Hi, Will be in Florence for a week at the end of April. Has anyone been to the outlets? Can you get there by public bus? I hear that there are good deals on clothes and handbags but can't afford a 2000$ bag on sale for 500$... Thanks for any advice!!

Hi bostonshopper. I know that I have read about bus trips to the outlets so hopefully someone here will post the info. It seems to me I remember some info about having one's hotel arrange it. Or have you tried Fodor's Seach Box to see if you can pull up any threads?

BTW, I have not been to the outlets but my friends in Veneto and Florence went there some months ago. They reported to me that they were very dissapointed in the outlets. Either "last year" styles or everything was still very expensive.

But I don't know from a personal experience although I do know that my friends and I tend to shop alike. Just for what this is worth.

If you do go I would be most interested in your impressions and experiences as I am sure a lot of us here would be.

Have a beautiful time in Florence.

I have not been to the outlets, but do recall passing them on the highway outside of Florence. I was thinking of adding them to the itinerary for our next Tuscany trip. But at a party last weekend I was speaking to someone in the fashion business who goes to Italy several times a year. She had just been to the outlets near Florence and said there were no bargins to be found, pricewise, especially with the Euro. For example, she had just bought a Ferragamo scarf at the store in NYC the week before, and it cost more at the outlet in Italy, by the time she factored the exchange rate etc.

PS Have you ever been to the Woodbury Common Premim outlets in upstate NY? They have Feragammo, Tods, Dior, and a bunch of other high-end Euro designers.

Get a copy of Born to Shop Italy by Suzi Gertzman. She has at least a full chapter on how to get to those outlets and what is available at each one. I think she found a local person who does these tours and they seemed to be outside of FL. Good luck!

Nini who posted the info about Born to Shop is absolutely right - this book has all the information you need to get out to the outlet malls and a driving service. There is a bus that goes there too but I don't recall the details but I think you ask about it at the tourist information office in Florence. Here is a website with useful information about The Mall http://www.outlet-firenze.com/ I went once and was also a little bit disappointed too. Some really great stuff but even marked down it was really expensive. It's not super-big like the outlet malls you find in the U.S. but they were expanding it when I was there so now there are probably more stores. I agree that you can find deals in the U.S. that are probably as good if not better.

Save your time--you can do better in Boston.

I guess it depends on which outlets you want to go to. I went to the Prada outlet, which is between Florence and Rome, not terribly far off the Autostrada. Many Japanese tourists where there on buses but we rented a car for the day and drove. You can also take a train and then a taxi, but the taxi has to wait for you while you shop (perhaps not a good idea). Suzy Gershman has directions (reasonably good) to Prada, Armani, and the outlets in Tuscany. There are also alot of outlets in the Lakes area, but I can't speak to them. When I went (in 2001) the prices were astounding (1/3 off prices that were already 50% off the European prices), but there are no real bargains now.

Here is a link to the bus transportation to the outlet mall.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34586768

Thank you all for great advice!!

Hi guys!!!!! Last week my Japanese wife and me went to Florence, Italy and visited an outlet centre a thirty-minute drive from Florence only….. The name is The Mall outlet centre…you can find top brands designer outlets till 70% less than retail prices!!! It’s great!!!!… Inside The Mall you can find Gucci, Agnona, Yves Saint Laurent, Tod’s, Botega Veneta, Hogan, Armani, Zegna, Balenciaga, Valentino, Fendi, Marni, Sergio Rossi, Loro Piana, Ungaro, Ferragamo, La Perla, I Pinco Pallino, Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney…Me and my wife - in particular my wife!!!!! - bought a lot of stuff….as Gucci and Fendi bags, Sergio Rossi and Tod’s shoes, Armani, Stella McCartney and Marni dresses and many other stuff…Really Cool!!!!!!!!!
To get there I reserved a shuttle service which picked me up from my hotel in Florence, but I don’t remember the leaving times….I only remember the tel and email of the information office ++39 055 8657775 – [email protected]
Enjoy your trip!!!! Francis

Francis, thank you for that information!! I had planned to make this a definite stop while in Italy on my honeymoon but was second guessing from the other posts. I think I will still plan on going now!

Many tour companies in Florence offer trips to the outlets by bus.....one company is caf tours; they have a website. I think it costs about 25E per person for a half day tour of Prada and the Mall.

Heads up re Francis' enthusiastic info about those outlets. After his wording aroused suspicion, I clicked on his name to find that this is his vey first Fodor's post, which often indicates a thinly disguised advertisement, which this definitely appears to be.

I visited the outlets in 1998. Walked into one of the stores and turned right around and walked out. The goods were quite wilted yet remained expensive. I'd spend my valuable vacation time and euro somewhere else.

Hi Betsey, thanks for your post. Your comments were the same as my friends who are Italians and live in Italy (per my post on this thread). Personally I have not gone to the outlets. I think your comments are a good "heads up" for everyone. But if travellers do want to go to the outlets I would inquire at the hotel you are staying at how to get there if you do not have your own car.

Betsy, question? just out of curiosity, do you know how long the outlets have been there? I ask because when in Italy a few years ago I never heard of them, and my Italian friends never mentioned them. It seems like lately there is a lot of talk about them. And my Italian friends only visited there sometime before Christmas 2004. But noticed that you were there in 1998. And I was in Italy in 1998 and never heard of them then either.

I live just a block or so from the start of all the outlet stores in Vacaville. I go there maybe at the most 4 times a year. And most residents I talk to are the same way. And yet tourist busses of people on vacation come to these outlets stores all the time. Maybe it is the same all over the world? Just wondering.

Hi LI. I don't know how long the outlets have been there, but I think the number of shops has increased since 1998. The only reason I know about them is that our agriturismo was not far away.

I love the outlet shopping opportunities here in the Bay Area but would like to check out the ones north of NYC that are often mentioned on this board. I've been to the Vacaville shops once. I usually go to the Great Mall at Milpitas for the Chico's outlet, but the Gilroy Outlets aren't bad either. There are JJill and a Coldwater Creek outlets there.