The best markets in Florence

Florence is not only a great city for culture and architecture, but also for all kinds of shopping. I know that there are a few jerks among us who are dying to go to the markets. Of course, the biggest and best-known most market is the “Mercato Centrale” in the San Lorenzo district. I have been there years ago, and the variety of produce, the seafood, the meats, leather goods etc. is really stunning. The downside: since it’s popular market, there are always a lot of tourists.

Smaller, but also less touristy is the Mercato di Sant’Ambrogio (open from Monday to Saturday, 7 am – 2 pm) which is only a 10 minutes’ walk north of Piazza Santa Croce. It apparently has the freshest and cheapest of produce of all the markets. Good thing is: At all these markets you can always grab a cheap and yummy bite.

More Links with useful info:

Virtual Tourist: Reviews and photos of the “Mercato Centrale”
Tours Italy: The best markets in Florence
MSN Travel:  The outdoor markets of Florence
Way Tuscany: Antiques and markets in Tuscany

Shopping at the Prada Mall

(This is a blog post with two authors… let’s see if it works!)
Marc sez: As I mentioned earlier, I guess I have to add this info since there are many fashionistas and shopping jerks among us who are dying to go to the famous’ Prada Outlet near Florence. For those who would like to know all the insider tips (never go on the weekend, for example), read Giovanna Dunwall’s very informative blog post about this outlet and shopping in Italy. I also checked how it is rated on Tripadvisor (what a great website!) – and unfortunately it gets high praises: “Shoshyr” from Florida writes: “Great prices! We have come back to the USA after making a number of purchases here and compared prices, and we came out on top! Highly recommended!” And now, I let the secret leader of America’s most infamous fashion shopping mafia speak….

Leslie sez: Let me set things straight, my idea of Italy is not to spend hours upon hours in some weird warehouse fighting off Japanese tourists over handbags and shoes. Well, maybe 2 hours! It would be kinda fabulous to go home with some gorgeous designer something at a drastically reduced price wouldn’t you agree??? Perhaps we could combine it with a visit to some great little village, I know we’ll come up with something! Here are just some of the designers featured and all the technical info:The outlet includes brands such as Armani Jeans, Bottega Veneta, Burberry, Ungaro, Zegna, Fendi, Armani, Gucci, Ferragamo and Valentino. Address: Levanella, 52025 Montevarchi. Opening hours: 10 am -7 pm non-stop, Monday-Sunday.P.S. If you’re interested where it’s located, you’ll find it marked as one of our ‘Must-See’ location dots on ‘our’ personalized Italy map on Google.