Buying high-quality alpaca-wool clothing or a colourful hand-painted ceramic bowl in Peru is an immensely popular thing to do.
Yet just because you’re happy to spend a couple of hundred dollars on a quality souvenir, it probably doesn’t mean you also don’t want to bring home a few extra pieces that would make for great gifts to friends and family. This is where Peru’s best local markets come in! Not every item has to be of the highest quality, right? Sometimes, you’re just happy to fill your suitcase with a host of totally fun, incredibly unique and always colourful Peruvian souvenirs that are guaranteed to bring a smile to anyone’s face. If that’s the case then check out Peru’s best local markets for souvenirs.
When shopping in Peruvian souvenir markets, don’t forget to brush up on your bargaining skills. The vendors will be disappointed if you don’t fight for a better deal!
Anything made of colourful alpaca-wool or wool-mix is the prime souvenir target for most visitors. Think clothing, accessories, cushion covers, backpacks and chullo beanies with those ridiculous ear flaps you’ll love to wear up in the freezing high Andes. More discerning travellers may wish to splurge on textiles and wool yarn instead, preferring to spend more on quality items which they can then weave or knit themselves in whatever styles they prefer.
Paintings, drawings and tapestries are also immensely popular and, although they seem overwhelming when seen all together in a market stall, they make for fantastic feature pieces on bare walls back home.
Silver jewellery is exceptionally inexpensive in a country once renowned for being the mining capital of the world. Hand-made jewellery in Peru boasts unique designs and, once again, although they may lose their distinctiveness when seen bunched up together on one table, singular pieces can be very beautiful, especially when they include the unique Inca cross.
Pucara bull figurines may not be nearly as cute as those chubby saintly ones, but considering this is the country’s favourite good-luck charm, it makes for a great cultural souvenir.