Punta Arenas shops like nowhere else in Chile: a tax-free zone the size of a small town sits 4 km from artisan stalls selling guanaco wool and lapis lazuli. Prices here beat Santiago on electronics and lose to it on almost nothing local.
Two levels: fishmongers below slinging centolla and merluza austral, and upstairs a warren of stalls with lapis lazuli, guanaco-wool socks and lenga-wood bowls. Doors open 08:00, best stock before 11:00.
Wooden kiosks ringing Plaza Muñoz Gamero where Magallanes artisans sell hand-spun oveja and guanaco knitwear, carved calafate wood and bone-handled knives. Roughly 11:00–19:00, thinner in winter.
A long-running souvenir house stacked floor to ceiling with penguin figurines, Selk'nam-motif textiles, Magallanes flags and copper work. Wider range and steadier pricing than the plaza kiosks, open weekdays to 19:00.
The local chain where residents stock up, and the cheapest place for edible souvenirs: calafate jam, merkén, Patagonian lamb spice rubs, ruibarbo preserves and boxed Austral beer at roughly half the tourist-shop markup.
The city's boutique spine, one block off the plaza: outdoor labels, Patagonian-design homeware, leather workshops and small galleries in early-1900s wool-boom buildings. Shops open around 10:00 and shut 13:00–15:00 for lunch.
Punta Arenas' best-known chocolatería, working with calafate, ruibarbo and Patagonian berries in filled bonbons and hot chocolate thick enough to stand a spoon in. Gift boxes travel well in the cold.
The city's covered mall north of the centre: Chilean chains, outdoor gear, a food court and a supermarket under one roof. Practical rather than charming, and the reliable fallback when Patagonian wind shuts the centre down.
Chile's oldest working brewery, founded 1896, with a shop selling Calafate Ale, Patagona and branded glassware at the gate. Guided tours run on a fixed schedule and finish in the tasting room.
A duty-free zone of several hundred shops 4 km north: cameras, laptops, perfume, whisky and outdoor gear free of Chile's 19% IVA. Monday–Saturday roughly 10:30–20:00, closed Sunday.
The shop attached to the full-scale replica yard north of town sells nautical charts of the Strait, Magellan-voyage reproductions, ship models and maritime prints you won't find in the centre's souvenir racks.
A small counter inside the Salesian museum with serious books on Selk'nam and Kawésqar history, ethnographic reproductions and mission-press editions — the most substantial regional-history buy in the city.
The short run of bookshops and stationers along Colón near the plaza carries Patagonian literature, Chatwin in Spanish, regional maps and local poetry presses. Small, cash-friendly and quiet late afternoon.