I really enjoyed shopping on Panarea - for such a laid-back island, it has the understated chic of great fashion on the streets.

Firstly, there was an excellent selection of high quality Italian products, without feeling like one of those “Duty Free” shopping experiences where you see an endless line-up of the same global designer brand names.  Panarea offered a plentiful variety of beautifully crafted clothes, accessories and jewelry without ever feeling ‘generic’ because of its village feel. I love that. The shopping is slanted towards island life, with flowing harem pants, caftans, swimwear, baskets and homewares that you would love to wear or use in your own island hideaway.

I also loved the actual act of shopping. It was really easy to let time slip away as we wandered around the narrow streets, still dressed in the day’s swimwear. In fact, there were a couple of times where Jonathan and I were shocked to realize that it was past 10 pm and we had dinner reservations we needed to get ready for !!! The simple pleasure of casually strolling the streets, half window shopping, half people watching, was a delight. 

There wasn’t really one particular shop that I want to send you to over another. The layout of the boutiques is so compact, and the wares on offer so consistently good, that you will easily come across the best shopping just be ambling around (you won’t need my Black Book guide for this destination).  The boutique at the Hotel Raya was lovely, if a little pricey.