We were watching a Food Network show "Bobby & Giada in Italy" where she gets Bobby a gift from Il Marmoraro - a tiny shop in Rome where the owner chisels cool little custom signs from white marble. Not too expensive, but unique, artisanal and a nod to the area's history.
How about some souvenir suggestions along those lines? Not the "in Florence buy a leather wallet" or "olive oil" - some of the more unique things folks have found on their travels. Let's say anywhere from about €20-200. Thanks!
How about a 10 lb terracotta duck (life sized), hand made, from Arezzo? Lol. True Story. But I didn't have to cram it into a suitcase to return home. We were on a driving tour through Tuscany and Umbria while we were living in Germany. And I've accumulated a nice collection of handmade paper over the years, as it's something that interests me. Venice still has a few paper makers, and you can often find beautifully hand bound journals and notebooks. I use them to journal my travels.
Point is, when it comes to souvenirs, I don't buy something unless it speaks to me. But what may be unique and special to one person, is just space occupying, dust catching junk to another. Now, more often than not, my best souvenirs are my photos. And the best photos tend not to be of the major tourist sites, but little "slice of life" snaps far away from the crowds.
I suggest walking though the Oltrarno district where many artisans have workshops. Browse until you find something unique -- jewelry, mosaics, artwork, etc.
So there's a good answer... you don't see terracotta ducks as a typical souvenir suggestion, but a quick search & looks like they make unique pitchers! You'e absolutely correct though, whatever it is needs to speak to you. But like those marble signs, I never would have thought to go looking for them. And that idea lead me to finding a suggestion of a family run sculpture studio (Studio Galleria Romanelli) in Oltrarno, Florence. lol, you beat me to it, Mary.
So if you've found something you think is a really unique find, let us know!
I love to shop on vacation, and usually bring back too many souvenirs. My favorites are things that I actually use, and they bring me joy each time I use them. I picked up a cute wooden cooking spoon with a smiling face carved out of it in Slovenia. A beautiful cutting board from Costa Rica. Oven mitts from Germany. A beautiful spoon rest from Granada. A gorgeous table runner from Guatemala. All things I display and use regularly, and smile each time because they bring happy memories rushing back.
I usually buy a Christmas tree ornament from every place I travel. Every year I love trimming my tree and remembering all the places I've been lucky enough to visit. Some are tacky, like from the Liberace Museum in Las Vegas, others are beautiful works of art. I bought a lovely ornament in Florence, at the Uffizi Gallery gift shop I think....
When I began traveling my mother bought me a 14-karat gold bracelet to buy charms from the places I travelled to. After visiting 30+ countries there is no room left on the bracelet to hang charms. It’s the one piece of jewelry that I cherish most.
Pat, I also have a charm bracelet. Just started another one as my first was filled. I also buy small dishes which I use all around my house for catch alls, especially on my dresser for jewelry. I even use one near my kitchen sink for my sponge.
I love scarves and look for them when traveling. In general, I don't spend a whole lot and only buy those that "speak" to me. They are light, packable and immediately brighten up travel outfits. From museums to street stalls to church shops, I can often find something that catches my eye. I've been using the 3-for-10-euros scarves I got in Cinque Terre to rock Zoom meetings all pandemic!
After accumulating too much stuff that requires dusting, I now limit my souvenirs to useful things. I like taking cooking classes and a couple of times have brought back useful gadgets. Clothes - I have lovely Italian blouses that I bought on the French Riviera, scarves from several countries, and wonderfully warm shearling gloves from Florence. And my fridge is covered with souvenir magnets.
We bought a CD from a terrific jazz trio of street musicians playing in Piazza della Repubblica (Florence) one night, and have purchased from local musicians in other places on our travels. CDs don't take up much room, support local arts, and provide great memories + hours of enjoyment long after the trip is history. :O)
Looks like they're still around so maybe you'll be fortunate enough to hear them too? (not my video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq5YvUlDSlQ
I knit, so I'm a huge fan of "souvenir yarn." It's a great multi-layered memory - the place/circumstance where you bought it, then the process of making something with it. We went to a yarn festival in Zwolle in the Netherlands, and stayed with a friend who owned a B&B. I bought some yarn that I absolutely loved, and a few years later that same friend designed a sock pattern. I used the yarn to make those socks, and now they remind me of her and that wonderful trip!
I'm also a big fan of small prints/posters/art. I like to pack a FedEx/USPS document mailer (one of those flat cardboard ones) and fill it with art I pick up. Keeps everything safe & unwrinkled, and gives me lots of memories
We buy art created by local artists when we travel. We have a lovely small painting of Radda that we bought in Greve. We have a photograph of London taken by a really good photographer who uses antique methods and equipment that are over 120 years old. Deb has paintings from Honduras and Tanzania she bought while doing medical mission work there. We have a wall grouping of original art that we've bought while traveling and have left plenty of room for additions. Our friends are intrigued and it leads to fun converstations.
I'm sure you could find small unframed art in Florence and Rome. They are inexpensive and easy to pack.
In Rome many years ago we bought some wine glasses like the ones we’d just used at a restaurant we enjoyed. Just two, so once home we were kicking ourselves that we didn’t buy more. They made us feel like we were back in Italy every time we used them and we took care not to break them even though they were pretty heavy-duty restaurant grade glasses. On subsequent trips to Italy we hunted for them without any luck.
So, eventually I figured out that our glasses were not Italian at all, but French, and easily available on Amazon and eBay. I bought six more. La Rochere Perigord, in case anybody wants to know. But they still remind us of great meals in Italy!
We are in Umbria right now and buying majolica dishes, espresso cups, and pasta bowls that we DO NOT NEED. We are also buying just about every variety of the super-local beans of this region —- edible souvenirs are great and if we can manage not to eat them ourselves, make good presents.
We always try to buy a combination of nice and fun souvenirs during each trip. Local street artists, museums, churches, and shops near tourist attractions are where we usually find our treasures. During a trip to Alaska several years ago I was wandering around the town of Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) and visited the Iñupiat Heritage Center. They had a large studio where numerous local native artists worked. I negotiated and purchased a carved ivory walrus tusk for around $50. After I flew back to Anchorage I saw similar items priced from $800-1000. The evening before I attended a fascinating "subsistence whale harvest" undertaken by five indigenous extended families. I picked up a small piece (half the size of a golf ball) of whale blubber off the beach which I still have stored in my freezer. BTW the Alaskans leave nothing behind of the whale - ALL of it is divided up and later used in some way.
As I'm writing this I'm enjoying looking at 2 paintings I purchased from a street artist who was working in the Piazza Pitti in Florence. While visiting the Vatican I bought a small reproduction of the Sistine Chapel ceiling fresco. My most recent purchase (for about $.50) was of a realistic looking tarantula spider made by a street vendor in Mexico City. After I returned home I strategically placed it near my wife's jewelry box - probably not the smartest thing I've done but her squeal was hilarious!
As is the case with another poster above, I also like to purchase original works of art when I travel. If they are canvas on a frame and too big to fit into my luggage, I have them taken off the frame and remounted and framed when I return. I write on the back where and when I purchased the piece and, if it was possible to take a photo of the work with the artist and me/members of my family at the time purchased, I put the photo in an envelope on the reverse of the framed work. These are great memories and good conversation pieces.
I don't buy souvenirs so much any more, after so many trips to Italy; and I don't bring home gifts for others any more either.
I'm finally traveling light!
I do buy things that I will use.
I might buy colourful leather cases for my eyeglasses, a new wallet every couple of years as the leather is so colourful there, a pasta measuring thingy from Naples, scarves, Murano glass jewelry, a calendar for my wall, small prints from street artists, maybe a handbag every few years, spices, chocolate, Vin Santo.
Nothing special, but every day things that always remind me of lovely Italy.
I like flat things as they are easy to pack - table linens or kitchen tea towels seem to be my goto's. BUT I've also done butter dishes which are still small enough.
hand raised Oh. Oh! I know this one!
If you are in Rome, you will probably at some point be in the neighborhood around the Pantheon. So go around the corner on the back side to 34 Via Santa Chiara. You will see a beautiful tiny shop called Annibale Gammarelli. It is a "sartoria per ecclesiastici", that is to say they make robes, cassocks, etc. for clergy. This shop has been making the papal robes since the late 1700s but they also sell gloves and cuff links, but the thing I went in for is socks! I have it on good authority that this shop supplies the current pope with socks, so I had to have a pair. I was slightly embarrassed when I went in and found 5 older gentlemen in beautiful suits cutting out amazing pieces of embroidered fabric with not much else out on view, just old wooden drawers and cabinets. But I politely asked for socks and in Italian they asked what color, what size and what fiber. I got red cotton, but there are several colors in silk, cotton and wool. I think they cost around $15 or $20, so sort of expensive, but boy do I love my Pope socks!
I bought really cool Florentine Art hand painted coasters. It’s Florentine art. I found the shop accidentally on a side street. They sold all sorts of this type of Florentine work. The shop was so nice- Italian men that didn’t speak much English creating these wonderful pieces on what seems to be paper mache base icons, wall plaques, all sorts of things. I bought a few things there because it was so cool to buy from these men who have been in business for decades. Not a tourist trap. I look at my coaster I use every day and think of that shop. I bought extras that I gave away as gifts that were much appreciated. Unique and different. I can dig through my pics, ephemera and travel journal for the name of this shop if you are truly interested.
We bought a small cutting board made from local olivewood. If you've not seen things made of olive wood, it can be a very pretty wood, with colorful swirls and eye-catching figure. The shop had a variety of knickknacks, utensils, plates, etc., all of olivewood.
Is it for you are friends/family? Our philosophy is to get something that will remind us of our trip - art work, pottery, something that we just see that looks great, and unusual - sometimes you won't know it til you see it :-).
Glenn
...boy do I love my Pope socks!
LOL, LAB! I think you're the winner of this thread! 🤣🥇🧦
@ Glenn, yup, mostly something for us that is a fun reminder of our trip. And all the better if it's not the "usual" sort of souvenir but something a bit offbeat. Though we do always get some sort of wall art. And even if it's not something I may go hunting for, it's awesome hearing what others have enjoyed finding. Pope socks, olivewood cutting board, Florentine art coasters (and yes, if you've got the shop name, love to have it!), great finds that can get you thinking about other stuff. :)
Hey editing! We went to Il Marmoraro on Via Marguta last month while in Rome. The owner is a lovely man and we had some some wall plaques made. They are inscribed with “La Casa Di (insert name here)” and were quite reasonable in price. I bought one for ourselves and one for each of our kids. They loved them. We travel with carryon only so our purchases are limited. My favorite souvenirs are our photos but I always make sure to get over to Campo de Fiori and buy enough spices from the Spice Guys to last till our next visit.
That's great Kathleen - I went back to that Bobby Flay episode & paused it so I could translate some of the plaques in the video. A couple of them threw Google translate as they were in Latin, not Italian. :)
Ha! I think I actually have a welcome (in Italian) sign from this shop! We were wandering around looking for a specific fountain and stumbled on this cute shop. I will have to watch the episode to verify!
This isn’t a unique souvenir idea, but it has been a unique memory for me -
On my first trip to Italy I searched and searched for a gift for my husband, and finally, after wandering into a hardware/house goods type store in Pienza, I found an olive wood mortar and pestle. As a pharmacist he knew how to correctly use a mortar and pestle, and even though it was way way overpriced I decided to buy it. Handing it to the store owner, I was surprised when he grabbed my hand to shake it, and with a huge, glowing smile thanked me.
It may have been the most expensive item he had sold in a while, who knows, but every time I see that mortar and pestle after all these years, I remember that man’s beaming face and that makes me happy.
Rachele - I've got a couple hardware/houseware shops tagged in Google maps just for that reason, to wander around & check out everyday things that are available in Italy you wouldn't see in the U.S. That mortar & pestle was an awesome find! I assume your husband wrote it off as a business-related tax deduction? :)
I just remembered another good one. It is easily found at most grocery stores and all of the pharmacies. It is cheap, small, has excellent packaging, come in lots if unusual flavors...it's toothpaste! Look for the beautifully packaged MARVIS toothpaste. There are several flavors, but my favorites are Jasmin Mint and Ginger Mint. You will not be disappointed. I bring back as many tubes as I can fit and think fondly of trips to Italy each time I brush my teeth. And when the tube is empty, I save the cap and glue a small magnet to the inside and use it as a fridge magnet, I think I have one of each color now.
Lab - put your suggestions together & we're on the way to a fun gift; Xmas Pope stockings filled with toothpaste (have to add some chocolate so as not to be a Grinch, lol).
Now we all want Pope socks!! ;)
The other thing I bring home are soaps from Italy.
They last forever and don't go all slimy .
Some of the herbalista shops stock some amazing ones in scents you just don't find at home.
The grocery stores have lots of different soaps too...and I agree about the wonderful toothpaste!
My wife and I were "spoken" to during a wonderful dinner in a Paris restaurant. We looked at each other and almost simultaneously said "These napkins are wonderful, we've got to have these as souvenirs!"
Beautiful red and white checkerboard pattern with the name of the restaurant stitched into the pattern. The napkin is almost big enough to be a table cloth. Cost about 20 Euros for two. Very unique and a great reminder that gets weekly use.
I love to cook and enjoy trying to find small items useful in the kitchen. One such find was a stencil used to put a design in cocoa on top of a cappuccino. My favorite souvenir of all times is an olive wood gnocchi board. It’s about 4 x 4“ and has grooves in it that make the grooves on gnocchi to catch the sauce. I’ve also see it to make a grooved pasta as well. This is a very small souvenir but one that gets used frequently, and I’ve never seen one like it in the US.
If you are going to be by the Trevi Fountain, there is a little clock store on the on the street walking from the Pantheon to Trevi. Made with ceramics. We bought one and then had a friend that went to Rome get us another. We love seeing them everyday as we walk by them in the house. Always brings us great memories.
Umbria table linens. Tessitura Pardi tea towels or hand towels. Favorite are the bees motif. Available pretty much in Northern Italy tourist towns like Siena. Other established weaving manufacturers made equally beautiful artful practical linens. The bee motifs appeal to everyone.
So many fabulous ideas here . . .
If you're buying things for yourself than you just find what speaks to you, but if you want to bring home things for others, than you want to look for things that are easy to pack.
