Market Day

Mercato Centrale

Outside the Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella

View from the Ponte Vecchio

Silk geometric blouse from the Prada outlet

If you have the time to spend the day taking the train 45 minutes from Florence to a nondescript building marked “Space” in the small town of Montevarchi, the payoff of shopping at the massive Prada outlet is worth the effort. From the Montevarchi train station, just ask a taxi driver to take you to the Prada outlet; it’s only about a 10-minute drive. You will be overwhelmed with last season’s lambskin leather handbags, silk printed blouses, jewel-toned patent sandals-need I go on.

Inside the city, there's an abundance of markets and shops. My favorites are the Mercato Centrale for Alimentari olive oil from the Baroni family and the Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella for magnolia lotion made by Dominican monks. Here are some of my other picks.

Florence Markets
~Mercato Centrale for a wealth of foodstuffs and perfect gifts for foodies
~Mercato Cascine for pottery {Tuesdays only}
~Mercato di San Lorenzo for leather goods

Florence Shops
~Ditta Luca della Robbia for hand-painted pottery, Via del Proconsolo 19r
~Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella for lotions, perfumes, and soap, Via della Scala 16
~Raspini for Italian designers, Via Roma 25r
~Ponte Vecchio for glimmering windows of gold and cameos
~Via de’Tornabuoni for luxe designers