San Gimignano Thursday Market – Skip the Junk and Go on Wednesday!

Spoiled by the food markets of southern France I have to admit I was disappointed with the San Gimignano Market in Tuscany. The Thursday market is more of a dry goods market, with myriad clothing stalls and a multitude of merchants clustered in the main piazzas of the old town selling cheap household items, which may appeal to those not looking for tasty local delicacies.

The first week in October the produce market in the Piazza delle Erbe had a few vendors selling fruits and veggies from trucks, but these looked like the more commercialized variety of long distance purveyor rather than the local farmer selling just-picked produce.

We did find, however, trucks selling simple sandwiches of sliced pork which could be described as mouthwatering or disgusting depending on your taste for salt and fat.

If you are not interested in the market it’s best to visit this quaint popular tourist town on non-market days when the pretty stone squares are not crowded with market stalls.

For lunch we stopped at the Rick Steves recommended Locanda di Sant’ Agostino on the quiet  Piazza Sant Agostino serving inexpensive and tasty pasta, pizza and bruschetta. For something different try the cinghiale, wild boar pasta, a simple succulent dish of shredded tender meat on fettuccini. The bruschetta are plate size and ample for a lunch main.

October 4, 2012

For links to all the posts in this series see the Tuscany page.