3 Best Places to Shop in The Lake District, Chile

This market features some of the area's best crafts from local artisans, especially Mapuche sweaters, ponchos, and wooden figurines.

At the Feria Libre, you can bargain hard with the Mapuche vendors, who sell their crafts and produce in the blocks surrounding the railroad station and bus terminal. Leave the camera behind, as the vendors aren't happy about being photographed.

The city's 1918 Mercado Municipal barely survived the 1960 earthquake intact, but it thrives again after extensive remodeling and reinforcement as a shopping-dining complex. A few restaurants, mostly hole-in-the-wall seafood joints (but some quite nice) share the three-story building with artisan and souvenir vendors.