Shopping in Italy!

I don't have any recommendations on where shop, but if you are traveling light and want to buy gifts for your friends, I recommend that you buy wine stoppers with hand painted pictures on them. They very in price between 10 to 15 Euros, take up very little space, are very light, and can be used over and over again. They make great gifts.

The leather school in Florence has good quality and beautiful leather items(purses, wallets belts etc). It is pricey but you get very good quality.
In Venice you can buy carnival masks.

Bridget, we love to buy CDS from street musicians we've especially enjoyed. They're lightweight and provide great memories of where we were when we heard them. LOL, there's a favorite we bought from an à la Stéphane Grappelli jazz group we danced to in a piazza in Florence one night!

We also like the shops which are attached to the museums. The books (mostly) and a few other items - like ornaments for the Christmas tree - we've purchased from them have provided a lot of enjoyment once we've gotten home. You eliminate a lot of running around if you're visiting the museums to begin with.

The San Lorenzo Market and Mercato Central Market in Florence are fun: look for leather, scarves and food items.

Bring back lots of photos (they're digital so they're free) and memories, not stuff. In this global economy it's so easy to get any stuff from any place, at any time.

I actually haven't yet been to Rome, but I know that in Venice and Florence, you can find beautiful hand-made paper goods - marbled, block-printed, etc.

In Venice, the top items are Venetian glass and carnival masks, both of which you'd have to ship home (too fragile), though you can find small jewelry items made with the glass.

Like Kathy, I enjoy the markets in Florence. Some of the stalls have cheap stuff, but some have very good quality and are owned by the shops behind the stalls. You may find more selections in the shops - bargain in the shops as well as at the stalls. I have bought excellent winter gloves at both expensive shops and bargain stalls, with the main difference being the price. All have worn well for years. I have some beautiful Italian scarves, but make sure you buy goods with made-in-Italy labels.

As for luggage room, that's easy. Take an empty, substantial but light-weight fold-up bag with you to bring your shopping home. Things you buy along the way you can put in "deep storage" on the bus between Venice and Rome.

On Murano, if you get there, I have a favorite glass maker. Giorgio Bruno. A necklace or earrings can slip into a suitcase easily. He's a bit away from the majority of the shops. Go over the green bridge, turn left and about 180 meters down the fondamenta, you'll find his shop.

In Florence, I also like the Mercato del Porcellino.

In Roma, if you are looking for clothing, join the Romans on Via del Tritone or Via Cola di Rienzo. Both have a nice concentration of shops.

Just be sure, wherever you go, that "Made in Italy" means they did more than have illegal immigrants stitch the items together in a sweatshop. Locally made products are not cheap....

I prefer Burano for glass, lots of artisan studios there.

Wine stoppers are great. Olive oil soap, too.

If you go in July or January, there are nationwide sales on clothing and other things (30-70% off).

I collect the hand painted ceramics, bring back a few each trip., it's something I use everyday in my kitchen; bowls, small trays, wine stoppers.

Also, the fabrics, like table runners, or napkins, or the newest thing I found this trip was fabric bread baskets. Cheap at 10E.

If you are only hitting the big cities, then shopping isn't as great. You find the shops in smaller towns like Orvieto, San Gimignano, etc.

In Florence the hand done papers are a nice thing to buy, or perhaps a leather bound note book, there are several shops selling this.

If you have a checked bag, then you can bring back a small bottle of olive oil, IF you buy it from a local producer, and not some big store in the city - otherwise, you might as well buy it in the states.

Make sure you look at everything closely to make sure it's made in Italy !

The Santa Maria Novella church has a Pharmacia attached to it that has been in existence for several hundred years. They have wonderful soaps, skin care etc.

As an earlier poster suggested the Santa Croce leather school is also fun. They are not low price, but I still use the purse and jacket I bought there in 2002.

Both places have websites if you want to check them out before you go.

Oh, you will have such a wonderful time on that tour! I love Italian skin products so here's another vote for the Pharmacy at the Santa Maria Novella church in Florence. I have shopped there whenever I'm lucky enough to visit that beautiful city. Buy whatever will fit into your packing plan. The soaps are lovely "take home" gifts for family and friends, take up little room and smell good!

You will be blown away by the variety of scarves you see from vendors, particular the street vendors in the Mercato Centrale area in Florence. It's lots of fun, I do look for Made in Italy there but in general they are under 10€.

Do be warned that scarves can add weight to your bag even without much volume...as I found the one year I purchased EIGHT, lolol!!

You all might also look for glass bead bracelets in Venice, being careful again to check that they are made in Italy. They can be found inexpensively and are small and light.