San Lorenzo Market, Florence

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I love the central market, but I never buy leather goods there. The quality if not the best. But you can pick up some beautiful silk scarves that are inspired by Hermes, Chanel, Ferragamo, and other designers that are really beautiful. Make sure the hems are rolled.

My favorite stores in the San Lorenzo Market are Belinda's for scarves and BIVA for capes and pashimas. Belinda's is a stall and BIVA is an actual store behind a stall. I do not have the exact address but it is on the same side as the central market . Belinda's is on the side of the church.

What to buy: You can also buy beautiful capes and pashimas in fabulous colors. I picked up several the last time I was there. I wanted to bring more home, but I was already over the weight limit on Easy Jet.

The exception to my no buy leather rule are the gloves. They come in all kinds of bright colors. I would buy those because they are not very expensive and unless they are black or dark brown they are going to be dirty in two wearings and ready for the trash anyway. So I call them disposable gloves.

The florentine paper products are also nice.

What to pay: I paid less than 20 euros for the silk scarves.

The Mercato di San Lorenzo probably has the best leather and clothes bargains in town. Most visitors to Florence make a stop here. The vendors are not overly-aggressive and all I encountered spoke English. You can pick up all kinds of leather goods - coats, wallets, belts, etc, souvenirs, hats, ties, t-shirts, jewellery, etc.

The quality was good - but do compare quality and prices between stalls as they do vary. I bought a perfect small leather backpack-purse that has served me well for years. A good place to wander, the market is open all day.

The covered portion of the market sells brightly colored fruits and vegetables, as well as other foods.

While in the area be sure to visit the church of San Lorenzo/Cappelle Medicee.

Hours:

2nd Sunday March - 1st Sunday November: daily 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Monday after 1st Sunday November - Saturday before 2nd Sunday March: Tuesday - Sunday 9:00 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.

This is a huge market! Here you find souvenirs, leather, clothing, shoes, David's memorabilia.... and so on.

I didn't buy anything, I just walked along it and took a view of the stuff being sold in there.
There are boxers with David's middle area printed on them, but I could see a few printed in high dimensions!! you may guess what I'm talking about hehe!

Overall it was a great place to hang out and meet some locals. Italian guys are very cute, friendly and always helpful with the toursts.

What to buy: Boots! my sister was about to buy a pair of black ones, they were expensive but if you can afford it, go ahead!

What to pay: Prices were so so, of course depending on what you want to buy. Just make sure the product has good quality.

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The Market of san Lorenzo, situated in the center of the city, is the prefered destination of tourists. Here you find lots of staff, bags and jackets made of leather, jewellry, souvenirs, the famous vetenian mask, Murano´s glass and much more. The market open in the morning about 9 am and closes at 7 pm aprox.

El mercado de San Lorenzo está situado en el centro de la ciudad y es el preferido por los turistas. Aquí encontraras de todo desde bolsos y chaquetas de pieles, platería, souvenirs, las famosas mascaras del carnaval de venecia, cristal de Murano y muchas mas cosas. El mercado está desde por la mañana hasta las 7 de la tarde.

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This is not a shop it is more a street fair that has everything for sale. I bought a wonderful wool cape for 30 euro. Everything is available from shoes to clothes to accessories to briefcases and toys and just about everything you could ever want. Wonderful place to bargain.

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We shopped in the San Lorenzo market for hours, bargaining over leather and jewelry like I never bargained before. The prices were very good considering we seen some of the same jewelry and purses in Venice for twice as much. I wish I would have gotten more, but now I know for the next time!

What to buy: Leather is everywhere and can be very pricey in the stores versus the outdoor market vendors. Either way it all looked great to me and I found some awesome wallets and purses for myself and my family. Jewelry is also plentiful, mainly murano glass and costume jewelry. They had a lot of scarves and neck ties available as well for very reasonable prices.

What to pay: Prices vary depending on the quality of the product. You could get leather coats for 500 Euro or 100 Euro. I found a cute leather purse for 24 Euro and wallets for 20 Euro each. The murano jewelry ranged from 5-15 euro each.

San Lorenzo Market is a fun market filled with all sorts of goods. It is a good place to buy souvenirs. They have plent of tshirts, hats, jewelry, and other souvenir-type things. One thing I did notice is that there were some vendors who were selling Venitian/Murano Glass jewelry in bulk, 3 pieces for 10 euros. The quality of some of those pieces were not as great as what you would get in Venice. If you are going to Venice, I would get it in Venice. Some of the other sellers who were not selling in bulk had better quality Venitian jewelry and it was resonably priced. It may not be as great a deal or the variety that you would get in Venice, but if you are not going to Venice then the stuff in Florence isn't a bad deal. My recommendation would be the leather and the Italy/Florence paraphernalia.

What to buy: Florence is known for its leather. And the San Lorenzo market is a good place to buy your leather goods. The vendors have excellent prices on their goods and some of the stuff is of excellent quality. There is a woman who sells close to the church there. I am unsure of her name, but her stuff is excellent quality and she has great prices. My friend bought a couple purses from her and a wallet for a great deal. The reason that my friend went to her was because she saw some Italians and some other locals going to her to get their leather. And my friend figured that she was pretty reliable.

What to pay: Many vendors sell similar things to each other, so they will gladly bargain with you. If you are buying more than one of something, you will most likely be able to talk down the individual price of each as well.

I really didn't know what to put for the "appropriate type" for this, considering they had EVERYTHING at the market. Quite literally. Sunglasses, ties, scarves, aprons, artwork, ceramics, knock off purses, leather coats of every kind, little clothing shops on the outskirts, jewelry, shoes...the list goes on and on. Of all the shopping we did in Italy, I bought the most from San Lorenzo. Be sure you barter for a good price...all you really have to do is walk away, and they will lower their asking - they are fully aware that there is another stall down the street with virtually the same bag or jacket. I bought a Prada bag for about 35 euros, and it's a REALLY good knock off. In terms of sunglasses, it is technically illegal to buy from the "street" vendors [the ones that carry their stuff around with them], but truth be told, they really do have the best knock offs out there.

What to pay: Don't pay more than about 40-50 euros for a designer bag...ties are usually 3 for 6 euros, and I found that the sunglass vendors would not go lower than 10 euros a pair.