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Rome Fashion Shopping:
Spanish Steps + Pantheon + Campo de' Fiori + Trastevere + Piazza Navona + Monti + San Lorenzo + Parioli
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Beauty and Fragrance +Bookstores + Designer Discounts + Flea Markets + Florists + Gifts + Gourmet Foods + Kids +Historic Pharmacies +Home Furnishings + Department Stores
The Best in Rome
Rome Shopping: GIFTS AND HOUSEWARES
Campo de' Fiori l Trastevere | Pantheon |Navona| Trident l Monti
L’Arcobaleno
You never know what you might find in this Rome shop, but whatever it is, you won’t find it cheaper anywhere else. In the heart of the old ghetto, the place stocks everything: pots and pans, lipsticks, cleaning products, hairdryers and blenders. You’ll find gift items that look like they’re worth a lot more — vases, candles, glasses and dishes. In the summer they carry inflatable beach toys and in the winter there's a department upstairs for Christmas decorations. A bargain hunter’s paradise.
Via Portico d’Ottavio, 3 tel. 06 681 92825 Open nonstop 9-20. Closed Sunday.
Leone Limentani
With arguably the most extensive selection of silver, porcelain, glassware and flatware in Rome, Limentani is ground zero for the bridal registry, as well as the place to find discounts on discontinued items. Break one of your favorite wine glasses? You’ll have the best chance of finding a replacement here. There are rooms and rooms of goods, some piled high and others artfully displayed. Leone Limontani began selling fine housewares in 1820, and the shop has been at its current location since 1920. Just steps away from the central synagogue, and adjacent to the ruins of the ancient Portico d’Ottavia.
Via del Portico d'Ottavia, 47/48 tel. 06 683 07000
Stock Market
This treasure hunt of a shop, may look like a jumble sale, but you can be sure to find bargains here: housewares of all sorts, handbags, lamps, candles, even small items of furniture and plenty of kitsch, or you might find a lovely vase at an incredible price.
Flagship store Via dei Banchi Vecchi, 51 tel. 06 686 4238.
Also Via Visconti, 96 (Prati)
Via Appia Nuova, 147 (Appia),
Via Alessandria, 133 (Salario)
Ufficina Nazionale
Selling an excellent selection of soaps, lotions and unguents with labels hard to find in Rome, particularly the popular English Neil’s Yard range.
Via della Reginella, 3
Azi Roma
This is the shop in Trastevere for up to the moment household accessories. Gleaming stainless steel, glass and plexiglass tableware, appliances, lamps, all the last word in Italian design, plus a charming range of gadgetry.
Via Manara, 7
Cereria Di Giorgio
Family-run since 1908, this Rome shop provides candles to the Vatican. You’ll find enormous, decorated religious candles in an alcove here, but you’ll also find an entire room devoted to a variety of candleholders, as well as tapers in every color and size, perfumed candles, incense and much more. We stop by twice a year to stock up.
Via San Francesco di Sales, 85/a tel. 688 06060
Officina della Carta
Rome is full of little shops selling fine Italian paper goods, note cards, and the like. This atelier offers custom boxes, diaries, photo albums, made to order on the premises from a selection of exquisite 
papers.
Via Benedetta, 26/b tel. 06.589 5557
Polveri di Tempo
The name means sands of time, and here you’ll find reproductions of ancient tools for measuring the hours — sundials, candles numbered to burn through the hours, hourglasses of all kinds. You’ll also find charming objects with an ancient look: globes, maps, compasses, leather-bound notebooks and unusual souvenir items, such as architectural drawings of Rome’s monuments.
Via del Moro. 59 tel. 06.588 0704
Antica Cartotecnica
Founded in 1930, this shop has maintained its original atmosphere, even after a very tasteful remodeling on the occasion of its 70th anniversary in 2000. The specialty here is pens, particularly fountain pens with a selection of vintage writing instruments from the ‘30s and ‘40s as well as many contemporary brands like Aurora, Mont Blanc, Omas and Parker's. They also carry notebooks, leather goods and offer printing services. Bring in your broken pens for repair.
Piazza dei Caprettari, 61 (around the corner from Piazza San Eustachio)
Art’lei
Amusing items of all sorts crowd this colorful Rome shop — inflatable chairs, clocks, rugs that look like patches of garden, plexiglass CD shelves, cell phone carriers, funny trash cans. But this isn't a gag shop. Most things are really well designed, including a sizeable sampling of the Alessi line. Our favorite item on our last visit: an easy chair shaped like a high-heeled shoe. A great place to find fun gifts, or the odd item for your home.
Piazza Rondanini, 32
Campo Marzio Design
The area around the Pantheon is replete with shops selling handmade paper goods and accessories. We love this one for its colorful leather goods and its selection of pens. Antique fountain pens are bought, sold and repaired here. On the contemporary side, you can find a hot pink or bright blue leather diary.
Via Campo Marzio, 41
Cartalina del Pantheon
In addition to the stationary and place cards, you’ll find whimsical cardboard music boxes in the guise of puppet theaters in these two area shops.
Via Maddalena, 41
Via della Rotonda, 5
Cittá del Sole
Surely the best toy store in Rome. There isn't an item for sale here you wouldn't be delighted to give your kids. Everything is thoughtfully arranged according to age, and most of the toys on offer tap children’s natural curiosity, encouraging them to use their minds and to develop their creativity. Not everything is expensive and not everything is plastic. You can find wonderful train sets, puzzles and the like crafted in wood. You'll find updated versions of classic toys like yo-yos, kites, and boomerangs as well as super modern gadgets such as a digital weather station. Most items relate to the store’s theme of nature: wind, light, sea and land.
Via della Scrofa 65 tel. 06 688 03805
Also at Via Buonarroti 6 (Monti)
Via Marcantonio Colonna 5 (Prati)
Fabriano
The papers and leather products in this Rome boutique are all made expressly for the Fabriano brand, the oldest continuously operating papermill in Italy, which dates back to 1264, and boasts Michelangelo Buonarotti among its former clients. Today, the wares are decidedly contemporary and elegant. The shop is a great place to look for gifts. We love the red leather envelope designed to hold business cards, the sketch books, which are works of art in themselves, and the amusing fountain pens. Everything is arranged by color, so it’s easy to put together a “set.” And the papers are wonderful, made according to tradition yet modern in design. Pick up a few things for friends who still love to correspond the old-fashioned way.
Via del Babuino, 173
House & Kitchen
From Alessi kitchen gadgets to Villeroy & Bosch dinnerware, this shop has everything. A spacious store with several departments, it stocks an excellent selection of silk flowers and candles, as well as anything you can imagine for the kitchen and table.
Via del Plebiscito, 103
Musa
On the second floor of this little Rome shop, you’ll find a breathtaking selection of beautiful hand-painted ceramic tiles. The staff will help you redecorate a kitchen or bath, or you can just pick up a few special tiles to use as hot plates or accent pieces.
Via Camp Marzio 39
Il Papiro
With several shops in Rome, Il Papiro is a good source for gift items like sealing wax and seals as well as the usual paper delicacies.
Salita di Crescenza, 28
Via del Pantheon, 50
Spazio Sette
In a former palazzo with the original frescoed ceilings, this most contemporary of Rome shops sells furniture, housewares and paper goods, all of it cutting edge design: Philippe Starck furniture, Marimekko towels, the latest cookware, flatware, glasses and dishes. If you’re shopping for a beautifully designed sofa, barbeque, notepad or clock radio, this should be your first stop.
Via dei Barbieri, 7 (tucked away between Largo Torre Argentina and Chiesa Andrea della Valle)
Alchemilla
The faux flower arrangements at this shop are so extraordinary it may change the way you feel about silk flowers. Arrangements from small to the size of a piece of furniture are sold ready-made or custom designed to meet your specifications. You’ll also find a small but charming selection of gift items – some quite inexpensive, as well as a smattering of clothing and accessories.
Via del Governo Vecchio, 11
Archeo Roma
A great source for gifts and souvenirs, this shop carries reproductions of Etruscan sculptures, ceramic bowls and vases, tiles and jewelry at reasonable prices. A pair of earrings in gold, plated over .925 silver, sells for as little as €25. Larger pieces can be shipped anywhere in the world.
Piazza Madama, 1 Tel. 06 681 92514
DCube
Stop in to admire the housewares, well-priced and often tongue-in-cheek. There are sleek and modern glasses and decanters, unusual designs in flatware and dishes, tablecloths and bowls — always something amusing, such as the colorful silicone cups and saucers, or, depending on the season, a hot pink Christmas tree, or an umbrella for the terrace in citrus green raffia.
Via della Pace 38 tel. 06 6861218
Also at Via Salaria, 23
Via Crociferi, 42
De Sanctis
Despite the great tradition of Italian hand-painted ceramics, it’s hard to find a shop that sells the stuff in Rome. De Sanctis has been in Piazza Navona since 1890, offering a small but diverse selection of ceramics from all over Italy, including both traditional and modern pieces, such as the whimsical work of the popular Sicilian ceramicist De Simone.
Piazza Navona, 82 tel. 06.688 06810
In Folio
This is a grown up toy store chock full of amusing modern design, from clocks to key chains to lamps to you name it. The stock is always changing but always fun. (Their motto is “accessories of the 21st century".) A great place to shop for gifts, super contemporary house wares or small appliances.
Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 261 tel. 06.6861446
Also at the Cinecittá Due shopping center.
SPANISH STEPS TO PIAZZA DEL POPOLO
C.U.C.I.N.A.
Rome's cooking enthusiasts, and chefs who take pleasure in keeping current with the latest gadgets know this is the place to shop. Inspired by its own acronym, come una cucina ispira nuovi appetiti, (a well-equipped kitchen inspires new appetites), C.U.C.I.N.A. keeps getting better, expanding its inventory of table apparel, cookware, kitchen accessories and storage items in three well-stocked locations.
Via Mario dè Fiori, 65 tel. 06 679 1275 (Trident)
Via Flamina Vecchia, 679 tel. 06 333 2202 (Ponte Milvio)
Piazza Euclide, 40 06 807 8906 (Flaminio)
Closed Monday Mornings
‘Gusto Kitchen Store
This corner of the ‘Gusto complex of restaurants occupies just enough space to turn around in but it's stocked with interesting and useful items — kitchen utensils (including hard-to-find truffle slicers and oyster knives), cook books (some of them English translations of texts on Italian cuisine), and the ‘Gusto trademark “made in Italy” aprons and T-shirts.
Piazza Augusto Imperatore, 9 tel 06 323 6363
Open daily
Indo-Roman Collection
Baronessa Gaia Franchetti’s travels have taken her to villages in India, China, Tibet, Laos, Pakistan, Cambodia and Turkey, in search of unique antique and hand-loomed fabrics. She sells them as yard goods or made up into colorful tablecloths, placemats, cushions, bed-coverings and drapery, scarves, shawls and street wear. The framed remnants of antique fabrics have the look of contemporary works of art.
In a second showroom across the corridor, Franchetti’s sister-in-law, Anna Franchetti, carries the Petra Sarda collection of Sardinian vases, bowls, jugs, plates and cups with speckled glazes in tones of blue, gray and green.
Via Gregoriana, 36 tel 06 691 90 908
Tech It Easy
In this hi-tech wonderland, you’ll find everything from a Mac iBook to an electric bicycle, decorative cigarette lighters, clocks for three time zones, lava lamps, space age pens. Some items are just outright quaint, the use of many not readily apparent; others are more practical but look like toys. A fun place to shop for gifts in Rome.
Via D. Chelini, 19 tel 06 807 8904 (Parioli)
Galleria Colonna, 43 tel 06 691 90433 (Spanish Steps)
Via del Gambero, 1 tel 06 693 80924 (Spanish Steps)
Atelier Monti
Architect Massimo Lucarini and Interior Designer Roberta De Angelis, who have long-standing ties to New York as well as Rome, have opened this atelier, stocking some of the most innovative Italian designs from table settings to kitchen fixtures. Look for their selection of lighting, made by the finest manufacturers from Murano to Milano, and works by artists working with light. Shop a wide selection of well-designed household necessities, from orange squeezers to table fans. We loved the modular carpet squares in beautiful colors and patterns. Lucarini and De Angeles are on hand to dispense advice.
Via Panisperna, 42 tel 06 478 24314
La Botteguccia
This little Rome shop carries jewelry, table lamps and gift items, many of them a step or two above the usual bric-a-brac, and most of it very reasonably priced. We loved the little evening bags in cut velvet and ribbon, filled with potpourri.
Via dei Serpenti, 89 tel 06 488 2755
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