371 Best Places to Shop in Mexico

La Crucecita's Mercado Municipal is a fun place to shop for postcards, leather sandals, and souvenirs amid mountains of fresh produce. Watch as Zapotec street vendors prepare bags of pale green nopal cactus to go, or enjoy a free tasting of exotic fruit such as mamey sapote.

Downtown Zihuatanejo has a compact but fascinating Mercado Municipal with a labyrinth of small stands on the east side of the town center, on Avenida Benito Juárez between Avenidas Nava and González.

You'll find a few souvenirs here, but the municipal market is really a place to see where the average island resident shops for day-to-day goods like fresh produce, fish, and chiles. There are also several inexpensive places to eat serving Mexican and Asian foods. 

The city's commercial heart is its main market, where locals shop for seafood, produce, and housewares in a newly refurbished setting. You'll find little of tourist interest here, but the clothing section has some nice, inexpensive embroidered and beaded pieces among the jeans and T-shirts. Adventurous eaters can also find a bargain meal of local dishes like salbutes (a deep-fried tortilla dish). Next to the market is a small yellow bridge aptly named Puente de los Perros—four white plaster dogs guard the area.

If Mercado 28 (Veintiocho) is El Centro’s large local Mexican crafts market, Mercado Veintitrés (open daily) goes more local still. Here’s where the typical Cancunese comes to shop for produce, although you’ll find a selection of souvenirs here, too. This market provides a healthy dose of local color, but speaking Spanish is a must here.

This colorful little shop sells high-quality crafts from around the country.

Pick up an actual piece of Mexico at this colorful gem shop that specializes in both rough and polished minerals and stones from all around the country, including obsidian, jasper, lapis lazuli, rose quartz, amethyst, and more. Fossils and sculptures are also sold here, and prices are quite reasonable. 

Diamond jewelry of impeccable design by Charles Garnier and Nouvelle Bague is sold at Minette. There's also jewelry set with Caledonia stones from Africa as well as Emilia Castillo's exquisite line of brightly colored porcelainware inlaid with silver fish, stars, and birds.

Although this store specializes in miniatures made of ceramics, tin, and other materials, it also has an assortment of other craft items.

As its name implies, this shop has an eclectic mix of tasteful items (as well as piquaresque greeting cards for women of a certain age). Pretty, hip jewelry, a smattering of ceramic pieces from different parts of Mexico, and other potential gifts share space—in a gorgeous old house surrounding a central courtyard—with blouses, dresses, and other clothing with clean lines and a distinctive, modern look.

You'll support the women artists' co-op by shopping at this huge warren of shops often referred to as MARO. The selection and quality are excellent, the prices are reasonable, and it's open daily.

Buy machine- or handmade tiles starting at about 20 MXN ($1) each at this large shop. You can get mosaic tile scenes (or order your own design), a place setting for eight, hand-painted sinks, or any number of soap dishes, cups, saucers, plates, or doodads. Around the corner and run by family members, Mundo de Cristal has more plates and tableware in the same style.

Come for the glassware from Jalisco and Guanajuato states, in sets or individual pieces. Also available are Talavera place settings and platters, pitchers, and decorative pieces. Look in the back of the store for high-quality ceramics with realistic portrayals of fruits and flowers. You can have your purchase packed and shipped.

Relatives of the owners of Mundo de Cristal and Mundo de Azulejos own this shop. Attractive, lead-free items in modern and traditional designs are sold here at reasonable prices. The practical, tarnish-free pieces can go from stovetop or oven to the dining table and be no worse for wear.

The Museo de Artesanías Oaxaqueñas is really a store, not a museum, where you can find handicrafts produced throughout the state: woven tablecloths, brightly painted alebrije figures, black pottery, and colorful Zapotec rugs. Artisans are occasionally on hand for demonstrations.

This cute little boutique offers an interesting collection of handmade products designed by local women artists. Choose from colorful crochet bags, artisan soaps, or mystical paintings, and take an authentic piece of Puerto Morelos back with you.

One of the city's most memorable shops is Nemi Zapata, which stocks crafts from local villages. Many of these communities were sympathetic to the Zapatista cause, which is reflected in the art. Most interesting are the servietas (cloth napkins) with hand-embroidered portraits of rebel leaders.

The stylish work at Nidart includes leather masks, ceramic sculptures, contemporary black-and-white photos, and other Mexican arts and crafts. Sometimes you can watch artisans in open workshops; it's normally open Monday through Saturday between 10 and 2 only.

The romance of travel influences Nomad Chic’s stock of apparel, accessories, and furnishings. Curated by designer Linda Hamilton, the collections are inspired by Mexico (naturally), along with Greece, Peru, Spain, Turkey, and beyond.

Beautiful, handmade T-shirts, accessories, soaps, and more are available for purchase from this pop-up shop located next to Tacos & Beer.

A few doors down from the tourism office, Ono offers a pleasing assortment of textiles and a wide range of traditional clothing—including blouses, shawls, stoles, and scarves—as well as jewelry, mostly in traditional designs.

The three Centro Histórico locations of this shop are within spitting distance of each other. They all sell gold and silver reproductions of pre-Columbian jewelry found in the tombs of royalty at Monte Albán. The branches are at Calle Macedonio Alcalá 503 and at the corner of Calle Macedonio Alcalá and Calle Bravo. There's also a shop at the archaeological site.

Folks read books they've bought or traded at this outdoor café by the Hotel Eloísa, and there are almost always people playing chess. The large selection of tomes is organized according to genre and then alphabetized by author.

Pajaro del Sol is a gallery showcasing the best of contemporary artisan products made using the traditions and materials of the local indigenous community. Of particularly high quality are the ceramic (barro) products and the fantastical animalistic alebrije sculptures. Some of the products are straight takes on traditional products, others more ironic, but all of them are incredibly beautiful and of very high quality. The gallery specializes in the work of two artists, one of whom is the famous Mario Perez. Everything you see is available to buy.

The most comprehensive plaza in the Nuevo Vallarta Hotel Zone has a food court, grocery store, several coffee and juice shops, an Internet café, a Starbucks, clothing and handicraft boutiques, and a bank. You will also find Riviera Nayarit's Conventions and Visitors Bureau on the second floor.

In the heart of Polanco, you'll find this open-air shopping center lined with mostly locally owned and operated stores. Opened in 1938 and bordered by Avenida Masaryk (the most famous shopping district in the city), the stores here might not be exceptional, but the location and the people-watching are.

In the affluent Bosques de las Lomas neighborhood near Santa Fe, in the rolling hills west of the city center, this exclusive shopping mall stands out as much for its chic boutiques as for its location inside the iconic Arcos Bosques towers. They were designed by Teodoro González de León in 1996 and comprise two angular 35-story towers joined at the top by a four-story lintel. The shopping center isn't huge, but it contains an upscale food court and restaurants along with such retailers as Brooks Brothers, Kiehl's, and Lululemon.

Stands lining the Paseo del Malecón sell ocean-related items: seashells and the beauty creams and powders derived from them; Coatepec coffee; T-shirts; and tacky stuffed frogs, iguanas, and armadillos.

Explore works of art by Mexico's top contemporary artists such as Eduardo Mejorada, Javier Guadarrama, Laura Aprile, Luis Filcer, and Cristina Samsa, among others. All of the artists represented here are known nationally and internationally in important collections and museums.