26 Best Shopping in Tuscany, Italy

Stop by this shop for top-quality local food products, including farro, dried porcini mushrooms, olive oil, and wine.

Maurizio and Tiziana's shop has an arresting array of cheeses and perhaps the best array of verdure sott'olio in town. They also make top-notch panini, and killer sweets.

Prato's biscotti (literally "twice-cooked" cookies) have an extra-dense texture, lending themselves to submersion in your caffè or vin santo. The best biscotti in town are at Antonio Mattei, which has been around since 1858. Its brutti ma buoni (ugly but good) almond-laced cookies are especially delicious.

Chocolate lovers will be pleased with the selection of artisanal chocolates, marzipan delights, and gorgeous cakes. Creations become even more fanciful during Christmas and Easter.

A huge selection of wines, as well as an ancient cellar, make this place worth a stop. For the cost of the wine only, tastings can be organized through the shopkeepers and are held in the cellar or outside in a lovely little piazza. All of this can be paired with affettati misti (sliced cured meats) and cheeses of the highest caliber.

Locals flock to this central café to quaff a cappuccino and pick up panforte (the chocolate panforte is a real treat) and ricciarelli to go.

A particularly delicious version of buccellato—the sweet, anise-flavored bread with raisins that is a Luccan specialty—is baked at Pasticceria Taddeucci.

A large loom dominates this tiny workshop and showroom where scarves, shawls, throws, and jackets are woven. Anna Maria's work, mostly in mohair, is done in lively hues.

There has been a salumeria (delicatessen) here since 1889. The cheeses, cured meats, and made-to-order panini are top-notch.

On the third weekend of the month, an antiques market happens in and around Piazza San Martino. Vendors unveil their wares around 8:30, and start packing up around dusk. There's something for everyone, including old-fashioned glassware, ancient coins, and furniture—some items are antique, some are just old.

Down the road from the Museo della Ceramica, this shop produces objects in a range of styles.

Just behind the church of San Giusto (off Via Beccheria, which runs for about two blocks between Piazza Napoleone and Piazza San Michele) are bookstalls that open their cupboard doors on clement days (including Sunday), from about 10 am to 7 pm. You may discover anything from hand-tinted prints of orchids to back issues of Uomo Ragno (Spider-Man looks and acts just the same even when he's speaking Italian).

If you've always wanted a 14th- or 15th-century painting to hang on your wall, but the cost of acquiring one is prohibitive, consider purchasing one of the superb copies at this shop made by Chiara or her brother, Michelangelo Casoni. Their work in tempera and gold leaf is of the highest quality.

At Camillo Rossi, which has been around since 1912, you can watch artisans create household items in alabaster and then buy their wares.

Run by the same family for three generations, this ceramics-making compound is 3 km (2 miles) from Montelupo on the road heading east toward Florence. Here you'll find a sun-drenched spazio aziendale (selling floor), a factory workshop, the family residence, and a yard where terra-cotta planters are displayed. The ceramics, all priced reasonably given the high-quality handcrafted work, include large vases, plates suitable for hanging, and brightly colored serving pieces for the table.

Since 1895, two large showrooms here are housed in medieval buildings and contain a large number of alabaster objects for sale, including bookends, ashtrays, and boxes.

For nice ceramics, with many pieces depicting the brilliant sunflowers that blanket local fields, check here.

Bruno De Miccoli stocks an impressive array of verdure sott'olio, local wines, and dried herbs in his food-and-wine bar.

This small shop offers great wine prices and assorted local delicacies. The owner, Ugo Massei, doesn't speak English, but he's friendly and helpful.

Volterra's market is held on Saturday morning from November to April in Piazza dei Priori and from May through October on Viale Ferrucci (just outside the city walls). In addition to fresh fruits and vegetables, vendors selling everything from corkscrews to intimi (underwear).

As everywhere else, the town brightens on mercato (open-air market) mornings, every Thursday and Saturday, in Piazza del Duomo. It's the place to pick up fresh fruits and other snacks.

Come here for one-stop high-end designer shopping, including Prada, Miu-Miu, Gucci, Dolce e Gabbana, Jil Sander, and Tod's—among others. (Modo Mignon Uomo is at another location in the center.)

For a broad selection of scrumptious pastries, visit this favorite haunt of Lucca's senior citizens, who frequently stop in after Sunday Mass.

Siena has been famous for centuries for its fine embroidery work, and Bruna Brizza continues the tradition in her tiny shop. Hand stitching, usually on simple white and cream-color linen, adorns lamp shades, tablecloths, and other housewares.

Stained-glass artists create and sell contemporary secular and religious works here. If you want to learn the technique, they also offer workshops and apprenticeship programs.