62 Best Shopping in Chile

This world-class store has an international wine selection, in-store tastings, classes, and books for oenophiles. In addition to this shop in the W Hotel, there are also branches in the Alto Las Condes, Parque Arauco, and Costanera Center shopping malls.

This nonprofit promotes the fair trade of Mapuche handicrafts; the quality of their handwoven, colorful wool rugs, blankets, pillows, scarves, gloves, and other textiles are spectacular. They also have a stunning selection of jewelry and ceramics.

For a unique literary experience, head out to this eclectic bookshop and library in the small ayllu (village) of Solor. It's an hour walk or 20-minute bike ride out of town, but you'll be rewarded with an impressive collection of books in multiple languages, eco-friendly architecture, stunning volcano views, and philosophical conversation with the passionate and intellectual owner, Diego. The bookshop also operates as a publishing house, producing original works about the local culture.

On the corner of Cienfuegos and Cantournet, this modern market housed in a pleasant neoclassical building sells dried fruits, handicrafts, and lapis lazuli jewelry. The Diaguita-style ceramics and the trinkets made from combarbalita, the locally mined marblelike rock, are particularly stunning. Don't forget to pick up some of the region's famous papayas, goat cheese, olive oil, and copao (a native fruit born from cacti).

Take your most finicky wine-loving friends to this small storefront in Barrio Lastarria to try its highly rated, indie, terroir, and signatures wines, many of which are fairly hard to find elsewhere. The knowledgeable owners usually have a bottle or two on the go to sample.

Carpets at Alfombras de Puyuhuapi are handwoven by four generations of women from Chiloé, who use only natural wool thread and cotton fibers. The rustic vertical looms, designed and built specifically for this shop, allow the weavers to make carpets with a density of 20,000 knots per square meter. Trained by his father and grandfather, who opened the shop in 1945, proprietor Helmut E. Hopperdietzel proudly displays the extensive stock of finished carpets of various sizes and designs. Carpets can be shipped. The shop is closed in June.

Originally from mainland Chile, Amaya Vai has lived on Easter Island for almost 30 years and creates colorful paintings, some on paper made from local products. Her work tends toward natural designs, flowers, and some from the petrolyphs found on the island, in acrylic, watercolor, and mixed media.

This natural products store founded by German transplant Petra Klimsch is filled with everything from soaps made from guava or seaweed, and scented oils to jams, candy, and the world's healthiest honey. English, Spanish, and German are spoken.

Pick up some white and dark chocolate moai here.

Viña's main shopping strip is Avenida Valparaíso between Cerro Castillo and Plaza Vergara, where wide sidewalks accommodate throngs of mostly local shoppers. Stores here sell everything from shoes to cameras, and there are also sidewalk cafés, bars, and restaurants.

This is a good street for window-shopping.

This street is crowded with artisan stalls that sell handmade goods.

The length of Calle Chacabuco is closed to traffic on Sunday for a market featuring everything from soccer jerseys to crafts.

The Casa de la Cultura has crafts workshops and a gallery displaying works by local artists.

Yards and yards of cashmere fill the window of Casimires Ingleses Matilde Medina. The owner imports her beautiful scarves and sweaters from England and sells fine dress shirts, which are also imported.

This souvenir market just across the Alameda from the base of Cerro Santa Lucía has some indigenous and locally made crafts, including some (not the finest quality) lapis lazuli items. Get your ears or navel pierced as well. It's open daily 11–7. As you should in all crowded and touristy areas, keep an eye on valuables.

Some nice antiques shops are found in the basement of the Centro Comercial Lo Castillo, which is quite small and, apart from a cinema and the antique shops, sells mostly women's wear and jewelry. It's one block up from the corner of Avenida Alonso de Córdova. The indoor shopping arcade dates back to the '80s and is caracol-, or snail-like, in its spiral layout. Le Fournil restaurant, just across Avenida Vitacura in Paseo Mañío on the fifth floor, is a good place for a coffee or light meal.

Osorno's city government operates this complex of 46 artisan vendors' stands built with steeply sloped roofs. Woodwork, leather, and woolens abound. Prices are fixed but fair.

For truly original jewelry using local materials, visit Chantal Bernsau's shop on the first floor of the W Hotel. She sells mainly chunky pendants with large beads made mostly of local stones (though she does not specialize in lapis lazuli). The items are pricey, but the work is top-quality.

In the countryside, men often wear texanos (cowboy hats), paños (formal hats), and chupallas (flat-brimmed hats). If you've ever wondered where to buy these proper toppers, head to Donde Golpea El Monito. At this downtown shop, in business for a century, the store's friendly staff shows customers the differences between each hat and how to wear them. Also for sale are spurs, ponchos, and other huaso (Chilean cowboy) essentials.

Affiliated with the restaurant of the same name next door, Entrelagos has been whipping up sinfully rich chocolates for decades and arranging them with great care in the storefront display windows. Most of what is sold here is actually made at Entrelagos's factory outside town, but a small army of chocolate makers is on-site to let you see, on a smaller scale, how it's done, and to carefully package your purchases for your plane ride home.

For one-stop shopping, locals head to the mall. Espacio Urbano, on the north end of town, is a longtime favorite.

This popular department store is located south of Plaza Vergara.

This shop sells ancestral Mapuche remedies for everything from simple head colds to cancers and improving sexual performance.

This market hosts several stalls selling unique woolen clothing, small leather items, and pottery, making it a good place to search for gifts.

An excellent selection of handicrafts is sold at the best prices in the country at the Feria Artesanal Angelmó, on the coastal road near Caleta Angelmó. Chileans know there's a better selection of crafts from Chiloé for sale here than in Chiloé itself. Baskets, ponchos, figures woven from different kinds of grasses and straw, and warm sweaters of raw, hand-spun, and hand-dyed wool are all for sale. Much of the merchandise is geared toward tourists, so look carefully for more authentic offerings. Haggling is expected. It's open daily from  9 am to dusk.

The city's Feria Artesanal, a lively, often chaotic crafts market, is regarded by most as the best place on the island to pick up the woolen sweaters, woven baskets, and straw figures for which Chiloé is known. Prices are already quite reasonable, but vendors expect some bargaining. The stalls share the place with several food vendors. It's open daily 9 to dusk though the best time to come is Saturday morning, when artisans from all over the island come to sell their wares.

Dalcahue's crafts market, near the waterfront municipal building, draws crowds who come to shop for Chilote handicrafts, woolens, baskets, and woven mythical figures. It's open every day, but the best time to go is on Sunday mornings as more vendors travel from surrounding areas to sell their wares. Don't miss the lively food stalls at the Cocinería behind the market. Bargaining is expected, though the prices are already quite reasonable.

Quellón's market doesn't have the hustle and bustle of similar ones in Castro and Dalcahue, but there are some good buys on woolens and straw folkloric figures. Don't bother to bargain; the prices are already extremely reasonable.

On the beach, near the pier at Muelle Vergara, the Feria Artesanal Muelle Vergara is a crafts fair open daily in summer and on weekends the rest of the year.

Bellavista's colorful Feria Artesanal Pío Nono, held in the park at the start of Avenida Pío Nono, comes alive every night of the week. The area, particularly the south end of Pío Nono, is even busier on weekends, when vendors gather in Parque Domingo Gómez, in the shadow of the Universidad de San Sebastián Building to display handicrafts. It can be hit or miss for quality, but you can't beat it for convenience.