Luxury Peru Vacations - 3 Expensive Souvenir Ideas

Maximo Laura Tapestry

Want some great ideas for quality gifts or souvenirs to take home with you from your Peru vacation? Among the many tourist shops selling everything from t-shirts to finger puppets there is a selection of high quality outlets that specialize in only quality products that represent the authentic quality of true craftsmanship in Peru.

In the tourist hot-spots of Cusco, Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca the streets are overloaded with cheap and very touristy gifts. Some of which are perfect to take back as a small trinket or memory your time in Peru, but the majority is not of any great substance. Avoid spending your money on tit tat and purchase something that you will treasure for years to come.

Here are my top 3 Quality Souvenir Ideas for your luxury Peru vacations:

Maximo Laura tapestry

Peru is famous for textiles and intricate tapestries, and original examples still in existence can dated back as far as Pre-Columbian times. In Cusco and the Sacred Valley you will see many types of tapestries up for sale from small picture frame sizes, to huge ones measuring 10 feet wide. Prices are quite high and the quality varies between the different artists. However, there is one artist whose work stands out far above all the others. Maximo Laura, originally from Ayachucho (the centre of woven products) is a world renowned award winning tapestry maker. His works are sold exclusively in Peru by a shop called Galaria Latina, two of their main shops are located in the historic centre of Cusco, one on Plaza de Armas and the other on Calle Mantas at the top of Avenida el Sol. The tapestries are beautifully created using carefully dyed alpaca wool, hand-woven into intense colored and unique works of art. The tapestries are a collision of traditional and contemporary designs that represent a specific story or moment. Prices range depending on the size, but expect to pay between US$ 700 – 3000 per tapestry.

Vicuña clothing
Alpaca and baby alpaca wools are heavily used on the production of clothing items in Peru. Regular alpaca is used in the manufacture of many jumpers and tapestries, and baby alpaca is well suited for finer weavings, like scarfs and gloves. There is also another animal native to the Andes called the Vicuña, and is probably a little lesser known around the world. The wool from a Vicuña is even finer than that of baby alpaca, and is used exclusively for only the finest clothing products. Reputable retailers like Galaria Latina, Kuna and Sol Alpaca are the best places to by Vicuña clothing, all of which have shops in Lima and Cusco. Jumpers, coats, gloves, dresses, hand-bags and pashminas are all common Vicuña items, but something that I saw recently and liked very much was a man’s scarf beautifully presented in a hand-made rosewood box - elegant, charming and very exclusive. The scarf box set retailed at about USD 1,000 but larger items like coats can sell for up-wards of US$ 3,000 per item.

Hand-made Peruvian silverware
There are many opportunities to buy jewellery on Luxury Peru Vacations, but it is often difficult to know the right place to buy it from. Street vendors will claim that an item has a certain value, and is made from a certain quality of material, when in fact it is nothing like they suggest. Buying high value jewellery can be a risky affair if you are unsure of exactly what you are getting. However saying that, there are a handful of very good jewellery shops in Peru, and one of the very best is Illaria. The owner, an Italian who lady moved to Peru many years ago created this small chain of specialist shops that offer an incredible selection of beautiful hand-crafted items made only from silver. Each of the unique items on sale is made in Ilaria’s dedicated factory in Lima, and include pieces from delicate earrings to large mirror surrounds and ornate silver bowls. Although there are some really stunning pieces on offer, smaller items (that always make my wife’s eyes light up) are reasonably priced and excellent quality. What could be better? Hand-crafted jewellery made in Peru with an Italian influence.

Finally here is a little tip about buying luxury Peru Vacations gifts with your guide. Remember that your guide may know a few places that you can find exactly what you are looking for. He/she might even be able to help you barter down the price (as is the custom when purchasing anything in Peru), but remember that your guide may also get a commission on what you buy (often 10 - 15%) and therefore may also not be giving you the very best advice. Use your judgment when using your guide!

Have you been to Peru recently on a luxury Peru vacations and purchased something exiting? If so leave a comment for others to read, we always love to hear from you. 

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