For over 20 years, Pamela Lanier's Rome, Italy Travel Guide has been your connection to Rome's tourism community with invaluable details on local attractions, restaurants, shopping, museums, history, outdoor recreation and more.
Shopping
The Spanish Steps (Piazza di Spagna) and Via del Corso are where you need to go for designer labels. Via dei Condotti, directly opposite the Spanish Steps, is home to many of the biggest names in fashion and jewellery. Along the network of picturesque streets in either direction are scores of other shops like Armani, Gucci, Hermes, Prada, Valentino, and Versace, where your credit card will take a battering.
For high street clothes shopping and inexpensive, cheerful fashion, try Via del Corso, Via Nazionale or the area between Ottaviano Metro and the Vatican. Interesting boutiques with more striking fashions can be found along Via del Governo Vecchio, in the Centro Storico.
Souvenirs can be found anywhere and everywhere in Rome, especially at street stalls or crowded street shops. For kitsch gifts, the Vatican is the best area, with a vast array of glow-in-the-dark Madonnas and holographic Pope cards. Shops around Piazza Navona offer high end ceramics, and will organize shipping as required. Countless little shops all around the centre will sell you exciting pasta, sauces, and culinary specialities from all around Italy.
Antiques are big business in Rome, so it would be wise to be sure what you're buying. The best streets for antique shopping are Via dei Coronari, in the Centro Storico, and Via del Babuino (between Piazza del Popolo and the Spanish Steps).
Finally, the branch of Feltrinelli at Largo Argentina, which is conveniently located for visitors, is a great place to find Italian books.
