I will be visiting South America later this year and will do a little souvenir shopping for myself and to give as gifts. I have never been to Argentina and as I will be travelling around the country I'd like to wait until my last stop to buy souvenirs. I'm not looking for leather items, I would like to buy handicrafts and an item or two for the house. I will be visiting Salta, Iguazu, Patagonia and Buenos Aires. My question, are the handicrafts different in different parts of the country? If so, I will look for souvenirs when travelling around instead of waiting until Buenos Aires to do my shopping.
Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks.
Argentina souvenir shopping
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I have been to all the places where you will be visiting and loved the Indian markets of the NW villages such as Purmamarca and Humahuaca. That's where I bought several wall hangings, table linens, mate cups. There is also a small indoor market in Salta (mainly food) but I found a beautiful wall tapestry there.
The NW is totally different from the rest of the country and I didn't see these types of gifts elsewhere. Watch for some vendors though at some of the markets - I saw some "Made in PRC" labels on some of the linens. Not what I was expecting!!
In Buenos Aires, try to plan your time to visit the Recoleta feria on Sat. or Sun. They have some lovely gifts made by local artists.
I didn't find much in Patagonia, but I was only in El Calafate - found prices much higher than elsewhere.
I agree with Calibri regarding the crafts in the Northwest towns.
In Buenos Aires, the Feria is great for simple gifts (check quality,though): we also got some lovely, leather placemats of good quality in the Design Center.
San Telmo has some interesting objects and antiques for sale - we find it easier to shop there outside of the Sunday Feria which is so crowded...and it's on Sunday, so many stores are closed.
Wherever you find yourself, just poke around and you may find a treasure. The main treasure is, of course, the pleasure of your visit.
I found the handicrafts very similar throughout Argentina but I found the best selection in Purmamarca, and some funky salt scupltures at the salt plains. Everyone was amazed at these scupltures.