7 Best Places to Shop in The Central Highlands, Peru

If you think Ayacucho's retablos are incredible, just wait till you see the precision that goes into their making. Maestro Silvestre Ataucusi Flores invites you into his workshop, after which you can do a little mask painting yourself or browse among his stunning depictions of Carnavals, musical instruments, and bullfights. A 15-minute taxi ride from the Plaza de Armas gets you here. Call first or send a WhatsApp message to confirm the maestro is available.

You'll find top-quality, locally made goods near the Plaza de la Constitución at Casa del Artesano, where independent artists sit in their tiny shops plying their trades.

Ayacucho's produce and meat market is found behind the Arco del Triunfo in a one-story building; shops continue for several streets behind.

The widest selection of handicrafts in Ayacucho, from retablos to sweaters, can be found at Mercado Artesanal Shosaku Nagase, about a kilometer north of the city center near the big sports complex.

Stretching around the blocks near the train station is the daily produce market. You'll need several hours to wander through the stalls of local crafts and foodstuffs, where you'll find traditional medicines and spices among such local delicacies as gourds, guinea pigs, fish, and frogs.

The Santa Ana neighborhood is dotted with some of Peru's finest workshops. These local artists and their galleries are clustered around the Plazoleta Santa Ana, situated roughly 1 km (¾ mile) from the Plaza de Armas, and most are happy to share their knowledge and even their life stories with visitors. In particular, look for complex tejidos (textiles), which have elaborate, and often pre-Hispanic, motifs that can take more than half a year to design and weave. Many artists painstakingly research their designs, pulling abstract elements from Huari ceremonial ponchos. These creations, made of natural fibers and dyes, can cost US$400 or more for high-quality work. Equally impressive are the beautiful alabaster (huamanga) carvings available at some shops, which are strongly linked to the city's identity. 

Huancayo's biggest shopping venue is the Sunday mercado, which monopolizes one of the main thoroughfares and its side streets for about a kilometer. It's one of the largest weekly markets in the country, yet it sees few tourists. This is a great spot to hunt for mates burilados, blankets, straw baskets, and retablos (miniature scenes framed in painted wooden boxes).