7 Best Places to Shop in Tuscany, Italy

If you love sweets then you'll be pleased with the selection of artisanal chocolates, marzipan delights, and gorgeous cakes. Creations become even more fanciful during Christmas and Easter.

Maurizio and Tiziana's shop has an arresting array of cheeses and perhaps the best array of verdure sott'olio in town. They also make top-notch panini, and killer sweets.

A particularly delicious version of buccellato—the sweet, anise-flavored bread with raisins that is a Luccan specialty—is baked at Pasticceria Taddeucci.

On the third weekend of the month, an antiques market happens in and around Piazza San Martino. Vendors unveil their wares around 8:30, and start packing up around dusk. There's something for everyone, including old-fashioned glassware, ancient coins, and furniture—some items are antique, some are just old.

Just behind the church of San Giusto (off Via Beccheria, which runs for about two blocks between Piazza Napoleone and Piazza San Michele) are bookstalls that open their cupboard doors on clement days (including Sunday), from about 10 am to 7 pm. You may discover anything from hand-tinted prints of orchids to back issues of Uomo Ragno (Spider-Man looks and acts just the same even when he's speaking Italian).

Volterra's market is held on Saturday morning from November to April in Piazza dei Priori and from May through October in Vallebuona, near Teatro Romano. In addition to fresh fruits and vegetables, vendors sell everything from corkscrews to intimi (underwear).

For a broad selection of scrumptious pastries, visit this favorite haunt of Lucca's senior citizens, who frequently stop in after Sunday Mass.