Souvenirs & Gifts to Bring Home

I found some fun and inexpensive stuff in the regular grocery store - tubes of tomato paste, pastas, spices, small olive oils, candies. Keep in mind you can't bring back certain things like some cheese and meat, so check the customs page before you find out the hard way.

From Siena, beautiful ceramics. Florence, leather. In Florence, the San Lorenzo market has lots of food items. Just be aware of what will clear US customs. We bought some very delicious condiments at the market. I believe the name of the booth was Savini's.

I thought I was buying unique gifts only available in Italy but found one item I lugged all the way home at Williams & Sonoma! Another friend showed me a gift her daughter bought in Sweden, it was exactly the same linen I saw in Venice. My biggest treasure is the photo book of our trip I put together. I did more hunting foe unique gifts for family but I think next time I will just look for fun or pretty things they might like and worry less about it's uniqueness as I discovered it is a small world with ease of exports and mass production.

I always bring back several jars of pesto, some olive oil, parm.-reg. cheese. Not as easy to do this now as it all has to be in checked baggage. Some of my favorite things that I have brought back include some terra cotta planters purchased in Assisi with carved grapes. They are like the ones that you see hanging all over Assisi (flat on the back) and they are so cute on my patio fence. Brought one back and then was able to purchase another one the following year when we returned. Was in FLorence in July and brought back lots of scarves and silk ties from the San Lorenzo mkt. I also like to pick up dishtowels from the different places we visit and they make nice souvenirs. The watercolor-like prints they sell in all the major cities also are very nice.

There are 3 things I bring home from each country:

Magnet, Pill Box and a patch for my day back pack.

Oh and folding fan..I am sure they are all made in China.

I think food/candy/dessert make the great souvenirs!! My co-workers know I'm a travel bug and expect yummy snacks when I get back. Last trip, I bought some inexpensive chocolate cookies from an Italian grocery store and my co-workers munched it all down within 2 hours.


For the ones special to me, I get them clothes or fashion accessories of brands that we can't get here. My dad has a big smile when he gets his whiskey and cigarettes of the countries I visit. Though, he was bummed out, that I didn't get him Italian whisky--I couldn't find it anywhere!! For my 2 guy cousins, for their upcoming bdays, I got them a Real Madrid jersey of their new acquire Ronaldo and the other a custom name tag Championship League Real Madrid jersey. And for my cousin who's a girl, she loves costume jewelry so I try to find something that reminds me of that place.

For women, get some inexpensive silk scarves in the stalls in the open-air markets.

Check out the grocery stores and small markets they have nice small bottles of lemoncello, olive oil, etc... also nice bags of dried pastas and spices in nice little ceramic jars.... I think these are the best gifts.

I bought (for myself) several neckties for only $5.oo each. Very easy to pack away and carry home, and believe it or not, they've turned out to be some of the best ties I own. Years later, I'm still wearing them and they still look great.

Check out this web site. www.mgluffarelli.com
Maria has a shop in the heart of Rome. She speaks english and is a wonderful artist. Her prints, book marks and much more are beautiful and not expensive.
We became good friends several years ago just going into her shop and falling in love with her many things and with her. My husband and I always bring these home for gifts. Small and not expensive.

I purchased panforte in Siena for myself (the shops will have samples you can taste in order to make a selection....many places will sell panforte but Siena seems to be the most famous for this desert/cake), silk ties from a shop/kiosk by the Trevi fountain in Rome for my son-in-law, lace and linen handkerchiefs with their initials on them for my granddaughters to use at their weddings from a shop by the Rialto Bridge in Venice, scarf for my friend in Florence, spices from Venice and Florence for myself, small Carnivale mask (shop did an excellent job packaging and I carried it from Venice to Rome and then home with no problem). And then there are always unique t-shirts.

I found ceramic capped wine corks and bought a handful to give out to friends - all different colors - a mini-taste of the lovely Italian bowls, etc. I also found ceramic tipped salad fork & spoon combos. More expensive but still very lightweight, easy to get a bunch and give them to a variety of people.

Our favorite souvenir/gift item though is Olive Oil. Twice now we have shipped several dozen bottles (and one year some large cans) from one store or producer. This is NOT an inexpensive item but nice Extra Virgin OO in your local store is also not cheap. We gave these out as Christmas gifts and then would also dole them out over the year as thank you gifts, birthday, etc.

Some very nice foody items that have value for not too much volume are aged balsamic vinegars (the older the better >12 years for me) or truffle infused olive oils. A small bottle of 250ml is just fine for a specialty item like this.

There is a wonderful store in Siena called Consorzio Agrario Siena where locally made food products are sold. We bought panforte, cookies and pici pasta there. Pici is a sienese specialty--a very thick spaghetti like pasta. All the items we bought there were of very good quality. The store is in the center of the city at Via Piangini #13.