First time in Italy- what are some must buys?

Gelato.

(Now do I have enough characters?)

Memories.

I have bought scarves and pashminas; fine-milled soaps from an herboristeria shop, spices, leather bags and gloves and wallets and belts, kitchen gadgets, cheese (vacuum packed hard cheese), wine, tablecloths.
The list is endless, and the shops are great.

Always the required refrigerator magnet, and maybe a purse or shoes...that you wouldn't see in the US for at least a couple of years

There aren't any that I can think of unless it's something that appeals to you. Our only "musts" are books about the most interesting (to us) attractions, and a small bauble from each new city for the Christmas tree.

Photos and maybe a few postcards. Sometimes flea markets can hold some incredible treasures...we carried home a old stained glass window from a church on one of our trips.

Just back from Italy. My wife purchased a couple of Italian hand bags, my prized purchase was a pair of hand-made Italian leather ankle boots.

olive oil. At least one bottle of wine.

Men’s shirts and ties from Pierro Puletie in Florence, leather handbags, hard cheese and olive oil. I also love the scarves I get in Florence from Massimo Ravenale. I try to pick up some leather gloves, lined, which I like wearing when walking the dog on cool days.

Venice, in the Il Merletto lace school Next to St Marks square you can get lace trimmed or lace table square(centerpiece square?) for reasonable price and some are made by students and sold as well. I will be going back but this time to Burano to check out La Perla lace shop. They do not sell Chinese lace as others bring up. The store sells Italian lace only. Expensive.

A ticket for the 2nd trip!

Buy what appeals to you. I’ve really enjoyed a ceramic hand-painted pitcher that’s displayed in my kitchen, a beautiful table runner from Venice on my dining room table and a leather purse.

The first answer - gelato, really is a must buy!

Pizza in Rome. Earrings in Venice.

Get what you like...in Venice, I buy a little glass bird when we visit (I'm up to 4 now). You can also get nice small jewelry pieces there as well. My mom likes magnets. I seem to be collecting coffee mugs lately. I usually just buy what catches my eye (and won't take up a lot of room in my carry on). Soaps are nice - I found a spot in Rome just off Piazza Navona called Ai Monasteri that sells items made in monasteries in Italy... https://aimonasteri.it/en/

And gelato - as someone else mentioned.

Our first time in Italy we were celebrating an anniversary and splurged on a Copper wine vessel from Cesare Marzetti's shop in Montepulciano, (shipped home.) Other than that I have picked up small gift items of olive oil, wine, leather- handbag, coin purses, belt, scarves, linens, soaps, earrings. If you like to cook, my favorite find was "Star Ai Funghi Porcini Cubes!" Gives wonderful flavor to Italian dishes. Now I can buy them at an import shop at the Seattle Pike Place Market.

You don't say how many days you'll be in Italy. That makes a big difference you know! If you try, you could do 3 scoops of gelato a day and still not decide on your favorite after 3 or 4 weeks. Plus, you are in 3 different regions - that means 3 different regional recipes and specialties. Start planning your return trip - you're gonna need to confirm your first round selections. I figure in a decade or so you'll have come close to a 'short list'. Have a wonderful time!

I just wait to buy something until I see something I really want that will bring back good memories. The first time I was in Italy I bought an oil, vinegar and cheese condiment set. It still brings me joy to see it on my table.

There are several good kitchen supply shops in Rome --- we are still using the very non-elegant wine glasses we bought at C.U.C.I.N.A. many years ago and wish we had bought two more.

Definitely go for the 3 gelatos a day-my husband still shakes his head over the day our daughter and I did that-but he's the one with the problem! Save your money to buy new clothes when you get home and can't fit into your old ones! Husband does like to stock up on ties when in Florence.

Cook books...they come in all languages...try to avoid the ones in the souvenir shops. Aprons; nice and light, easy to pack. You can get ones with recipes printed on them, or views or flowers, lemons, olives. My fave is one from Lucca showing different types of pasta.

I bought a wallet at a leather market in Florence. Transferred my stuff from old to new wallet and threw out the old one. Now that is how to shop!!! Also bought a nice belt..

Shopping in Venice.

It’s easy to think that Venice is just a tourist Mecca, a sort of theme park, the Real Venetians having decamped to Mestre, and the remaining shops just selling junk from the PRC and questionable masks and glass.

So I thought I would say something about real people making real things in real Venice.

Legatoria Poliero, just to to the left as you face the Frari. Ten years ago, we we were served by Poliero Senior, and gave him to understand that we had little Italian, piccolo Italiano. He explained that he had even less English, showed us a photo of himself, his son and grandson. His son, a little English, his grandson “come un uccello”, speaks it like a bird. He makes and sells paper products that are made there, books, picture frames, also paper printed with wood block patterns. There’s no Xerox happening there, he carefully cut the wrapping paper on a guillotine.

David, and I don’t know his family name, is an artist, and you’d find him in the street in Campo San Vidal, just on the San Marco side of the Accademia bridge before you enter Campo San Stefano. David does watercolours in the street, but also has a studio where his real work is done. He has paintings of gondoliers being harassed by seagulls and lions, a painting of himself painting while a seagull unties his shoe laces, quintessentially Venetian themes. Worth a look, and I think he is going to publish a book of his paintings.

Georgio Ghidoli is a fine artist, his studio is in Campo San Antonin. (Apropos of nothing, an elephant escaped from a circus on the Riva Schiavoni and took refuge in the Church of San Antonin, the unfortunate animal was shot with a gun obtained from the Arsenale and was buried on the Lido. In 1812.) He has done a series of gondola paintings – how would Picasso, Mondrian, Klee, Van Gogh, Leonardo etc have painted a gondola, and has perfectly captured their style. We commissioned a painting from him, a view of No 1, Santa Croce, the micro palazzo you see as you cross from Campo Margerita to Santa Croce, as I am meant to buy said palazzo for my wife. Once I win the lottery, twice, I’ll be a position to make an offer. Emailed him a photo, collected painting a few days later. http://www.veneziagallery.it/homeen.html I had admired an oil painting he had done, the Santa Sofia traghetto pulling in, that quiet time when the bow oarsman has put his oar aside, the passengers waiting just before they alighted, and I’d previously seen a chalk study for the painting in his studio and stupidly not bought it. I’d mentioned it to him, so when we collected No1 Santa Croce, he had done another chalk study, I had no option but to buy it.

Vittorio Constantino is an artisan glass worker, Calle de Fumo 5311, Castello. Vittorio mostly makes glass insects; we have bought glass honey bees from him. But he also makes just about any insect you could think of, say an African dung eating beetle, dragon flies, strange creatures that you might encounter in a rain forest, butterflies. His works are anatomically correct and he has a reference library to help him along. He also does rainbow trout. http://www.popweb.com/costantini/

Fabio Bressalano is really a pretty good photographer, his studio is beside the Ponte de Pugni, just off Campo San Barnaba in Dorsduro. “Pretty good” is a bit rough, Fabio takes photographs that are so evocative of Venice, you can look at his photographs on your wall and wish you were in Venice again. I have a photo of briccole, the tripod channel markers in the lagoon, just as the tide is receding and the mud bank being exposed. Peaceful, the lagoon, water, Venice.

Near Campo de Agostin in Santa Croce there is a wood turner, and I can’t for the life of me remember the number of his shop. He makes geometric shapes, spheres, pyramids, perfect cubes, and the finish is delightfully crisp. It is artisan quality work, treasures. Again, worth a look, buy something and you are supporting Venice.

Blown glass in Venice. Only buy good quality like Carlo Moretti at L’Isola.

Do make sure, when buying glass in Venice, that it really was made in Italy. There's lots of inexpensive stuff from PRC. You need to check with every purchase, since the same shop may carry things from both places.

Whatever stirs your heart -- I have a starving-student-type oil painting purchased in Rome at Piazza Navona on my first trip in 1969 (yes, it cost more to frame it at home than it cost to buy it) but also a whole wardrobe of scarves bought over multiple trips (usually at my price range of €5 - €10 in street markets.)
To be more specific, whatever stirs your heart THAT YOU CAN CARRY OR SHIP. You do NOT want to haul fragile, heavy, bulky items on and off multiple trains, planes, buses.

We recently came back from our first trip to Italy. We bought an oil painting in Venice, spices near the Rialto fishmarket , wine, soaps, ceramics, murano glass bracelet and limoncello. I wished that I had purchased truffle sauce in Venice Next time!

My favorite purchases from Italy: hand-printed linen dish towels. A poster from the Guggenheim. A grooved gnocchi roller board (amazingly, it works). A couple of cheap touristy ceramics (spoon holder - used every day by the stove; and olive dish with a separate compartment for the pits). Glass tray from Murano. Leather gloves (I live in Minnesota). Truffle oil. Anchovies and capers, both packed in salt. Wine of course. Finishing salt. Illy and Lavazza coffee - the Lavazza comes in easy-to-pack bricks. Amazing stationery - it packs well and makes great gifts. Scarves. Soap. The Reggiano Parmigiano in Europe is 100x better than in the US - bring some home (vacuum-sealed). Eventually, at home, I had to buy a gelato maker and an espresso machine because I didn't want to live without either.

I find that hand painted ceramic wine bottle stoppers make great gifts. They are very small and lightweight and can easily be packed in your luggage without worry of getting broken. Every region of Italy has them and you can remember your trip from the scenes painted on them every time you have a bottle of wine. They also have them for olive oil bottles. I think the average cost was about 15 Euros so they weren’t that expensive.

Nothing. Some photos and your memories are better than tourist trinkets probably not made in Italy. If you see something you like, buy it, but don’t buy something just to say you bought something.

We were in Venice last week and bought some gifts: lotions & soaps from L'Erbolario and Ortigia. Our hotel used the Ortigia products so we got 10% off. We found an artist that we liked and bought a print to add to our "travel wall collection." www.itacaartstudio.com. In Burano we bought our daughter a lovely lace shawl from Campanil Lab. The owner is a lovely woman who designs some of her merchandise.
We try to buy things that can easily pack without adding much weight.

I find that hand painted ceramic wine bottle stoppers make great gifts. They are very small and lightweight and can easily be packed in your luggage. They also have them for olive oil bottles. I think the average cost was about 15 Euros so they weren’t that expensive

Have they gone up that much? I would have had a stroke had we paid that much. (I thought my wife was getting them for under 5 euro)

Do agree they are great gifts/mementos. Easy to pack; hard to break

The Reggiano Parmigiano in Europe is 100x better than in the US

That's because most of the Parmigiano-Reggiano or Parmesan sold in the US isn't actually Parmigiano-Reggiano. That can only be made in Italy and in a particular area. It is protected under the 'protected designation of origin' EU law which dictates that only cheese made in the defined area can be labelled Parmigiano-Reggiano. Of course that law doesn't apply outside of the US which means anyone who makes a similar style cheese can label it as such.

Some say it stifles competition others like the way it protects the integrity of a quality product. I'm in the latter camp.

My wife and I buy art from local artists. We have a lovely watercolor of Greve painted by the owner of the frame shop on the square. I have a great photo of the Tower Bridge in London by a photographer who shoots with the 19th century wet plate process. My wife brought back some great watercolors and wooden carvings from Tanzania and small paintings from Honduras.

We combine these pieces of art with prints of photographs I take to decorate our home.

When I travel, I try to buy something that you can’t easily order over the Internet and for souvenirs, I like to bring home local products. On the trip to Italy in June, I did splurge on a six Murano glass drinking glasses and a lovely handmade Italian purse. On each trip to Italy, I pick up a purse (easy to pack, nothing I can get at home, a practical and stylish memory).

Have a great trip,
Sandy

Joe32F: I recall the first time we bought wine and oil stoppers in Tuscany they were €5. That was in 2006. I agree, €15 is way too much! At €5 they made great gifts.

I usually purchase a nice bottle/can of olive oil. I have also brought back wine, sun-dried tomatoes, salt-cured capers, and pecorino romano. Also, while in Rome, go have "Jewish Pizza" at Pasticceria il Boccione (no website, but they have a facebook page). It is not pizza, but a fruitcake style cookie (not your grandmother's fruitcake). It is located in the Jewish ghetto, the address is da Boccione in Via Portico d’Ottavia, 1
Rome, Italy 00186. You can do a search using the term "Jewish Pizza" if you would like more information.

Small bottles of limoncello!!!! We also always bring some back for our 2 kids to enjoy after the grandkids have gone to bed.

All the above are great ideas. It depends on where you are going. Different regions have different specialties. Ask what the specialty of the area is. For example: Deruta = ceramics, Florence = leather. That isn't to say that you can't buy these things in other regions.

Or full-size bottles of limoncello. Not to mention lemon, lemon cream, and limoncello flavors of gelato -- but they really don't pack well.

Yes! In Rome the "fruit pizza" at the bakery in the Ghetto. It's a special treat during the high holidays this month. Thanks for the reminder.

I love buying nice linen dishtowels with the city of purchase displayed. They are inexpensive, lightweight. fold nicely and aren't another piece of junk tchotchke ! Everyone loves them … me too.

I'm a sucker for local art. I usually buy unframed so the work can be packed in a tube or lie flat in the bottom of the suitcase. My most favorite piece is a framed (this time) micro-mosaic from a shop where you could watch the artisans at work. Alas, that was in Florence but I bet you could find in Rome or Milan.
I am also a sucker for small pieces of jewelry and I don't even wear jewelry. That being said, if I don't gift them to family, I donate to local fundraising auctions. In Venice, you can find small Murano glass pieces for very little money. Just be sure, as another poster mentioned, that the glass is real Murano and not fake stuff. Last time I was in Venice, the stores selling authentic material had a decal on the window.
I do not buy foodstuffs to bring back since I can get most of the items here