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I love buying souvenirs. These nine tips will help you spend wisely

Our expert shopper has been separating the treasure from the tat for three decades. This is what she’s learnt — as well as collected — along the way

Two women shopping for pottery in a Marrakech souk.
Buying a useful souvenir can be a great way to remember your trip
GETTY IMAGES
The Sunday Times

Tourist shops have a bad rep for flogging future landfill, but there’s everything right about wanting to take home a tangible memory of a holiday. I’m the third generation of a family of committed souvenir buyers. I don’t always get it right, but I do have a home full of things I’ve bought on my travels that I love — along with some door handles that would keep my cupboards closed during an earthquake.

1. It doesn’t have to be new

Scandinavia has the best charity shops. Humana, in Sweden, is great for fashion and has outlets in Stockholm, Gothenberg and Malmo (humanasecondhand.se). Last year I popped into a Red Cross shop in the Danish town of Vejle with a cousin and we came out with 1960s dresses, mid-century Lundtofte serving dishes and a 1980 Christmas mug from Royal Copenhagen, having spent less than £20 between us (rodekors.dk). Flea markets also allow you to buy souvenirs with a pleasing patina and, as a bonus, you’ll be putting money straight into the local economy, but there are caveats: those lovely old tiles you’ve spotted on a stall in Portugal may have been chiselled from a lovely old building, so buy from a ceramics shop instead.

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2. Head to a museum

It still blows my mind that in the late 1920s my grandparents were able to buy authenticated antiquities from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo — back then selling off surplus shabtis (funerary figurines) was a useful source of income. Museum shops can still deliver something that you and future generations will cherish. The London Transport Museum has mugs, rugs and cushions featuring the moquette seat designs of the various Tube lines, as well as original Elizabeth Line signs (ltmuseumshop.co.uk). The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town is good at spotting young designers, including jewellery makers (zeitzmocaa.museum). The shop at the Museum of Modern Art in New York is as much a draw for me as the art on display, particularly the homeware section (moma.org).

MOMA gift shop in Manhattan with merchandise and artwork.
The Museum of Modern Art in New York has an excellent homeware section
ALAMY

3. Spend money with care

In Egypt I steel myself as I head past the stalls outside temples and other ancient sites because much of the merchandise they sell is mass-produced and often made in factories where working conditions are poor. The pottery produced by Malaika, however, is made just south of Cairo by a group of artists using clay from the Nile Valley, while the embroidery on its Egyptian cotton bed linen is sewn by women who receive a fair wage and can work from home. You can find Malaika products in shops around Cairo and the Red Sea town of El Gouna, as well as the Oberoi Beach Resort on the bay of Sahl Hasheesh (malaikalinens.com).

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4. Don’t rule out a hotel shop

Time poor with cash to splash? Many smart hotels collaborate with top-notch local designers these days. Produced in very limited numbers, the leather and canvas bags that the Passalacqua hotel in Lake Como has produced with Rome-based Chez Dede are extraordinarily desirable, with a 1950s aesthetic likely to stand the test of time (£508; senseoflake.com). The placemats woven by Zulu women from telephone and copper wire that are sold by the Singita group of hotels in Africa are utterly stunning (£60; singitastores.com). And the tartan swimming caps sold by the Fife Arms at Braemar might even get me taking a dip in a tarn one day (£22; shop.thefifearms.com).

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Passalacqua building with palm trees and gardens.
The Passalacqua hotel produces and sells its own bags

5. Buy useful things

I’ve been buying my specs from Ottica Carraro, near St Mark’s Square in Venice, for more than 20 years. Friends and family may roll their eyes, but the frames are made in the Veneto region and cost £116. For most people it’s a same-day service (I’m so shortsighted that my thinned minus-9 lenses have to come via next-day delivery from Verona). Also, I’m supporting a non-tourism business in a city that can feel overwhelmed by shops catering to visitors. And I’m not alone in my devotion — I’ve spotted fellow Venice 1 wearers in London and New York. While the optician, Alessandro Carraro, has my details on record and could just send a new pair to me by post, updating my prescription is a great excuse to nip back to one of my favourite cities (otticacarraro.it).

6. Head to a supermarket

My cupboards contain hot sauce from Grenada and cult orange-topped Angostura bitters from Trinidad. My tumbler-style chatos wine glasses, preferred by Spanish wine bars, cost £2 for four at a Menorcan supermarket. Putting a bottle of that lovely cloudy Greek olive oil into your hold luggage is a no-brainer. And those gorgeously designed tins of sardines from Portugal? They stack up beautifully.

7. Second-suitcase destinations

Some places are particularly good for souvenirs. If you’re into mechanical pencils, adorably cute sticky notes and paperclips in the shape of penguins, Japan has the best stationery in the world, with Hands (formerly known as Tokyu Hands) your one-stop shop. It also sells those handles that keep cupboard doors from opening during earthquakes that I bought about ten years ago and have yet to use — there aren’t many earthquakes in north London, but they are beautiful objects (info.hands.net). Need a rug? Make buying one as part of a holiday to Turkey or Morocco and it will have added meaning. Soufiane Zarib, at the Medina in Marrakesh, sources them responsibly (soufiane-zarib.com). There is also a strong craft tradition on the Indonesian island of Bali, especially around the town of Ubud — I defy anyone to visit Gaya and not buy some ceramics to bring home very carefully in their hand luggage (gayaceramic.com). Be aware of import duty on costly items, though, and for rugs remember to measure the space where you want to put it before you go.

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Tokyu Hands store opening at Jewel Changi Airport.
Japanese store Tokyu Hands — now known as Hands — is a dreamland for stationery lovers
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8. You don’t have to spend money

My family still pour gravy from a jug that my parents were given in the 1970s after a meal at the Sabatini restaurant in Rome. Two friends of mine have framed paper placemats from Russ & Daughters Café in New York; one asked for a pristine one from her server, while the other wanted it to have the crumples and wrinkles that a really good meal will produce (yes, she’s an artist) — both look amazing.

9. Don’t be too precious

Fridge magnets are fun. Teenagers are programmed to like tat and there’s no point trying to fight it, and they might have the right idea. If it’s raining in Berlin, why not nip into a tourist shop and buy a see-through umbrella with an “I ❤ Berlin” design? I did, and years later I still love and use it, though to be on the safe side not in high winds.

Do you have a favourite souvenir — or any tips for finding one? Let us know in the comments below

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