Mercato delle Vettovaglie
Tucked inside a handsome 19th-century iron-and-brick hall just off Piazza delle Vettovaglie, this is where Pisans actually shop. Stalls groan with Pecorino Toscano, fat Taggiasca olives, fresh pasta and the season's best produce — no tourist tat in sight.
What to buy
The indoor hall specialises in cheese, cured meats and wet fish; look for lardo di Colonnata in waxy slabs, finocchiona salami flecked with fennel seeds, and the local favourite cecina — a thin chickpea flatbread sold warm by the wedge from street-side vendors ringing the square.
Seasonal fruit and vegetable stalls spill onto the surrounding piazza, where you can also find vendors selling fresh-cut flowers, dried porcini and bottles of Chianti and Vernaccia di San Gimignano at prices that would embarrass any enoteca.
The neighbourhood around it
Piazza delle Vettovaglie is the social heart of central Pisa, ringed by café awnings and aperitivo bars that fill with students from the nearby Scuola Normale Superiore by early evening. Pull up a stool at one of the outdoor tables and order a spritz — it costs about €3.50 and comes with a small plate of stuzzichini.
The square connects to Borgo Stretto, Pisa's elegant arcaded shopping street, making it easy to combine a market morning with a wander through the medieval centre.
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