Shopping Basics

Most shops open at around 8 to 8:30am. Close for lunch at 1pm and reopen between 4 and 4:30pm until somewhere between 7 and 8pm on Monday to Saturday. Shops do not open on Sundays or public holidays except where noted below.

Note that all food shops in the area are closed on Wednesday afternoons with the exception of Dimeglio in Fornoli. Many non-food shops do not open on Monday mornings.

Credit cards are now generally accepted in most places.

Banks operate hours similar to those of shops during the morning and may open for around a hour from 2:30pm or so. Cash machines are happy to give cash to foreigners, assuming that their ATM card has a Cirrus symbol. There are cash machines at the Banca di Toscana, Banca di Roma and the Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca.

Buying food

Bagni Villa offers three supermarkets. In decreasing order of size and choice, but in increasing order of ability in spoken English and general good humour they are Conad, between Viale Roma and the river, the largest and offering the most choice of products with a reasonable range of fresh produce, a butcher and a deli counter. However this is often crowded and hard to use as it offers large range of produce in a small space. It is open on Sunday mornings.

Punto SMA is much smaller but also offers a good butchery area and deli counter and finally Minimarket the smallest of them, but generally quickest if you are in a hurry and English is spoken.

In Fornoli there is a branch of Dimeglio, larger than Punto SMA but smaller than Conad and offering a smaller range of products.

You might like to note that supermarkets are generally very quiet during lunchtimes, most customers at this time will be foreign, and very busy in the early evening, especially Saturday evenings.

There is a street market in Bagni Villa on Wednesday and Saturday mornings with stalls selling fruit and vegetables, men's and woman's clothes, shoes, hardware and flowers. There is often fresh fish and, on Saturdays, a rosticceria van offering spit-roast chicken and other roast meats.

There is also a street market in Fornoli on Tuesday and Friday mornings offering similar products but with different traders.

A wide range of fruit and vegetables, including some more unusual varieties can be found at the Boutique della Frutta, opposite Bar Roma. The shop also has a range of wines and spirits and can make up Cestini (gift baskets) of preserved or fresh fruit, wines and spirits. These are a popular gift to take with you if you are staying with someone.

Bagni Villa offers a choice of butchers but no fresh fish shop, although there is generally fish available in Conad and Punto SMA. Neither is there a specialist bakery. Fresh bread is usually available from all of the supermarkets but for the best choice it will generally be necessary to shop earlier rather than later. There is a bakery/bar on the far side of the river between La Villa and Ponte a Serraglio which produces excellent Italian and foreign breads and also a baker in Fornoli.

Wine in available from all of the supermarkets but for an interesting range of wines, including those from the Lucca area, try Vinoteca, next to the "Town Hall". In addition this also has a good range of other interesting drinks and drinking accessories such as corkscrews, coolers and home distillation equipment, presumably for the making of Grappa. It would probably be a little irresponsible to fail to point out that possession and/or use of a "still" is illegal in a large number of countries for reasons of both health and tax.

It is not unusual to find Bagni residents leaving the town to visit one of the local hypermarkets. These are E. Leclerc Conad (Formerly Pianeta Conad), in Gallicano in the lower Garfagnana, an unmissably bright turquoise barn selling food, hardware, clothes and with excellent meat and fish, Esselunga, on the SS12 at Ponte a Moriano between Bagni di Lucca and Lucca and the excellent Carrefour, which sells most things, on the outskirts of Lucca and signposted from the SS12. All of these remain open during the afternoon and until 8 or 9pm on weekday evenings. E. Leclerc Conad, and sometimes Carrefour open for shorter hours on Sundays closing around 7pm.

Note that while the hypermarkets have a wider range of products this will not generally include a wide range of foreign foods. Should you have need such products as Marmite, British brands of tea, HP sauce or a particular brand of UK or US breakfast cereal you would be best advised to bring them with you.

Bookshops

Bagni di Lucca has a lamentable lack of bookshops, even for those who can read Italian. Your sole choice is now the Tabacchi at 108, Viale Umberto I. Newsagents generally manage a small range of guide books.

Newsagents

These often open on Sunday mornings. Note that they do not sell cigarettes or postage stamps. Bagni Villa has a newsagent in Piazza XI Zona Patrioti. This usually has a range of UK and US newspapers of varying ages. Ponte a Serraglio has a news-stand immediately adjacent to the bridge and there is another newsagent and toyshop in Fornoli.

For those desperate for foreign Sunday or indeed daily, papers the newsagent in Ponte all'Ania on the SS445 around five miles to the north of Fornoli usually has them in stock within two days of issue.

Hardware

Bagni Villa has two small hardware shops with a wide range of products. We've found that as English isn't really spoken in either of them and that as English-Italian dictionaries don't generally give a lot of help in this area it's often easier to drive to Brico Io, on the borders of Ponte All'Ania and Fornaci di Barga, the best local equivalent of a DIY superstore the area can offer, where you can browse, undisturbed, until you find what you need.

Other Services

Film Processing: Bagni Villa has two photography shops. Foto Allegri, opposite the market square and foto Pastrengo further up Viale Umberto I. Both claim 20 minute film processing. Being realists we're never come back in less than an hour to collect our prints so can't comment on the speed. Foto pastrengo can now do while you wait prints from digital camera at €0.30 per 12x16 cm print.

Both shops also sell cameras and some other small electrical goods, offer photographic services, including passport photography, and have window displays of their work (fascinating if you have an interest in other people's wedding or first communion photos.)

Hairdressing: Giovanna Del Basso offer Mens and Ladies hairdressing at her salon called Gio in Fornoli, (77, Via Papa Giovanni XX111 - closed Mondays.) Giovanna was born in Australia and speaks good English. Its best to make an appointment on 0583 867815.

Property decoration and maintenance: Antony Pullinger (0583 867890) is an English painter and decorator living in the area.

Our favourite shops

The Tabacchi at 108, Viale Umberto I offers an eclectic selection of items including books, stationery, novelty ashtrays, children's bubble mixture, fishing tackle, postcards and stamps, hunting supplies, gun parts, bright yellow descant recorders and sports shoes as well as tobacco products.

For those who can't stop buying shoes (Italians!) you can't do much better than Calzatura Daddo further down the same street. This is a vast and rambling shoe shop offering everything from carpet slippers and children's flip-flops (in the street) through fashionable men's and woman's shoes and handbags (all of the ground floor) to beautiful children's shoes and walking boots (upstairs). The staff are very friendly, helpful, extremely patient and very happy to let you browse.

For toys (or indeed electrical items) as the shop specialises in both, try the shop of Gino Ragghianti on the eastern part (not near the market square) of Via Contessa Casalini.