want decent quality - expect to pay big $.

there are no outlet malls in Venice so far as I'm aware - there is a "Coin" department store in the Campo San Bartolomeo [the san Marco side of the Rialto Bridge] where you may find some items that you like at reasonable prices [I don't know if the sales are on, mind] and there are endless little streets where you will find many treasures. I've also found nice things in the "locals" shops along the strada nuova too.

in florence, the area to the east of the Duomo has some nice shops with handmde/original items, and in Rome, for shopping the city is your oyster, so to speak. for clothes, the via del governo vecchio and for antiques/curios, the via coronari are both very nice.

personally I've never been to a "outlet mall" and don't see the point of buying things that I can get at home when i'm abroad, but that's just me.

The sales seasons are mandated by law in Italy. They are in January and July, so they're over. And I agree, you won't find any bargains.

thanks guys for the feedback, i see alot of comments on venice and florence but nothing on Rome shopping.

I have been browsing and found an outlet mall in rome called Castel Romano..anyone heard of this?

nyt is right on. unless you are looking for something you canNOT get here in state side. do not bother, the prices will shock you, but the leather is top top quality. my favorite and i would hightly recommend (personally know owner) is http://davidecerasi.com .
you will see many handbags and leather in the central market, but beware there are a lot of fakes. and in Firenze It is ILLEGAL to BUY fake designer bags. If you are caught buying one of them you can be fined a very hefty price. Here is the thing to keep in mind about street vendors. If it looks like they can pack up and run from the police then don't buy from them. my opinion of outlet malls is they are mostly tourist traps. but if you must; go to http://www.outlet-firenze.com/ , there are ok deals on last seasons fashions.

You might want to read this:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...ome_Lazio.html

Besides, it's a designer mall. I thought you weren't looking for high-end items.

There is a small shop in Venice situated between Campo San Anzolo and Campo Manin--I think the street is Cartesia--but anyway the main drag there--that sells 20 euros cotton scarves with a Burberry-type pattern. The scarves come in many colours, including pink and orange. I thought they were all pretty and bought a pink one for a sister.

I also thought there were some very cute things in the Peggy Guggenheim Museum Shop that you will see right before you get to the museum.

But, I agree with the others; in this day and age with internet clothing shopping there really isn't anything you will find in Venice that you couldn't find on line.

Thin

Since the onset of the financial crisis, sales are not now confined to January.

The euro is now so low against the dollar, it feels like bargain shopping every day if you can remember just 5 years ago, when the the euro was at $1.61.

If you are shopping for shoes, gloves, designer jackets, ceramics and many other made-in-Italy items, you will not find them in the US. But to make the most of outlet shopping in Italy, you really need to invest more time into planning it than thinking about it 2 days before you leave.

Michela Scibilia published a book about unique shopping in Venice (Venice Botteghe) and I believe there is now a dowloadable I-phone app version.

Definitely not worth the bother. Sure, the Euro is weak and Canadian/Austalian/Kiwi dollars are all doing well, but bargains are few and far between in all of the cities you mention, and the so-called 'malls' are a big disappointment- last years left-overs with measly savings that'll hardly cover the price of your transport to get there. Sorry to be so glum!

On a lighter note, many of the shops in Florence are of the smaller, non-chain store variety, which makes shopping a more pleasurable experience and means you are more likely to find unique products (not counting, Zara, H&M, OVS etc).

Here is a list of sales dates for each Italian region. As you can see, many are still going on, and will be going on until the end of September:

http://www.archistyle.it/saldi-estat...5795#more-5795

I would not waste my short time in Rome on an outlet mall.
There is a good shopping street called via Cola di Rienzo which is in the Prati neighbourhood,not far from the Vatican. A good mix of stores and prices and there is a Coin department store which we found to have great "on-trend" things at pretty good prices.

I always find things to buy in Italy despite the exchange because you see things you don't see at home.