Abercrombie & Kent's Ecuadorian itinerary takes in the Artesa ceramic factory and artisan market in Cuenca before heading to the Galápagos for two days with Darwin's favorite fauna. First stop back on the mainland is the Cotacachi region, whose villagers are famed for their leatherwork, wool felt hats, carpets, and wood carving. Find more shopping opportunities in A&K tours to East Africa, Peru, Southeast Asia, and Turkey.

Asia Transpacific Journeys' catalog includes shopping-centric tours to Indochina and Bali. Their small group itinerary to Papua New Guinea includes a three-day cruise on the Sepik River, with stops at tribal villages known for mask-making, jewelry, and figurines.

Casa de Artes, a Guatemalan folk art store and tour operator in Antigua, offers tours centered around Mayan textiles and Guatemalan masks. Casa de Artes also features activities such as workshops on Chachales and Cuyuscate and natural dyes.

The Arts and Crafts of Guatemala tour offered by Beyond Boundaries explores the whole range of Guatemalan craft-making, with opportunities to shop not only for the renowned textiles of the Lake Atitlán region, but Mayan jade carvings, indigenous paintings, ceramics, and blown recycled glass.

Textile artist Sharon Giles first visited Oaxaca on a field trip with a weaving course she was teaching. She now leads two different itineraries to this southern Mexican state through her company, Fiber Designs by Sharon. The Best of Oaxaca intersperses archaeological sites between markets and pottery, textile and candle workshops, while the Taste of Oaxaca tour mixes historical and shopping excursions with cooking classes and demonstrations.

After a three-day sojourn in Beijing, GTB Orient Holidays' Mystical Impressions itinerary takes off for China's tribal villages. Communities visited specialize in a number of textile arts, including silk felt manufacture and batik dyeing. 

Art Workshops in Guatemala was founded to offer instruction in the creative arts (writing, painting, photography) in an exotic and peaceful location. Inspired by the creative activity of neighboring communities, the company now offers courses in traditional backstrap weaving, as well as tours to learn about, and shop for, Guatemala's unique textiles.

Australian tour operator Destination Management offers a number of craft-intensive tours to Japan. Itineraries include trips to pottery workshops and a kimono dyeing operation in combination with visits to ikebana flower-arranging schools, or cherry blossom tours (at the right time of year).


Published in March 2006. All content accurate as of press time.