Italy is the heaven for shopping. There you will find everything from luxurious brands in shining stores on famous shopping streets to small and cozy family shops selling handmade goods. Clothing, jewelry, shoes, accessories, furniture, food and many other are all found in Italy. If you are looking for a right Christmas gift and you want to buy something special in Rome, this article will be extremely useful as it contains advice on where to shop like a local.

Shopping in Italy doesn’t need a long introduction – it is the motherland to such brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Prada, Moschino, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Lamborghini, Nina Ricci, Lavazza, Illy, Martini, Barilla and even Tic Tac. It is the land where you’ll try the tastiest ice-cream and coffee, the perfect pizza and pasta, amazing chocolate, cheese, wine and much more.

Previously, we have studied the best shopping spots in the most remarkable Italian cities – Milan, Rome and Venice. So, now we know what to take with you from an Italian holiday, so we can have a closer look at where to shop in its capital, Rome.

Top places for shopping in Rome

They say when in Rome do as the Romans do. We think it’s very wise to do so, so we asked a local MeetnGreeter Marco to share the best, most important and authentic places to shop in Rome like a local.

“Top place for shopping is - in my opinion - the center of the city: Via Nazionale, Via del Corso, Via del Tritone, Piazza di Spagna and its surroundings, Via Cola di Rienzo. Some areas are certainly very expensive but extremely fashionable: for instance, in Via Condotti you can find Bulgari, Fendi, Gucci, Versace, etc. which means some of best Italian brands.

In the same areas, however, there is the possibility to find something less expensive but still fashionable and of a high quality, as well. These shops are more accessible. Shopping malls normally are not in the center of Rome but they can easily be reached by bus or tube. They are quite similar to those you can find everywhere. Then there are some shops extremely good for food, where you can find Italian specialties at a reasonable price (Testaccio and Prati are districts of this kind).

For handmade things, no doubt: Trastevere and Via Margutta are the right places.

Porta Portese Market

To conclude, if you have time, have a look at “Porta Portese”, which is a popular market where you can actually find everything (even strange and likely useless but unusual things).”

Porta Portese is the biggest market in Rome located in Trastevere (piazza di Porta Portese). It has absolutely everything and the prices start from €1. Come here if you need to buy vintage jewelry or an old bike, if you look for beautiful clothes or rare books, or if you just want to feel another side of the city. It is always crowded and bustling. The market can be divided into several areas specializing in different types of stuff. Porta Portese is open only on Sunday morning. You can come here as early as 6 a.m. and finish your shopping rush at 2 p.m. proceeding with a lunch all-Italiana.

The tastiest Italian cuisine can be tried in…

After you have visited Colosseum, been to S. Peter’s Square waiting in the longest ever queue to enter St. Peter’s Basilica, taken a photo next to the Trevi Fountain and reached the Piazza Navona, you will definitely be very hungry. Good news – in Italy you will never be starving as there are so many cafes and restaurants in the streets and all of them offer delicious and abundant dishes.

“Restaurants and “pizzerie” (restaurants that serve Italian pizza) are actually excellent in all the districts. I prefer Testaccio and Piazza Navona areas, but others are very good as well.

Also in the surroundings (Frascati, Marino, Ariccia, Genzano, Albano, Nemi and so on) there are excellent places for all prices where you can eat very, very well.”

Don’t forget that Italian cuisine is much richer than only pizza and pasta. Its cornerstone is simplicity – Italians prefer simple recipes to leave the real taste of natural products and enjoy fresh and healthy food.

Lazio, the region in which Rome is situated, makes part of Central Italy. Due to the local nature and climate, traditional food ingredients are tomatoes, meat, pecorino and ricotta cheese. Specific dishes are assigned to specific days of the week: they eat gnocchi on Thursdays, baccalà (salted cod) on Fridays, and trippa for Saturdays.

We thank Marco for his great advice and hope that this insightful information on where to shop in Rome will be helpful to you!