Souvenirs, by country
Every country has a thing worth carrying home - and a market of imitations around it. These pages cover the classic buys country by country: what it is, where the good versions live, how the real one differs from the fake, and the export rules worth checking before the airport.
The short universal rules. Anything genuinely old usually needs an export
permit - most countries protect their antiques and archaeology, and "ancient" trinkets from
street sellers are either fakes or trouble. Wildlife-derived goods - ivory, coral, turtle shell,
many feathers, furs and shells - are restricted under CITES at nearly every border, whatever the
shop says. And your own country's duty-free allowances for alcohol and high-value goods apply on
the way home. We describe; the official customs pages on both ends of your trip decide.
Europe
Åland Islands Albania Andorra Austria Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czechia Denmark Estonia Faroe Islands Finland France Germany Gibraltar Greece Guernsey Hungary Iceland Ireland Isle of Man Italy Jersey Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Svalbard and Jan Mayen Sweden Switzerland Ukraine United Kingdom Vatican City
Asia
Afghanistan Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia China Georgia Hong Kong India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Macau Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal North Korea Oman Pakistan Philippines Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore South Korea Sri Lanka Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Thailand Timor-Leste Turkey Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen
Africa
Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Djibouti DR Congo Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Eswatini Ethiopia Gabon Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Republic of the Congo Réunion Rwanda Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
Americas
Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Aruba Bahamas Barbados Belize Bermuda Bolivia Brazil British Virgin Islands Canada Caribbean Netherlands Cayman Islands Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Curaçao Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Falkland Islands French Guiana Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Martinique Mexico Montserrat Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Puerto Rico Saint Barthélemy Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Sint Maarten Suriname Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos Islands United States United States Virgin Islands Uruguay Venezuela
Oceania
American Samoa Australia Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cook Islands Fiji French Polynesia Guam Kiribati Marshall Islands Micronesia Nauru New Caledonia New Zealand Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Palau Papua New Guinea Pitcairn Islands Samoa Solomon Islands Tokelau Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu Wallis and Futuna
Getting it home in one piece. The unglamorous half of souvenir shopping:
a luggage scale so the checkout surprise happens in the hotel,
bubble pouches for ceramics and glass,
packing cubes to contain the damage, and
bottle sleeves for the wine and oil that always comes home too.
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