20 Best Places to Shop in Guatemala

Algodones Mayas offers fine hand-woven cotton textiles in natural colors from all over Guatemala.

Artesanías Innova exhibits and sells beautiful textiles and ceramics created by nine highlands artisan cooperatives.

Casa de Artes is a great place to browse for a selection of wood figures, carvings, and jewelry

Casa de los Gigantes has a good selection of quality goods, including genuine antique festival masks.

You'll find the best selection of traditional handmade masks at Casa de Máscaras Santo Tomás just down the street from the Santo Tomás church. These folks stay open every day of the week.

The elegant Casa Solares is pricey, but you can be certain that you are buying the best-quality goods.

Cerámicas Decorativas Artesanales sells hand-crafted tiles in colonial or contemporary style.

In addition to artesanía, Colección 21 has an art gallery featuring works by local painters.

Creaciones Utzil manufactures small dolls that wear more than 100 varieties of typical Guatemalan dress. (Barbie never had a such a wardrobe.)

El Bistro, Cobán's best restaurant, also has the city's best selection of high-quality handicrafts, specializing in textiles from the highlands.

El Guipil is a large boutique with a varied selection of handmade items from highland villages.

This warren of vendors' stalls offers standard souvenir fare.

In-Nola specializes in textiles, but you'll also find leather items. It's your best bet if you only have time to pop into one shop.

Lin-Canola has an excellent selection with prices that are often inexpensive.

If you're in the market for típica, roughly translated as "typical goods," head to the Mercado Central.

Goods from highland artisans can be found at the Mercado de Artesanías.

You can watch how the beautiful weavings of Guatemala are made at the Q'eqchí Women's Weaving Workshop. Every year small numbers of women come from their villages to live at the workshop, where they spend a year learning the age-old crafts of loom and belt weaving. Every woman who successfully completes the course is given a loom to take back to her village, and is encouraged to teach other women how to weave.

For hand-painted pottery by local artisans, try Topis Diseños

Trama Textiles exhibits scarves, bags, and tablecloths woven by a local women's cooperative.

Zuñil has a nice selection of handicrafts made specially for this shop, including high-quality textiles.