Salta Shopping

In the antiques shoppes in Salta you will run across some lovely things adorned in silver. Be aware that different grades of silver are sold as silver and if you don't know you might end up paying much more for something of lower quality. you will hear "Plata Boliviana" (Bolivian silver)

Salta and the Andean northwest of Argentina were one of the main entry points for silver and precius metals from the mines in Bolivia (alto peru) and Peru in colonial times. Silver from Potosi is pure 100% silver and expect to pay much more, its the real mccoy. Silver from the Sucre area is not pure silver, its mixed and is considered lower grade silver.

Mercado Artesanal has 10 - 15 shops, which are clustered around a nice courtyard. We walked around watching the different arts and crafts, which craftsmen from all over the province of Salta were exhibiting. Almost everything you can imagine is offered: fabrics, ponchos, pottery, silver jewellery, leather, music instruments, but also some food products like. (It is said these handicrafts have a Certificate of Authenticity that should guarantee quality and origin of the crafts.)
We tasted an (small) glass or Argentine wine, saw a couple of demonstrations and bought a piece of ‘dulche de leche’.

To be honest the setting of this ‘market’ in a colonial building was very nice, but a lot of the shops do sell more or less the same products, which made it a kind of overkill for us.

Information
Mercado Artesanal is open every day from 9.00 am – 9.00 pm
Due to its location you do need transportation by (rental) car, taxi or bus.
For more info and pics of the building see my 'Things to do' tip.

What to buy: Regional arts and crafts.

What to pay: From 1 peso till ....

2 more images

When staying in Salta (city) during a Sunday and you have a couple of spare hours I would recommend visiting the Balcarce Crafts Street Market (also called Feria Artesanal de Balcarce). This is an open air market with ‘hundreds’ of booths with local and regional vendors. The market is located at Paseo Balcarce (street), from Entre Rios till the railway station.

Artisans and craftsmen are trying to sell their products, varying from woven fabrics, pottery, leather, jewellery, silverware, candles, wood carved products, Andean ponchos, Alpaca scarves and a lot more, but also sweets, honeys, empanadas and drinks. On some places craftsmen were busy making their goods and street musicians are playing and singing.
We bought some smaller gifts for very affordable prices !!

Paseo Balcarce (being one of the main nightlife spots in Salta) is also dotted with restaurants, pubs and cafes. We had a cappuccino one of the sidewalk cafes and enjoyed watching the passing people. By far the most are locals and we didn’t see hardly tourists.

The Balcarce Crafts Street Market is organised every Sunday from 10.00 am till 10.30 pm.

What to buy: Local and regional art and crafts.

What to pay: From 1 peso til .......

Vea is a large supermarket on Cordoba & Catamarca, a few blocks south-east of the main square. It´s a good place to stock up on items for a picnic: I would recommend in particular their roast chickens which are the best I´ve tasted on my trip to Argentina.

In fact many shopping areas in Argentina are called Florida Street ( like in BsAs and now in Salta)
You can find almost everything, clothes, antiques, drugs (i mean Medicines) and department stores.
But watch out and plan your shopping activities : most of the shops are closed between 01pm and 4pm (siesta)- but open till 8 or 9 pm - not on Sunday

What to buy: Depend on your wishes but most of the products are relatively cheap ( in compair with European prices 30 upto 50%)
- Good quality shoes - 50%
- Jeans like Levis 501 or Diesel - 30%

What to pay: Most of the big shops accept Visa and Matercard
But watch out in smaller shops, sometimes they can not change on a 100peso note ( 27 euro)

All day Sunday you can find scores of artisans displaying their wares, from local shops to workshops far up in the mountains. It is an incredible place to buy authentic Argentine and indigenous crafts.

What to buy: Clothing, shawls, jewelry, sculpture, lamps.....

What to pay: An incredible number of things for under ten dollars

Florida and Alberdi are the two main shopping streets and you will find there a lot shops selling women's clothes that are really shining and colorful!!!! I love that, it makes people so nice and happier!!!
But guess why I did like this ship in particulary????