Flea Markets in Rome and Venice

I believe the Porto Portese market is on Sunday mornings. Its a little hit and miss anyway... its largely just crap but there are handful of decent booths scattered in the sprawling market. If you are going by Florence there is an ok antique market and Arezzo has an antique market I believe once a month. Its was 2006 that I was last at the Arezzo market so you might want to look it up. Its a nice town and not as overrun with Americans as most.

Laura, I disagree with Mike. I thought that Porto Portese was great. My GF bought a few things there. He is right, there is alot of junk, but hey, it's a flea market, not Macy's! What I enjoyed the most was people watching. Oooops...now I see you won't be in Rome on Sunday. Wander around Rome, you'll find some open stall vendors clustered about. We were near Termini and there were some stalls set up on Via Torino, north of Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica. Also near Termini there is an open stall market for food. Next to that are vendors that essentially have a permanent flea market. It's new stuff, but they have open stalls in a communal space. Lots o' stuff.

The Arezzo antique fair that Mike mentions is the first weekend of each month, so unfortunately you will miss it. (fun fact: it was started by my relative!) It is definitely worth the visit if you are there the first weekend of the month. Otherwise, Arezzo does have a flea market on the southeast side of the city on the weekend, but I wouldn't go out of my way (since you'll be in Venice and Rome, and not Florence anyways) to see it. Haven't been to the others, so can't give advice on them. Sorry!

This list of Markets in Rome may give you some suggestions. There are also plenty of Bancarelle to shop at in Rome. Have fun!