IT’S WORTH IT TO PLAN YOUR TRIP so you’ll be in Arezzo the first Sunday of the month. That’s when this Tuscan town’s historic center overflows with Italy’s biggest outdoor antique market. Five hundred vendors spread out an eclectic mix of treasures to satisfy your inner huntress. There are carved armoires, candelabras, and giant urns. And suitcase-friendly treasures from vintage linens to jewelry, cordial glasses, faded postcards, and comic books.
Besides Arezzo, loads of other small towns and cities regularly have weekend antique markets, that aren’t as big as Arezzo’s but still grand. No matter where you land, it’s an entertaining shopping experience. There’s the magic of being in a piazza that’s transformed into looking like countless nonnas have snuck in before your arrival and dropped off their pretty possessions, each piece unique and holding memories of the past. The vendors are colorful characters—from antique fanatics to teenagers who’d rather be watching the soccer game and are easy to bargain with.
Most antique markets also have flea market-type set-ups at their borders, so if you need cheap socks, there you go.
A few suggestions among the many:
Besides the best market, right here is Piero della Francesca’s stunning Legend of the True Cross fresco cycle in the church of San Francesco. Or go on the Life Is Beautiful tour, which takes you to spots around town where the movie was shot.
Hundreds of vendors bring in antique furniture, jewelry, and collectibles to this location that’s off the beaten tourist track.
The neighborhood surrounding Rome’s oldest bridge is one of the city’s hippest. Historically, it’s where Emperor Constantine won the battle that began the Christian era. This market is lovely to stroll through—with the view of the Tiber river, under the shade of chestnut trees.
This is Italy’s second biggest antique market, held in a piazza that fronts the splendid Villa Contarini, which you can tour while antiquing. En route take the opportunity to visit some Palladian villas.
Set on the banks of Milan’s oldest canal, this is a lovely market to stroll through stalls of over 300 vendors, selling high quality antiques.
At this castle surrounded by a water-filled moat, along with 200 vendors, you get a chance to see beautifully restored Parmigianino frescos. It’s an 11-mile/18-km drive from Parma, and bus service from town is available.
The August event transforms the pretty walled town of Sarzana into what’s called “The Attic in the Street,” with hundreds of stalls from international vendors, all curated to insure top quality. For the rest of the year, come here to enjoy wonderful antique shops, chic restaurants and bars.
Pros call this the best antique shopping spot in Italy. It’s a huge indoor exhibition center, arranged to look like an old fortified town, where you’ll find antiques, paintings, and crafts from all over the world.
You can get great deals on antique furniture and jewelery here, along with flea market finds, while enjoying the baroque town.
Golden Day: Get to the Arezzo Antique Market and see The Legend of the True Cross fresco cycle. Eat at Buca di San Francesco to enjoy delicious Tuscan classics in the charming atmosphere of what was once the wine cellar of a fourteenth-century palazzo (Via San Francesco 1, 0575 23271, closed Tuesday, www.bucadisanfrancesco.it).
RECOMMENDED READING
The Antique and Flea Markets of Italy by Marina Seveso, translated by Oonagh Stransky