Pisa Shopping
Shopping in Italy is always delightfully unique, especially so in Pisa, where mercatos, open air marketplaces, and thrift stores, bargain shops, and fashion houses can be discovered, as well as classy signature shops.
Mercatos
Tuscany has beautiful weather. This encourages shopping in mercatos, the open air markets like Piazza dei Miracoli, Piazza dei Cavalieri, and Ponti de Mezzo.
Piazza dei Miracoli
This is a popular mercato near the Leaning Tower. Piazza dei Miracoli translates to "The Field of Miracles," the name attributed to the verdant green lawns that border the Cathedral. It is also called, less reverently, "souvenir central," because, as the name implies, this is the area for souvenirs of Pisa, especially popular being leaning tower replicas, some small enough to fit on a key chain, others large enough to grace a foyer. The area, bustling with eager tourists, consists of booths that sell keepsakes of Italy.
Piazza dei Cavalieri And Ponti de Mezzo
These mercatos are open the second weekend of each month and sell higher priced tourist items, including antiques that capture the ambiance of Tuscany. For those who like to search for undiscovered treasures, this is the place to go.
Thrift shops and Fashion Houses
Tuscany has no shopping districts like strip malls or full-scale malls as found in North America and Europe. What it has are arcades that sell bargain clothes and fashion outfits, as well as artisan crafts, collector's items, and musical instruments. Places to consider are Via Buonarroti, Via San Martino, and Borgo Stretto
Via Buonarroti
This arcade is popular because of its thrift stores.
Via San Martino
This arcade also has bargain shops as well as fashion stores. Here you can buy brand name clothes, as well as fashionable clothing accessories.
Borgo Stretto
This arcade offers quite a few choices when it comes to clothes, jewelry, and comestibles, particularly popular Italian foods. There are also artisan crafts available here. Stringed instrument shops delight collectors of fine instruments with their collection of cellos, violas, and violins.
Signature Shops
Close to the Borgo Stretto area are some high-end signature shops like Bianco Nero, a clothing store, Bon Bon, a chocolate store, and the classy Emporio Armani, where you can buy Armani brand clothes and accessories.