San Polo & Santa Croce
If you’ve been eyeing up the natty striped T-shirts, devilishly soft winter wool hats and crepe pants sported by Venice’s gondoliers then make a beeline…
Must-see shopping in Italy
San Polo & Santa Croce
Mornings are best to catch the 1930s Heidelberg machine in action, but whenever you arrive, you'll find mementos hot off the proverbial press…
Centro Storico
This speciality boutique is devoted to the small yet mighty chilli pepper. Founder Rita Salvadori sources 17 types of pepper from her farm in Tuscany,…
San Polo & Santa Croce
Add a Venetian eye for colour to a Japanese flair for sculptural fashion, and here you have it: teal mohair tube scarves that float around the collarbone…
Venice
Impeccably tailored midnight-blue silk-satin dresses with exuberant woolly shoulders showcase not only the skills of sisters Patrizia and Samanta Fiorenza…
San Polo & Santa Croce
Couple Tiziano and Vanessa use a variety of printmaking techniques including silk screen and xylograph to create handmade T-shirts and bags, some with…
Ancient Rome
From scholarly art tomes to lavishly illustrated guides, Latin classics and Italian cookbooks, this small bookshop is a mine of Rome-related literature…
San Polo & Santa Croce
The window display offers a tantalising hint at the custom jewellery this versatile goldsmiths’ atelier can create for you, with original designs that nod…
Chianti
The signage labels this large warehouse as 'Space', but inside it's all Prada and Miu Miu. There's plenty of full-priced new-season stock alongside…
Amalfi
Unless you’re flying long haul, gourmet goodies can make excellent gifts. In this upscale supermarket, among the hanging hams, you’ll find a full…
San Polo & Santa Croce
Yes, you actually can take a gondola home in your pocket. Anyone fascinated by the models at the Museo Storico Navale will go wild here, amid handmade…
San Polo & Santa Croce
Made you look: these Murano glass jewels in bold colours and shapes have the attention-getting powers of traffic lights. Cascades of lilac beads cluster…
Naples
Alfonso Sorrentino is convinced that the objects he chooses to sell from his dusty cavern of bricolage find their way to him, rather than him finding them…
Venice
Expect to fall in lust with these richly hued, contemporary leathergoods. Made by artisans using full-grain Tuscan leather, these coveted butter-soft…
Centro Storico
Founded in the 1930s, this family-run stationery boutique is a must for anyone who yearns for the days of handwritten letters. A dizzying selection of…
Venice
Husband-and-wife team Mauro and Antonella graduated from the Architecture Institute in Venice and have never left. They design exquisite objects for the…
Venice
Question: how do you maintain a bella figura (good impression) when high tides are sloshing around your ankles? The answer can be found at Martina Ranaldo…
Trastevere & Gianicolo
With ties draped over the wooden furniture, this inviting shop resembles the study of an absent-minded professor. But don’t be fooled: these guys know…
Centro Storico
Former costume designer Cinzia's passion for clothes is there for all to see at this, her second-hand clothes shop. Its tunnel-like interior is piled high…
San Polo & Santa Croce
Ziggurats of sun-dried tomatoes, leaning towers of star anise and chorus lines of olive oils draw awestruck foodies to Mascari’s windows. Indoors, chefs…
Murano, Burano & the Northern Islands
Giordano Guarnieri started working with glass in 1946 when he was just nine years old and made his name producing chandeliers. He opened this workshop in…
Milan
Elena Bergnach has been making skirts for more than 15 years. These aren't just any skirts, but skirts with real personality, made with brocade from India…
San Polo & Santa Croce
Glass menageries don’t get more fascinating than the one created before your eyes by Signor Amadi. Fierce little glass crabs approach pink-tipped coral,…
Venice
When an Italian minimalist falls in love with a Murano glass-blower, the result is spare, spirited glass jewellery. Esperienze is a collaborative effort…
Centro Storico
An official club store of AS Roma, one of Rome’s two top-flight football teams. There's an extensive array of Roma-branded kit, including shirts, caps, T…
San Polo & Santa Croce
When you start feeling the effects of all those spritz sessions, pick up some healing herbs at this vintage pharmacy. Adorned with 19th-century woodwork…
Tridente, Trevi & the Quirinale
Take the rickety lift to this workshop, try to ignore the strong cigarette smell and choose leather for a custom-made design – you can then be the owner…
Centro Storico
Italy’s most famous bookseller (and publisher) has shops across the capital. This one has a wide range of books (in Italian) on art, photography, cinema…
Venice
The lion of San Marco looks fashionably fierce when embossed upon a turquoise billfold by leather artisan Davide Desanzuane. Unexpected colours update…
Syracuse
Papyrus paper is the reason to come to this Ortygia gallery near Fontana Aretusa. Peruse a range of papery products, including greeting cards and…
San Polo & Santa Croce
The same thought occurs to many people after hearing a concert in Venice: is it too late to take up an instrument? The easiest would be harmonica or…
Venice
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection's bright, enticing museum shop is stuffed with brilliant things designed to get your creative juices flowing. Books on art…
Venice
Chances are you'll find glass-maker Patrizia Iacovazzi (known as Simona to her friends) at her work table, turning glass into striking, elegant wearables,…
Ischia
Filippo is a highly original artist who creates vividly patterned pieces, including striking, tall, pyramid-shaped vases, tiled pictures with abstract…
Tridente, Trevi & the Quirinale
Every fashion-savvy young Roman worth her salt heads to this no-frills boutique if in the market for a cocktail dress that can be dressed up or down, a…
Su Marmuri Cooperative Tessile Artigiana
Eastern Sardinia
For rugs, towels, curtains and bedspreads bearing Maria’s naturalistic designs, head to the Su Marmuri Cooperative Tessile Artigiana. Here you’ll find a…
San Polo & Santa Croce
Pied à Terre’s colourful furlane (Venetian slippers) are handcrafted with recycled bicycle tyre treads, ideal for finding your footing on a gondola…
Capri
The flashy selection of watches here is made by local watchmaker Silvio Staiano. The prices start surprisingly low, around €70 for a relatively…
Perugia
Modern, handmade jewellery born in Perugia and crafted by Alessio Burzigotti. Themed lines are all over the shop, from classic to offbeat, angels to…
Venice
American transplant Trina Tygrett studied glass-making at the Academy of Fine Arts and subsequently married into a Murano-glass family. She now works…
