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Most shops follow normal business hours and open at 8–9am, shut for lunch until 3–4pm, and close around 6–8pm. In tourist areas and at larger stores, the lunch break (riposo ) is slowly disappearing in favour of orario continuato (open all day).

Expected in markets (see Top 10 Markets), but hardly ever in shops. Many market stall-holders now hail from Middle Eastern countries where bargaining is an art form, so be ready to do the full ritual, including acting less and less interested, while the merchant acts ever more offended and claims he can go no lower. He will not sell it for less than a profit, so any price agreed upon is acceptable.

Italy’s Value Added Tax (IVA) is a sales tax already added on to the sticker price of every item. If you are a non-EU resident and spend more than €155 in a single shop, you can get the tax refunded. Ask the store to help you fill out the forms; then take these and the receipts to the customs office at the airport of the last EU country you’ll be visiting to complete the paperwork. Your refund will be posted but it may take months. Stores marked “Tax-Free Shopping for Tourists” speed up the process, giving you a cheque for the customs office to stamp, then you redeem it at the airport’s Tax-Free Shopping desk.

UK and Irish citizens can bring home virtually anything duty-free (although theoretical amounts such as 90 litres of wine apply). US citizens are limited to $400 worth of goods duty-free, including 1 litre of alcohol, 200 cigarettes and 100 cigars. Canadian, Australian and New Zealand limitations are similar. Only British and EU residents may export flowers, fruits, vegetables, meats (unless tinned) and soft cheeses.

Rome’s best souvenir, although heavy to carry. Shipping is expensive, so save it for when you discover a vineyard whose wines aren’t exported and buy a whole case.

Designer fashion is rarely cheaper than back home, but there is the cachet of having found those great shoes in Rome. Stock houses sell last year’s styles, overstock, slight irregulars or items that won’t sell in boutiques, offering a variety of labels at prices from 40–80 per cent lower than normal.

As the heart of the Roman Empire and an epicentre of the Renaissance and Baroque, Rome is full of antiquities, paintings and sculpture from the Middle Ages to today. There’s also a good market in furnishings from Renaissance-era to Art Nouveau to simple, country-style pieces.

Italians are masters of industrial design, from Ferraris to Alessi kettles. If the Ferrari doesn’t fit your budget, consider shopping for elegant kitchen implements, homewares or lighting systems, many sketched out by top international designers on behalf of Italian firms.

Religious mementos, from kitsch, to solemn, to the classy, are hawked from stands and shops around the Vatican and, to some extent, across Rome. You can bring your purchase to the Wednesday Papal audience, during which he issues a mass blessing.

Italy is renowned for hand-painted ceramics – a souvenir with a practical use. Rome is also home to many fine jewellers, from big names such as Bulgari to artisans labouring in small boutiques.