16 Best Places to Shop in Tegucigalpa, Honduras

The Marriott hotel's gift shop, Bahía, keeps a terrific selection of Lencan pottery and leather handbags.

Casa de Oro sells a nice selection of silver jewelry with Mayan designs.

Casa de Puros, with shops in Colonia Palmira and at the airport, has a fine cigar selection.

Near the American Embassy, Casa Havana sells cigars.

Souvenir vendors set up shop every day in the small plaza that fronts the Iglesia Los Dolores. Much of what's for sale here is standard kitschy tourist fare, but you'll find a few nice pieces of Lencan pottery and other artisan work for lower prices than in a store with four walls.

Spruce up your dining room table with placemats, table runners, and glassware from In Vitro.The works here come from cooperatives near Valle de Ángeles and in the Mosquitía.

The 130-store Las Cascadas with theaters, food court, and upscale shops, is fast becoming a southside alternative to the long-established Multiplaza.

Librería Guaymuras is Tegucigalpa's best Spanish-language bookstore with a good selection of novels and nonfiction works on history and politics.

The capital's newest mall is Los Próceres; you could spend quite a while exploring its 91 stores.

Only if you're feeling extremely intrepid, you can check out the capital's largest market, the enormous labyrinth of the Mercado San Isidro in the Comayagüela district across the river from downtown. The upside is everything—and we mean everything—is for sale here in quantities large and small. (This is the kind of place where you could buy just one safety pin.)

The big downside is that tales of pickpocketings and purse snatchings are legion, although they are less likely to happen in the market building itself than in the surrounding streets.

If you go—and consider carefully whether you want to—take a taxi to and from and take nothing of value with you.

If you're hell-bent on seeing a local market and are able to spend a half day outside the city, Valle de Ángeles's

is a much safer and calmer experience.

Stock up on English-language books, magazines, and newspapers at Metromedia, which has a main store in Colonia Palmira and a branch at Multiplaza.

One of the glitziest shopping centers in the capital is Multiplaza. Stroll among the upscale shops, see the latest releases at the movie theater, and stop for a bite at the food court.

The museum gift shop at the Museo para la Identidad Nacional may be small, but it has some distinctive candles and leather purses in stock.

Honduran cigars, which rival those from Cuba, are a popular souvenir. In Multiplaza is Tabaco Fino.