In my opinion the best shopping in Buenos Aires takes place in open markets. The name for this in Spanish is feria so when you are looking at a map often you will see open air markets denoted as feria.
The following will outline the city’s open air markets and what you can expect from each:
Feria de Plaza Francia
In my opinion this is by far the best market to visit while in Buenos Aires. If you love crafts and handmade items which reflect local culture plan the rest of your trip around this market.
The Plaza Francia market is the city’s largest and is set up in the park beside the Recoleta Cemetery, it will be marked on your hotel map. The market runs on Saturday and Sunday.
All of the vendors on the interior circle are supposed to be the artisans who handcrafted the items themselves. On the outer area closer to the Design Market you will find other vendors who are not necessarily selling items that they crafted themselves. You will most likely be able to spot that yourself.
Francia Market Jewelry Vendor
You will need a good couple of hours to visit this market and it is worth it. The market is full of interesting handicrafts from leather goods, jewelry to eco handicrafts using recycled materials. We even saw an older gentleman who recycled metro tickets into home accessories.
Francia Market Jewelry Vendor
A visit to this market will not leave you disappointed.
Cabildo Patio Market
The market is located in the small garden behind the city hall (Cabildo) and runs on Thursday and Friday from approx 11 am to 6 pm. You can visit this charming little market in about an hour (unless you really get caught up in a conversation or decide to have a snack in the garden).
I’d suggest you plan a visit to this market on the same day you plan to visit Plaza De Mayo (just don’t forget but you must do that on a Thursday or Friday when the market is open).
In this tiny little garden market you will find pretty handcrafted jewelry and other crafts. The feeling in the market is warm and friendly and it is not over crowded.
Plaza Serrano Market
The Plaza Serrano market is held in the (tiny) square at Calle Serrano and Honduras in the heart of Palermo Hollywood. The market runs on Saturday and Sunday from approx 10 am to 6 pm.
It’s a small market but worth a visit as the area and shops are very charming. At this market you will find jewelry, clothing and other handicrafts.
If you go I’d suggest going in the late morning visit the shops in the area and stop for some lunch in one of the area’s many charming restaurants.
Impromptu Baez Market
We did not find anywhere marked on our map or listed in any of the guide books a single mention of this market so I cannot be sure that it is a regular
ongoing market. It may have been a special event.
The market was at night at the end of Baez (in a dead end court). Lights and music were set up and this was a fabulous market for artisan jewlery and clothing designers. I actually really loved the selection here.
My suggestion is that you will want to go to dinner on Baez, in my opinion, the best place to have dinner and cocktails especially if you fall into a younger age group.
We were on Baez on a Thursday night and that’s when the market was set up. Definitely worth a check see when you plan for a dinner or cocktails on Baez.
Florida Street
Okay it’s not a market but the street pretty much turns into a market every afternoon. Independant vendors set up their wares on blankets down the middle of the street right from the beginning at Plaza San Martin all the way to Plaza de Mayo.
This is not a predicable shopping “market” however as the vendors are setting up illegally. You may find different vendors from day-to-day and they may be schussed away by the police, although generally speaking the police seem pretty lax about letting the vendors stay.
In terms of what you will find – everything from nail clippers, yes I am serious to beautiful handcrafted jewelry. The area closest to Plaza de Mayo seemed to consistently have the most authentic handcrafted jewelry and a lot less of the head massagers and nail clipper “junk”.
San Telmo Market
I’ve included San Telmo market on the list as it would be odd to not have mentioned it since in every guide book this is the must visit market of the city.
In my opinion, unless you love antiques, skip this market. If you love antiques however you will likely love this market and surrounding shops. Personally I found it to be way to touristic and I’m not that interested in antiques so I felt like I took time away from other markets which would be more interesting to me – for example another visit to the Francia market.
Here are a few details if you decide to go. The San Telmo market is held every Sunday from approx 10 am to 5 pm. The heart of the market is in Plaza Dorrego however all of the shops and streets leading into this area are equally filed with antiques. The open air part of the market is actually not that large but the whole area including the shops and covered antique market are quite large. You would need most of the day or at least half to see it all.
Here too you can watch Tango dancing (street dancers do this on a small board placed on top of the cobblestone streets. Again my sense was this added to the touristic feel of the market – but most tourists seems to like it.
