363 Best Places to Shop in Mexico

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.

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.

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

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.

Associated with the funky Cabo Wabo bar, Waboutique sells memorabilia, excellent tequila, and souvenirs such as baseball hats, shot glasses, and mugs with the Cabo Wabo logo.

As in the United States, Walmart is a popular place to pick up beach supplies, snacks, and necessities you forgot to pack.

Nearly 60 local women are part of this beading cooperative, which creates handcrafted jewelry and sells it for a very reasonable price. It’s worth the drive to the middle of the island to see these talented artisans at work.

Xinqeño is a little shop that sells its own brand of mole made from a wonderful recipe. Both this branch and the one on the Carretera Coatepec (near the entrance to town), sell the same thing.

If your idea of souvenirs is fine chocolate, stop here and browse the delectables, some made on the premises, others imported from Mexico's cacao-producing state, Tabasco. You can also have tea, coffee, or, of course, hot chocolate at one of the shop's small tables.

This friendly shop carries a seemingly limitless supply of traditional masks, figurines, and other pieces of Mexican folk art, like amate (paper made of tree bark). You'll see a lot of iconic cultural imagery, like the sagrado corazón (flaming sacred heart) and calavera (Day of the Dead skull). Owner Manuel Martínez, who passionately took the reins from his father, founder Zenon Martínez (hence the name), has a particular penchant for masks and travels the country finding the most interesting ones to stock. There's something for everyone, with prices starting at around $5 and, based on size and rarity, going up into the hundreds.

This contemporary gallery features fine pieces of jewelry, clothing, painting, and sculpture. Every artwork is from a renowned artist, such as Italian Alessandro Alpiani or Mexican Rodrigo Lara.

Near the north end of Banderas Bay, Hikuri is run by a British couple who pay asking prices to their Huichol suppliers and employ indigenous workers in the adjoining carpentry and screen-printing shops. The workers initially have little or no experience, and the training and jobs here give them a leg up to move on to more profitable work. The excellent inventory includes large and small fine yarn paintings, beaded bowls and jewelry, and feathered prayer wands. An on-site patio restaurant called Abalón (closed Wednesday and 2–6 pm) is another good reason to visit, for its international dishes and sometimes live music.