3 Best Shopping in The Central Highlands, Peru

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

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 city's main shopping venue is the Sunday mercado, which is spread down one of the city's main thoroughfares and its side streets for about a kilometer. It is one of the largest weekly markets in the country, yet it sees few tourists. In particular, look for mates burilados, mantas, straw baskets, and retablos (miniature scenes framed in painted wooden boxes).