Most visitors to Venice are there to see Venice itself, to explore and be dazzled by its beauty and charm and for this very reason, you could be forgiven for imagining your hard earned spending money might be mainly used for coffee, ice-cream and meals.

Venice however has much to offer avid shoppers with many traditional authentic Venetian wares to admire and desire as well as a multitude of fashion retail outlets and the ubiquitous souvenir shops of course.

The city is famous for its quality Murano glassware, made locally on Murano Island, the ever popular craft item that is the carnival mask, lace and marbled paper. The city too, like every other, also has its fair share of cheap souvenir places where the gondola on a plinth is always a classic memento for your (or someone else’s) mantelpiece.

Venice may be a lot different to Italy’s other cities in many ways but it still hosts the world’s leading names in fashion. Calle XXII Marzo, west of St Mark’s is without doubt one of the most prestigious areas in the city for shopping with names such as Gucci, Prada, Bulgari and Versace available for most of us to window-shop at.

Generally though, the main stretch for clothing and shoes which might be more within your budget is the Mercerie, which is part of the narrow streets running north from St Mark’s to Rialto. Here you can find a range of stores and shops from low-end souvenir retailers to more moderately priced boutiques.

Did you Know?!?

The main retail areas in Venice of the Mercerie and the nearby surrounding streets known as the Frezzeria have been Venice’ main shopping area for about 600 years.