Porta Portese is the name of Rome’s biggest and most colorful flea market and it takes place every Sunday morning (until 2pm) in the area around the Via Portuense and the Via Ippolito Nievo in the quarter of Trastevere. It is named for the gate that gives access to the north side of the market.
There are more than 2 thousand stalls and you can buy anything from the smallest household articles to big pieces of (more or less) antique furniture.
Officially the market starts at 5am and continues until 2pm, but the real hours depend a lot on the weather. Italians detest rain so the slightest drop will make them stay away from the market and this in turn will make the holders close their stands earlier than usual. In midsummer the market often closes earlier as well: The Romans themselves will have left town, there will only be a handful of tourists left and the market will be quiet and empty.
Apart from the official stalls the so-called “vu-comprà” sell their wares from sheets on the pavement. In the past the vu-comprà consisted mainly of Africans selling illegal CD’s and DVD’s but nowadays the Chinese and Bangladeshi have taken over and sell all kinds of articles from toys and fake jewelry to brand-name sunglasses and handbags that cannot be distinguished from the real ones. It is illegal to buy merchandise off illegal street vendors and the fines can be quite high.
At the same time some pickpockets are trying to sell the cell phones and photo and video cameras they stole during the rest of the week in the center of Rome, while other pickpockets are at work in the crowded alleyways between the Porta Portese market stalls, so be careful.
Some tips to improve your visit to the Porta Portese market:
- Go early, to avoid the biggest crowds.
- Haggle. Your blond hair and funny accent have just created double digit inflation, so you’d better try to bring the price down to a reasonable level.
- Speak English. Trying to speak Italian in order to be polite will just put you on the defense when trying to haggle.
- Keep your important documents, money, credit cards etc. in a safe place, preferably on your body, underneath your clothes (so no wallets in your back pocket, gentlemen, and your valuables are better off at the bottom of your handbag, ladies).
