Can anyone clue me into where to find good shopping for real people in Rome? Someplace where a top costs less than $100 and I could find a nice pair of well made shoes without taking a second mortgage on a house. Thanks, Pat

My friends in Rome took me to this open-air market where the prostitutes hang out at night but on Sunday morning it turns into a huge open-air market.<BR>1)Portaportese- the biggest on Piazza di Portaportese (Trastevere) where you can find anything! It is only open Sunday 5am-2pm<BR>2)the open-air market by the Aurelian walls on Via Sannio. You can find used and new clothing as well as shoes. That is open Mon-Friday until 1pm and Saturday until 6pm.<BR>

I was amazed at the quality shoes available all over in Rome at decent prices. Not overpriced nice stuff, as in London or NYC, not boring stuff cheap, as in Spain, but good stuff at very reasonable prices.

Just got back from Rome and found a lot of great shopping on Via del Corso which runs perpendicular to Via Condotti and the other streets that run into the Spanish Steps. (To me, these streets were fun to walk around and window shop ... but, like you, I typically don't buy $250 shirts for myself. Via del Corso had many more reasonably priced shops ... espcially if you follow it all the way down to Vittorio Emanuel.<BR><BR>Some stores I liked were Stefanel, Etam, and Habana.

The street where real people shop in Rome is on the Vatican side of the Tibor and starts near the Piazza del Popolo--it's called Via Cola de Rienzo. You'll find just the kinds of nice things you have in mind.

Any more tips? Favorites?