Porta Palazzo Market

Porta Palazzo fills Piazza della Repubblica six mornings a week and is generally described as the largest open-air market in Europe, which is easy to believe standing in it. Fruit and vegetables run in long rows across the open square, with a separate section for growers selling only what they have grown, and permanent halls behind hold fish, meat, cheese and cured pork. The mix of traders and customers is the most varied in the city and the shouting is constant. On Saturdays the Balon flea market runs alongside in the streets to the north, and on the second Sunday of the month it expands into the Gran Balon.

What you actually see

• The open square - rows of produce stalls across the whole of Piazza della Repubblica.
• The farmers' section - growers selling only what they have grown themselves.
• The covered halls - fish, meat, cheese and cured pork behind the open stalls.
• The Balon - the Saturday flea market in the streets alongside.

When to go

Mornings, Monday to Saturday; by early afternoon the stalls are down and the square is being washed. Saturday is the fullest and the most crowded. Go early for the best of the produce or late for the discounts as traders clear. Everything shuts on Sunday apart from the monthly Gran Balon.

Honest expectations

It is loud, crowded and not a gentle stroll; keep bags closed and in front of you in the crush. Quality across the stalls is uneven and the cheapest produce is cheap for a reason. The square and the streets around it are scruffy. Nothing here is arranged for visitors, which is the point and also the difficulty.

Nearby

The Quadrilatero Romano lanes start just south; the arcaded centre is beyond them.