Shopping

Rome offers temptations of every kind. You might find hidden oases of charm and value in lesser-known neighborhoods, but in our limited space here, we've summarized certain streets known throughout Italy for their shops. Keep in mind that the monthly rent on these places is very high, and those costs will be passed on to you. Nonetheless, a stroll down some of these streets presents a cross-section of the most desirable wares found in Italy.

Although Rome has many wonderful boutiques, you'll find better shopping in Florence and Venice. If you're continuing on to either of these cities, hold off a bit.

Shopping hours are generally Monday from 3:30 to 7:30pm, and Tuesday through Saturday from 9:30 or 10am to 1pm and 3:30 to 7 or 7:30pm. Some shops are open on Monday mornings, however, and some shops don't close for the afternoon break.

The Shopping Scene

Shipping -- Shipping can be a problem, but -- for a price -- any object can be packed, shipped, and insured. For major purchases, you should buy an all-risks insurance policy to cover damage or loss in transit. Because these policies can be expensive, check into whether using a credit card to make your purchase will provide automatic free insurance.

Tax Rebates on Purchases in Italy -- Visitors are sometimes appalled at the high taxes and add-ons that seem to make so many things expensive in Italy. Those taxes, totaling as much as 19% to 35% for certain goods, apply to big-ticket purchases of more than 155€ ($186) but can be refunded if you plan ahead and perform a bit of sometimes tiresome paperwork. When you make your purchase, get a receipt from the vendor. When you leave Italy, find an Italian Customs agent at the point of your exit from the country. The agent will want to see the item you've bought, confirm that it's physically leaving Italy, and stamp the vendor's receipt.

You should then mail the stamped receipt (keeping a photocopy for your records) back to the original vendor. The vendor will, sooner or later, send you a check representing a refund of the tax you paid. Reputable stores view this as a matter of ordinary paperwork and are very businesslike about it. Less honorable stores might lose your receipts. It pays to deal with established vendors on purchases of this size.

Major Shopping Streets

Via Borgognona -- This street begins near Piazza di Spagna, and both the rents and the merchandise are chic and ultra-expensive. Like its neighbor, Via Condotti, Via Borgognona is a mecca for wealthy, well-dressed men and women from around the world. Its storefronts have retained their baroque or neoclassical facades.

Via Cola di Rienzo -- Bordering the Vatican, this long, straight street runs from the Tiber to Piazza Risorgimento. Since the street is wide and clogged with traffic, it's best to walk down one side and then up the other. Via Cola di Rienzi is known for stores selling a wide variety of merchandise at reasonable prices -- from jewelry to fashionable clothes and shoes.

Via Condotti -- Easy to find because it begins at the base of the Spanish Steps, this is Rome's poshest and most prominent shopping street -- the Madison Avenue of Rome. Even the recent incursion of some less elegant stores hasn't diminished the allure of Via Condotti as a consumer's playground for the rich and super-rich. For us mere mortals, it's a great place for window-shopping and people-watching.

Via del Corso -- Not attempting the stratospheric image or prices of Via Condotti or Via Borgognona, Via del Corso boasts styles aimed at younger consumers. There are some gems scattered amid the shops selling jeans and sporting equipment. The most interesting stores are nearest the fashionable cafes of Piazza del Popolo.

Via Francesco Crispi -- Most shoppers reach this street by following Via Sistina 1 long block from the top of the Spanish Steps. Near the intersection of these streets are several shops for unusual and less expensive gifts.

Via Frattina -- Running parallel to Via Condotti, it begins, like its more famous sibling, at Piazza di Spagna. Part of its length is closed to traffic. Here the concentration of shops is denser, although some aficionados claim that its image is slightly less chic and prices are slightly lower than at its counterparts on Via Condotti. It's usually thronged with shoppers who appreciate the lack of motor traffic.

Via Nazionale -- The layout recalls 19th-century grandeur, but the traffic is horrendous; crossing Via Nazionale requires a good sense of timing and a strong understanding of Italian driving patterns. It begins at Piazza della Repubblica and runs down almost to the 19th-century monuments of Piazza Venezia. You'll find an abundance of leather stores (more reasonable in price than those in many other parts of Rome) and a handful of stylish boutiques.

Via Sistina -- Beginning at the top of the Spanish Steps, Via Sistina runs to Piazza Barberini. The shops are small and stylish, and pedestrian traffic is less dense than on other major streets.

Via Vittorio Veneto -- Via Veneto is filled with expensive hotels and cafes and relatively expensive stores selling shoes, gloves, and leather goods.

Best Buys

Because of the Italians' consummate skills as manufacturers and designers, it's no surprise that consumers from all over the world flock to Italy's shops, trade fairs, and design studios to see what's new, hot, and salable back home.

The most obvious draw is fashion. Milan might be the center of the fashion industry, but Rome is a principal distribution center. There are literally hundreds of famous designers for both men and women, most of whom make eminently stylish garments. Materials include silks, leathers, cottons, synthetics, and wool, often of the finest quality.

Italian design influences everything from computer keyboards to kitchen appliances to furniture. The Italian studios of Memphis-Milan and Studio Alchimia are two of the leaders in this field, and many of their products (and rip-offs thereof) are now highly visible in machines and furnishings throughout the world. Alessi has become a world-renowned name in witty, innovative houseware design. You can preview many of Italy's new products and designs by reading a copy of Domus, a monthly magazine that reports on many different aspects of the country's design scene.

Food and wine never go out of style, and gourmets frequently bring some of Italy's bounty home with them. Many Roman shops sell chocolates, pastries, liqueurs, wines, and limited-edition olive oils. Keep in mind that there are restrictions against importing certain food products into North America, including anything fresh, such as fruit or prosciutto. Italian wines include many excellent vintages, and bottles of liqueurs (which are sometimes distilled from herbs and flowers) make unusual gifts. You can bring home only 1 liter of wine or spirits duty-free.

The glassware of Italy (and especially of Venice) is famous throughout the world and is sold all over Rome. It's fragile enough that you should look into shipping it directly home with insurance.

Italy's porcelain might be elegant and sought after, but personally we prefer the hand-painted rustic plates and bowls of thick-edged stoneware known as Laveggio. Done in strong and clear glazes and influenced by their rural origins, the bowls and plates are often used at the most formal dinners for their originality and style. The tiles and mosaics of Italy are virtually without equal in the world, whether used individually as drink coasters or decorative ornaments, or in groups set into masonry walls.

Nuns made lace in convents for many years. Venice became the country's headquarters. Handmade Italian lace is exquisite and justifiably expensive, crafted into tablecloths, napkins, clothing, and bridal veils. Beware of machine-made imitations; with a bit of practice, you'll soon be able to recognize the shoddy copies.

Paper goods, stationery, elegantly bound books, prints, and engravings are specialties of Italy. The engravings you find amid stacks of dozens of others will invariably look stately when framed and hanging on a wall back home.

Fabrics, especially silk, are made near Lake Como, in the foothills of the Italian Alps. Known for their supple beauty and their ability to hold color for years (the thicker the silk, the more desirable), these silks are rivaled only by the finest of India, Thailand, and China. Their history in Italy goes back to the era of Marco Polo, possibly much earlier.

Finally, Rome is the home to a religious objects industry. Centered on the streets near the Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva are dozens of shops selling pictures, statues, and reliefs of most of the important saints, the Madonna, Jesus, and John the Baptist. And some shops cross the line of good taste and into the realm of high camp -- we've even seen snow globes of the pope blessing Rome.