371 Best Places to Shop in Mexico

A countrywide institution, Sanborns is a good place to find English-language newspapers, magazines, and books; basic cosmetics and toiletries; and high-quality souvenirs. There are three Acapulco branches in total, but this one is the most accessible.

For silver jewelry, check out Santa Prisca.

Make a sharp right just inside the entrance to Fábrica La Aurora to find one of San Miguel's most intriguing galleries. The oil paintings, including hyper-realistic still lifes, landscapes, and unusual portraits, as well as charming sculptures and modern art pieces are always fresh and innovative, often provoking contemplation. There's a couch in a long, narrow lobby overlooking the sculptures for tired or crabby spouses.

Sensaciones carries jewelry made of turquoise and other stones in funky designs.

The renowned artist's Taxco silver jewelry collections are sold at this gallery. If you have the time, they will make a custom piece for you to take home.

Located across from the posh One& Only Palmilla Resort, here you'll find a smattering of shops and galleries, a couple of restaurants, a coffee shop, a nice terrace with a peaceful fountain, and a view of the Palmilla development with the Sea of Cortez beyond. Pez Gordo Art Gallery is artist Dana Leib's second location and offers her pieces, as well as those by other artists. If you need to fuel up during your time here, there's an outpost of the popular Nicksan franchise as well as the Cream Cafe. These days, even a U.S. Consulate can be found here. 

Located within the Flora Farms grounds, The Shops is a series of (wait for it) shops that sell all kinds of things from organic produce from the farm to soap and body care products, including clothes, wines, and even jewelry. It’s a great place to grab a healthy snack or stock up on produce delivered daily from Flora’s local farm.

In the early 2010s, the 17th-century palace of the Miravalle family was turned into Centro's coolest hotel, which brought with it a collection of worthwhile shops arranged around its interior patios. The stores range from clothing stores like Casilda Mut, a tea shop, and a number of jewelry stores.

Open daily, Skot Foreman sells the work of Salvador Dalí, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Peter Max, M.C. Escher, Ansel Adams, and other lesser known but collectible artists.

Among its excellent selection of wares, Sna Jolobil, the regional crafts cooperative of 800 weavers from 20 indigenous communities, has hand-dyed wool sweaters and tunics, embroidered pillow covers, and pre-Hispanic-design wall hangings. Quality is high and items are priced accordingly. The name means "Weaver's House" in the Tzotzil language. The cooperative is housed in the former Santo Domingo convent, adjacent to the church of the same name.

This inclusive store prides itself on being a bookshop, cultural space, and café geared toward LGBTQ+ customers. Colorful and stocked with magazines, games, gifts, and a variety of books on sexuality, it gives way to a quiet coffee shop with excellent pastries. The space is ideal for working or meeting in small groups. Open mike nights, book club meetings, and drag shows make up the regular event listings.

One of the major Mexican grocery-store chains, Soriana has multiple locations. The most convenient is at Avenidas Tulum and Uxmal, across from the bus station; its largest store, farther north on Avenida Kabah, is open 24 hours.

This is a smaller grocery store with several branches throughout downtown Cancún.

One of two main grocery stores on the island, Super Aki is well stocked with all the basics and is a good in-town option if you can't make it out to Chedraui.

Here you can buy reproductions of tiles from Puebla churches and small gift items or choose made-to-order pieces from the catalog. Note that hours are limited.

Local artist Karla Antuna designs compelling ink prints of Baja-theme flora and fauna, like cactus, octopus, whales, and donkeys.

A unique indigenous co-op in an old colonial San Cristóbal home sells top-quality crafts and lets you observe artisans at work. Look for handmade journals, boxes, postcards, and writing paper fashioned from plants.

Your cares begin to melt away as soon as you enter the rustic, garden-surrounded property of this day-spa aerie overlooking Banderas Bay. Terra Noble is more accessible price-wise than some of the area's more elegant spas. After-treatment teas are served on an outdoor patio with a great sea view. Two-hour temascal sweat-lodge rituals cleanse physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Although everyone calls it the "Organic Market," only some of the stands sell organic produce. Nonetheless, there's plenty of healthful, regionally grown raw food and honey plus organic coffee, wonderful breads and baked goods, cheeses, and desserts. About half the stands sell handicrafts or other nice gifts, including plant-based cosmetics, incense, wool rugs, cotton blouses, and hooked-rug pieces made by a women's co-op. Hot food stands do a brisk business selling quesadillas, gorditas, and regional snacks, and it's easy to strike up a conversation at the long outdoor picnic tables.

Tierra del Ambar has two storefronts not far from each other. The original pieces by Philippe Catillon are lovely.

Tierra Madre ("Mother Earth") is one part store, one part outlet for unique experiences—both of which are focused exclusively on Mexico's traditions. Whether you're purchasing handwoven apparel or attending a cacao ceremony, you'll walk away enriched from having experienced and supported a special part of the country's ancient culture.

A small shop in a diverse little plaza (with an art gallery, sports bar, puzzle shop, and creperie, among other businesses) across from Bellas Artes, "Everything White" actually represents the full spectrum of colors and styles in dresses, scarves, hats, purses, blouses, and jewelry for women. Many of the unique pieces are designed by the owner; a few come from outside Mexico, such as blouses from India and kimono-style coats from Japan.

Perhaps the most iconic gift you could buy for yourself or another while in La Paz is a beautiful pearl. You would be in good company, as Queen Elizabeth II had one found in these very waters on her crown. The Velvet Box designs and creates lovely pieces (perhaps just a tad more modest than the monarch's!) for you to try on and take home.

Set around a modern, attractive courtyard landscaped with cacti and succulents, this fashionable cluster of boutiques contains some shops worth seeking out, especially the contemporary Mexican fashion label Pineda Covalin, known for its colorful-print handbags, shoes, scarves, and neckties, and Casa Mendiola, with its selection of stylish housewares crafted by artisans from throughout the country. A jewelry shop and a couple of other clothiers round out mix, and there's also a café and rooftop bar, both of which have lovely settings if fairly ordinary food and drinks.

Take home bags of roasted coffee beans from a collective of small regional producers. It's open daily from 10 to 10.