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Shopping StreetsFrom: Venice's Top 11 Free Sights
ABOVE: Commuters and shoppers mingle on a Venice pedestrian thoroughfare. Shopping isn't free in Venice, but window-shopping is--and there are plenty of boutiques to ogle or browse.
The Rialto Bridge and the Rialto Food Markets (discussed earlier in this guide) are packed with shoppers; on the San Polo side of the bridge, turn left and follow the series of narrow streets all the way to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Dorsoduro if you can avoid getting lost. You'll pass souvenir shops, jewelers like Marfil, the Il Pavone stationery store, and other types of stores. (As you get closer to the tip of Dorsoduro, you'll see more art galleries and antique dealers.)
Finally, you may want to think twice before purchasing counterfeit handbags and other goods from illegal street vendors. (See article links below.) Related articles: Next page: Islands of the Lagoon
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High-fashion
and luxury goods are in the San Marco area, mostly in the
streets that lead out of the arcaded or Napoleonic end of the Piazza. You'll
find upscale brands like Missoni, Prada, Bottega Veneta, Bulgari, and Gucci in
San Marco, along with more affordable (and practical) shops like Libreria
Mondadori and Libreria Studium, two bookstores that have a good range of
English-language guidebooks and maps.
Head
down the Mercerie shopping streets toward Rialto, or in the
direction of the Campo San Stefano, and you'll encounter hundreds of other shops
that sell everything from clothing to handmade stationery, Murano glass, and art
supplies.
To
the north and east of the Piazza San Marco, in the Castello
district, shops like
Farther
west in Cannaregio, on the way to the railway station, the wide
pedestrian thoroughfare of Strada Nova has a mixture of
souvenir stores and everyday shops used by Venetians--including a branch of
Venice's best supermarket (Billa) and a resolutely old-fashioned pet store on
the Campo SS Apostoli.
The
island of Murano is the center of the Lagoon's glass industry,
and Burano--a traditional lacemaking center--has shops that sell lace and
linens. (Prices aren't necessarily any cheaper than you'd pay in Venice, but the
specialized window-shopping and browing opportunities are more concentrated.)
