by Paola Fanutti

Created on: April 09, 2009

Via Montenapoleone may be home to Milan's posh and over-priced fashion houses, but the more modest areas of the industrious and chic Italian city offer decent deals and cute collectibles and souvenirs for the thrifty gift shopper. Economical shopping at the open-air markets is a fun place to buy inexpensive items in one of Europe's costliest cities.

In fact, in all of Italy the 'market' is practically an institution, where shoppers coax and congregate in the blocked off streets, as vendors proposition prices to passerbys interested in buying everything from souvenirs, to shoes, to sugar.

Living in Milan, I actually enjoy going to the market, which offers an atmosphere of versatility, selection and flexibility, and regularly purchase fresh produce and prosciutto at a much lower cost and at a much higher quality than conventional supermarkets.

While there are weekday and weekend 'mini-markets' all over Milan, for the gift shopper and tourist, here is where you are likely to find the most stylish stuff to take home with you.

One-Stop Shopping

Viale Papiniano is Milan's biggest multi-purpose market. Get off at St. Agostino stop on the green (MM2) subway line, and you are in the middle of the city's biggest bargain exposition. Open on Saturday and Tuesday morning, this area is always full. The most versatile of markets, you can find everything from plants to paper plates, as well as a colourful assortment of clothing, vintage shoes, clothing and accessories.

Antiquarian Acquisitions

Known as the 'Fiera di Sinigaglia', this market specializes in all kinds of collectibles and second hand clothing to suit every shopper's style. Over 400 merchants spread across Via D'Annunzio. Next to the Porta Genova stop along the green subway line (MM2), merchants display antiques of every genre, country and flavour: furniture, ethnic crafts, books, stamps, cameras, textiles and perfumes. As a bonus, enjoy a nice pleasant walk along Milan's great 'naviglio' (artifical water canal which was used to transport marble needed to construct Milan's magnificent Duomo), and check out some of the charming cafes and shops nearby.

Bookworm Bargains

Every second Sunday of each month, Piazza Diaz, along yellow subway line Missori (MM3), becomes a bookstore bonanza specializing in old, rare, used and out-of-print books in every language. Foreign book vendors are counted among the 100+ on site. This market is the biggest book fair in Europe, offering thousands of almost obsolete titles hard to find elsewhere.

Craftsman's

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