Top Rated Shopping in Genoa

Rattopennugo, owned by a family for generations, is an antique store located near the center of Genoa. If you are interested in antique products like mirrors, chandeliers, picture frames and candle-stands, you will surely love to visit this shop. You may even want to buy something interesting that catch your eyes for your own home or a gift for someone special. The shop offers services like restoration of vintage goods like furniture and rare paintings. The shop also undertakes transportation of delicate cargo and does assessment jobs of rare products.

Zuccotti's philosophy is this: the chocolate must be of very high quality, as well as the iced chestnuts and sweets. This is what counts. The decor of the shop in which these delights are sold does not need to be classy and elegant. So it isn't. In the peak seasons (Easter and Christmas) queues stretch onto the pavement. Customers wait patiently to enter an empty, run down shopfront, while all the real activity is in the kitchens behind. The wait is long, but the end product is worth the wait.

Confetteria Romanengo Pietro fu Stefano is synonymous with high-quality sweets. They have been made carefully using methods handed down from father to son. The composer Guiseppe Verdi would never miss the chance to buy sweets and candied fruit from "Romanengo" when he stayed in Genoa. The shop is in the old city, down a narrow lane off the Piazza Soziglia. This is the main shopping area of Genoa. Since 1780, the patisserie has made delicious sweets, chocolates, fondants, syrups, rosolio (a kind of syrup) and jams. These delicacies have been enjoyed far outside too.

Mercato Orientale has been around since 1899 and is a popular market with locals buying regional produce at reasonable rates. It is an ideal market for tourists too, who are in a self-catering mode, as the market has some fascinating stalls of fruits and vegetables, fish and meat markets, bakeries, and stalls selling herbs and spices. It is one of the best places in town to get a feel of the real Genoa. As you explore the stalls, you will surely take home some happy memories where shopkeepers enthrall you with their anecdotes.

Viganotti is a traditional chocolaterie which is still run as it once was. If the quantity required is more than a Sunday chocolate box, it is worth ordering. It is impossible to find, tucked away in a little side street, although near Piazza Matteotti. Managing to locate the entrance in order to sample one of these chocolates, is like a treasure hunt. The shop closes early in the evening, and orders take a while to process. However, if you are lucky enough to dissolve a fondant cream in your mouth or crunch on a chocolate covered nut, you will be willing to begin the hunt all over again. Despite these minor hitches, you'll find that the staff are friendly and polite.

If you are a music lover, especially Italian music and love to listen to Fabrizio de André’s songs, you are sure to love this music shop. Via del Campo 29 Rosso is more than just a music shop, it is a museum dedicated to Italian musicians like Luigi Tenco, Bruno Lauzi and Umberto Bindi and others, but mainly to Fabrizio de André. If you want to know more about the performer Fabrizio de André, the shop has collections of his songs and stories about his life and memorabilia. Besides music collections, this center holds workshops on music and also organizes cultural programs and guided tours to promote the legacy left behind by the great artists.