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Open Travel Guide

Shopping guides

Shopping guides for travel destinations

What each place is known for making and selling, and how to buy well while you are travelling.

Shopping is one of the more revealing ways to read a place, because what a region produces tends to follow its landscape and history: textiles where wool or silk was worked, ceramics where the clay is good, food and drink from what grows nearby. Markets often run on fixed days and finish by early afternoon, and shop hours can include long midday closures or a full day off each week, so the calendar deserves checking before a special journey.

Price and provenance are the two things worth examining. Bargaining is expected in some markets and mildly rude in others; where it is normal, it is a conversation rather than a contest. For anything presented as handmade, regional or protected by designation, ask what it is, where it was made and by whom, and treat prices far below the local norm as information about the object rather than a bargain.

Consider the journey home before you commit. Refund schemes for sales tax generally require paperwork completed at the point of sale and validated before departure, and they have minimum values and time limits. Customs allowances differ between countries, and some categories, notably antiques, plant and animal products, certain foods and anything protected by trade rules, may be restricted or refused. Fragile purchases need packing, and weight limits arrive sooner than expected.

Shopping guides by destination

Afghanistan

Albania

Algeria

Andorra

Angola

Antigua And Barbuda

Argentina

Armenia

Australia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Bahamas

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belarus

Belgium

Belize

Benin

Bhutan

Bolivia

Bosnia And Herzegovina

Botswana

Brazil

Brunei

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cabo Verde

Cambodia

Cameroon

Canada

Central African Republic

Chad

Chile

China

Colombia

Comoros

Congo

Costa Rica

Croatia

Cuba

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Democratic Republic Of The Congo

Denmark

Djibouti

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Egypt

El Salvador

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Estonia

Eswatini

Ethiopia

Fiji

Finland

France

Gabon

Gambia

Georgia

Germany

Ghana

Greece

Grenada

Guatemala

Guinea

Guinea Bissau

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

Hungary

Iceland

India

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Jamaica

Japan

Jordan

Kazakhstan

Kenya

Kiribati

Kuwait

Kyrgyzstan

Laos

Latvia

Lebanon

Lesotho

Liberia

Libya

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Madagascar

Malawi

Malaysia

Maldives

Mali

Malta

Marshall Islands

Mauritania

Mauritius

Mexico

Micronesia

Moldova

Monaco

Mongolia

Montenegro

Morocco

Mozambique

Myanmar

Namibia

Nauru

Nepal

Netherlands

New Zealand

Nicaragua

Niger

Nigeria

North Korea

North Macedonia

Norway

Oman

Pakistan

Palau

Panama

Papua New Guinea

Paraguay

Peru

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

Qatar

Romania

Russia

Rwanda

Saint Kitts And Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent And The Grenadines

Samoa

San Marino

Sao Tome And Principe

Saudi Arabia

Senegal

Serbia

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Singapore

Slovakia

Slovenia

Solomon Islands

Somalia

South Africa

South Korea

South Sudan

Spain

Sri Lanka

Sudan

Suriname

Sweden

Switzerland

Syria

Taiwan

Tajikistan

Tanzania

Thailand

Timor Leste

Togo

Tonga

Trinidad And Tobago

Tunisia

Turkey

Turkmenistan

Tuvalu

Uganda

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom

United States

Uruguay

Uzbekistan

Vanuatu

Vatican City

Venezuela

Vietnam

Yemen

Zambia

Zimbabwe