Travel Italy: Vacation Packages, Tips, Tours of Italy

This walk leads to the major shopping roads in Rome, an area including the most known Via del Corso and Via Condotti.

- You can start your walk in Via del Corso, from Piazza del Popolo, a large square and elegant pedestrian area. Among the monuments it includes: an Egyptian obelisk which stands in the centre of the Piazza, church of Santa Maria del Popolo and the Twin churches of Santa Maria dei Miracoli (1681) and Santa Maria in Montesanto (1679)

- Via del Corso
The main street running straight for 1.5 kilometres through the historical centre of Rome from Piazza del Popolo to Piazza Venezia, with just its northern portion as a pedestrian area. As there are no major tourist attractions along the street, it features a large number of shops. It’s one of the major streets for shopping.

- Via Condotti
Perpendicular to Via del Corso (it starts at Piazza di Spagna and ends in Via del Corso), Via Condotti is the main center of fashion in Rome. If Via del Corso contains the largest number of shops, Via Condotti features only top luxury designer shops and ateliers. Also the most famous café of the city are located there.

- Parallel to Via Condotti, also Via Frattina and Via Borgognona have boutiques and high-end shops in abundance.

- Many other streets in the nearby area, including Via Belsiana, Via Bocca di Leone, Via delle Carrozze, Via Mario de Fiori, Via della Vite, Via Vittoria, offer chances for a more affordable shopping than Via Condotti.

- Those who are looking for antique shops in Rome, are suggested to have a look to these streets: Via dei Coronari, Via Margutta, Via Giulia, and Via del Babuino.

View map of this walk.

By continuing about things to do in Florence with a two day stay, you could reserve the second day to activities like visits to museums and shopping.

- Museums -
- With just two days, you could not afford to visit most of the many art museums of Florence. However you can’t leave out the Galleria degli Uffizi.

The gallery houses countless masterpieces of Italian and European paintings from a period between the 12th and 18th centuries, exhibited in 45 rooms. Works by Cimabue, Giotto, Duccio da Buoninsegna, Gentile da Fabriano, Beato Angelico, Paolo Uccello, Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Perugino, Vasari, Michelangelo are among the countless masterpieces you can admire there.
To reserve tickets, you can ask the hotel where you are staying to make these reservations for you. Also you can try these websites: http://www.florence-museum.com/ and http://www.firenzemusei.it/home.html

- Shopping -
Have a look to the many street and markets in the city center, around San Lorenzo or the smaller ones on the way to the Uffizi. You have opportunities to grab some great deals there, especially with leather or silk items. Check the items, you can find quality goods at good prices, along with tourist junk.
If you are looking for designer items at discounted prices, you need to visit any designer outlets malls. A large outlets mall is located outside the city center, about 20 miles north of Florence, in Barberino del Mugello. There is where the designer stores offering discounted items are. You can save 30% to 60% off the regular price. Obviously your shopping there will be more expensive than at the street markets in the city center, but consider you are going there to buy designer and higher quality items.

- Dining -
Hopefully, in these two days in Florence, you’ll take your time to enjoy also fine dining at restaurants. You definitely have to taste the “Bistecca alla Fiorentina“. It’s the Florence’s culinary specialty. This tasty dish consists of a t-bone or porterhouse steak grilled over a wood or charcoal fire, and seasoned with salt, black pepper, and olive oil. With good red Tuscan wines is the best pairing.

Find accommodations in Florence and Tuscany.

On August 2, The Washington Post, in its “Designs on Italy” — Travel Q&A section, referred to PrimeItaly.com as an authoritative source where to get information and advice on shopping designer clothing in Italy.
We are pleased to see our efforts in providing travelers with accurated information get noticed by mainstream Media.

“Primeitaly.com ( http://www.primeitaly.com/ ), a travel site about all things Italian, offers lists of outlets throughout the country, plus information on contacting personal shoppers who might have an insider scoop.” The Washington Post reported.

Just to complete the description provided by The Washington Post about our services, we’d like to add as follows.
 PrimeItaly.com provides assistance to travelers, both individual and groups, to meet their specific shopping needs in Italy.

Travelers who plan a shopping travel in Italy, can browse the various sections of our website to find information they need, first. Then, they can also directly ask us for free advice or assistance in planning customized tours.
Personal shoppers, tour operators, and seasoned travel professionals, associated to PrimeItaly.com, will take care of specific requests.

To semplify, we are used to summarize in two categories the shopping travelers’ needs.
1. Shoppers asking us to suggest them designer outlets to save up on shopping designer brand items.
2. More sophisticated shoppers asking for off-the-beaten path shopping experiences, by visiting factories, designer and artisans’ studios etc…

See details in our Fashion Tours in Italy section.

The factory outlets are among the favourite destinations for tourists who like shopping Italian brands products in Italy.
That due to the price average, which in the factory outlets is remarkably lower than in the normal shops.

However you should consider advantages and drawbacks of factory outlets for the choice of your shopping experience.

- Advantages
You can save money, by paying prices roughly 30% to 60 % lower than in the normal shops.

-Drawbacks

Usually in the factory outlets you can save money buying items of the previous year only. The items of the current year come with prices not so different from the retailers’ ones.
Also check the quality of products, as sometimes the items are being sold in the factory outlets could hide slight manufacturing defects.

Factory outlets are located outside the cities and getting there by train or bus is not so easy.
Advice: locate a factory outlet on the map to see how it is far from your holiday destination. (see Italy factory outlets guide).