Travel Rome

Shopping in Rome

Rome in an expensive city, so don't expect to find too many bargains. Nevertheless, window shopping is a joy and you will find good value for money, especially if buying leather goods (shoes, bags, gloves and belts) and certain decorative items (lamps, Italian modern designer goods and glassware).

Opening hours

Shops in Rome usually open at 9am-1pm and 3.30-7.30pm (4-8pm in Summer), except on Sundays and Monday mornings.

Grocery shops also close on Thursday afternoons.

Some bookshops (where people often met) and some clothes shops (aroundCampo dei Fiori, for example) open on Sundays, 10am or 3-7pm.

August is traditionally the month when small business take their annual holiday.

In Rome, most shops and restaurants in Rome close for about two weeks around 15th August.

Where to go for what

The area around Piazza di Spagna is where to find the boutiques ( for ladie's suits, jewellery, shoes, etc.) 

- Prada, Valentino, Gucci, Fendi (which takes up a large tract of Via Borgognona)

- Missoni and Armani are all to be found within a short distance of one another.

The more prestigious antique shops, as well as several smart restaurant, are to be found in Via Margutta, Via del Corso, and contemporary designers and stylists in Via del Banbuino.

Markets

The larger and more colourful and lively markets in the centre of Rome are worth to visit. They usually open at 7am-1pm, Monday to Saturday. 

A word of warning - crowded open-air markets are ideal hunting grounds for nimble-fingered pickpockets, so please be careful.

Secondhand clothes shops

"Old is cool"

Stocks of old American jeans from 1960s and 1970s made with an indigo material, polo-neck jumpers, Paco Raban-style, all is in great demand and Rome offers a great choice of secondhand clothes shops. 

But what's even more sought-after is 'dead stock', i.e. old clothes that have never been worn.

Antique shops

Collectors, professional or amateur, should be able to pick up much of interest in Rome's secondhands and antique shops (some truly excellent), or in art galleries, or in the famous Porta Portese flea market held in Rome's Trastevere district.

however, real bargains are hard to come by.