🛍️ French Guiana: souvenirs
French Guiana shops in three languages - Creole market spice, Amerindian and Maroon craft, and space-centre merchandise you cannot get elsewhere. Here is what travellers bring home from French Guiana, where the good versions live, and the export questions worth a look - alongside our 32 written places.
🛒 The classic buys
Space Centre merchandise
Kourou's CSG gift shop sells Ariane models, mission patches and launch memorabilia - Europe's spaceport, on a t-shirt.
Maroon woodcarving (tembe)
The geometric painted carving of the Maroon communities - combs, paddles and panels from craft markets in Cayenne and along the Maroni.
Amerindian basketry
Tight-woven baskets and sifters from Kali'na and Wayana makers - cultural centres sell fairly.
Creole spices and rum
Cayenne's market sells pepper (the name is no accident), colombo blends and local rhum agricole.
Carnival costume art
Touloulou-inspired prints and masks - the carnival is the territory's great festival.
⚠️ Check before you buy
- This is France, but the territory sits outside the EU VAT and excise area - even flying to Paris, duty-free limits apply (1 litre of spirits over 22%, tobacco caps, a value threshold); wildlife protections still cover Amazonian species - no feathers, skins or insects without permits.
- Rum counts against those allowances on the Paris flight too, not just on non-EU routes.
✗ Better left behind
- Butterfly and beetle frames without paperwork - much Amazonian insect trade needs permits.
- Gold offered informally - unlicensed mining product; buy only from registered jewellers.
Keep planning
Markets shift, workshops close and open, and the best souvenir is still the one with a story you were there for. Buy from makers where you can, keep receipts for anything substantial, and when a deal feels too good, it usually is.