Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella
Santa Maria Novella
In business since 1612, this exquisite perfumery-pharmacy began life when Santa Maria Novella's Dominican friars began to concoct cures and sweet-smelling…
Must-see shopping in Mediterranean Europe
Duomo & Piazza della Signoria
This flagship store of local superstar Ben, a Florentine-based fashion designer who set up the business with schoolmate Matteo after undergoing a heart…
Duomo & San Babila
Milan's historic deli is a bastion of the city's culinary heritage, with the huge ground floor turning out a colourful cornucopia of fabulous foods. It…
Turin
The global Slow Food phenomenon began here in Lingotto. Set in a vast converted factory, the Eataly mothership houses a staggering array of sustainable…
Boboli & San Miniato al Monte
Artisanal perfumes, bodycare products, scented candles and stones, essential oils and room fragrances crafted by Florentine perfumer Lorenzo Villoresi…
Sultanahmet
Owned by Canadian Jennifer Gaudet, this shop stocks top-quality towels, peştemals (traditional bath wraps) and robes for both adults and children. All are…
Oltrarno
Modern craftsmanship shines out of this loveable boutique, the pride and joy of the Marconi family, whose washable paper bags – tanned just like leather…
Porta Garibaldi & Isola
This might be the world's most hyped 'concept shop', but Carla Sozzani's selection of desirable things (Maison Margiela jewellery, Gucci bathers, Yayoi…
Santa Croce
This elegant Santa Croce perfumery in a vaulted 15th-century palazzo exudes romance and exoticism. Artisanal scents are crafted here with tremendous care…
Porta Garibaldi & Isola
A cult destination dedicated to Italian gastronomy, this three-level mega-emporium showcases the best locally sourced products, including artisanal gelato…
La Ribera
One of Barcelona's best wine stores (and there are a few…), Vila Viniteca has been hunting down the finest local and imported wines since 1932. There are…
Athens
A wonderful sight in its own right, this huge old wrought-iron market hall is dedicated to fish and meat, especially row upon row of lamb carcasses,…
Venice
Tired of bemoaning the increasing number of tatty souvenir shops, Venetians Mattia and Filippo decided to open a design-led alternative featuring the work…
La Rambla & Barri Gòtic
Step inside this enchanting vintage boutique for beautifully crafted apparel from the past, mostly sourced from local homes: 18th-century embroidered silk…
Milan
A team of creatives have breathed new life into this formerly abandoned 16th-century monastery. Now an atmospheric design space, it's composed of a bistro…
San Lorenzo & San Marco
Vintage couture for men and women is what this extraordinary rabbit warren of a boutique – surely the city's largest collection of vintage – is about…
Venice
Transform any home with these locally woven, strikingly original Venetian linens. Whimsical cushions feature chubby purple rhinoceroses and grumpy scarlet…
Tridente, Trevi & the Quirinale
Opened by designer Cristina Bomba over four decades ago, this gorgeous boutique is now operated by her fashion-designing children Caterina (womenswear)…
Tridente, Trevi & the Quirinale
Rome’s best-known shoe designer, Fausto Santini is famous for his beguilingly simple, architectural shoe designs, realised in boots and shoes made with…
San Polo & Santa Croce
A nonprofit cooperative runs this little shop, selling goods made by inmates of Venice's prisons as part of a social reintegration program. The toiletries…
Monti, Esquilino & San Lorenzo
Sublimely cut and whimsically retro-esque, Tina Sondergaard's handmade creations for women are a hit with the local fashion cognoscenti. Styles change by…
La Latina & Lavapiés
One of Europe’s most creative jewellery designers, Helena Rohner has a spacious boutique in La Latina. Working with silver, stone, porcelain, wood and…
Milan
Brainchild of Sardinian fashion designer Antonio Marras, this eccentric concept store has an almost cinematic feel. Hidden in an ivy-draped courtyard, the…
Vatican City, Borgo & Prati
This family-run deli is a fantasyland of Italian edibles. Whole prosciutto hams hang in profusion. Cheeses, olive oil, dried pasta, balsamic vinegar, wine…
Corso Magenta & Sant'Ambrogio
Installed in a former tie factory not far from Corso Magenta, this iconic interior-design studio is a challenge to find. Once inside, though, it's hard to…
Madrid
The extraordinary tiled facade of this wonderful old shop conceals an Aladdin’s cave of ceramics from all over Spain. This is not the mass-produced stuff…
Salamanca
This boutique has to be seen to be believed, with pinks, yellows and oranges everywhere you turn. It’s fun and exuberant, but not just for kids. It also…
Murano, Burano & the Northern Islands
Nason Moretti has been making modernist magic happen in glass since the 1950s, and the third-generation glass designers are in fine form in this showroom…
Venice
Kids and adults alike are thrilled at the magical, miniature insects, butterflies, shells and birds that Vittorio Costantini fashions out of glass using a…
L'Eixample
You never know when you might need flowers, and this vast, packed-to-the-rafters florist never closes. Established in 1960, it has two spaces on Carrer de…
Murano, Burano & the Northern Islands
Mind-boggling miniatures are the trademarks of this Murano glass-blower, but you’ll also find some dramatic departures: chiselled cobalt-blue vases,…
Valencia
Many Valencians would say this is the city's best vintage shop, and we're always intrigued by what it has in stock. As well as clothes, there's a quirky…
Valencia
In business since 1856, this charming shop features piles of traditional wickerwork – how about a basket for your bicycle? – plus rocking horses and other…
Sultanahmet
Mehmet Çetinkaya is one of the country's foremost experts on antique oriental carpets and kilims. One of his two Tavukhane Sokak galleries is built over…
Naples
Despite hiding away on the 3rd floor of a nondescript building, Paris, New York and Tokyo know all about this family-run glove factory, whose clients…
Trastevere & Gianicolo
For homemade biscuits, bite-sized meringues and fruit tarts large and small, there is no finer address in Rome than this vintage biscottificio with…
Genoa
Even if you're not in the market for designer homewares, it's worth trotting up the noble stairs just to be reminded how splendid a city Genoa can be…
Santa Croce
Be it bread baked in situ that morning, organic fruit, veg or wine made by a small Tuscan producer, homemade pasta or a white-truffle panino to take away,…
Duomo & Piazza della Signoria
The flagship store of this historic store (think: small 1930s boutique selling straw hats) turned luxury online retailer is a must for the fashion-forward…
Northwestern Tuscany
Rev up your taste buds with a shopping spree at Antonio Mattei, Prato's famed biscottificio where the city's signature biscotti di Prato (twice-baked…
