3 Best Places to Shop in Patagonia, Argentina

Part of a bookstore chain, this branch specializes in Patagonian and polar exploration. Along with dozens of maps and picture books, postcards, and posters, it offers adventure classics detailing every southern expedition from Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle to Ernest Shackleton's incredible journeys of Antarctic survival. Although books in English are hard to come by in the rest of Argentina, here you're spoiled for choice, and the Antarctica trip logbooks on sale at the counter might inspire you to extend your travel farther south.

Right by the tourist office on the waterfront is Casa Rabal. Originally built in 1901, this dry-goods store is one of the oldest in the area and has everything from locally made cheese, shoes, and camping and fishing gear to drywall tools, diapers, and bridles for your horse.

If you can't get to South America's chocolate capital Bariloche, pop into this chocolate boutique for planks of homemade chocolate and a selection of artisanal beers, chutneys, and spices. In the small coffee shop at the back, drop a glorious slab of dark chocolate into a mug of piping hot milk—one of the best submarinos in town.