65 Best Places to Shop in Mexico

In addition to sportswear and sarongs, the offerings here include Mexican crafts, home decor, and beach towels.

Located on the main square—right next to the restaurant Atrio de Mayab—this small shop sells a well-curated and diverse selection of clothing, crafts, jewelry, pottery, and masks from throughout Mexico.

This government-run craft store offers all kinds of items, both from the state of Yucatán and other parts of Mexico, at fair prices. There's a smaller location in front of the Palacio Cantón on the Paseo de Montejo, but this main branch offers the best selection.

La Isla inches ahead of The Harbor when it comes to store selection, though both have pulled ahead of their competitors for the title of most-luxe mall in town. The department store Liverpool is the anchor at La Isla, but Zara and H&M are also big draws. The back of the mall has a row of restaurants overlooking a man-made lake. As with any of Mérida's malls, it may not be on your sightseeing shortlist, but if you have a longer stay in the city, air-conditioned window shopping may be appealing on warm days.

The largest, newest, and most modern shopping mall in Puerto Vallarta, La Isla features top-shelf boutiques, gourmet restaurants, and VIP cinema theaters. Its only con is that it's outdoors, which makes it hard to walk around in the heat of the summer or during rainy days.

The Mérida-based bookstore chain Dante, with a location on Plaza Grande as well as eight others around the city, has the best selection of Spanish-language books about the peninsula's history, culture, cuisine, and more. It is especially strong on books for kids and works dealing with Yucatecan flora and fauna. This branch is the largest of its locations, a little north of central Mérida on the Prolongación Paseo de Montejo.

A supermarket, pharmacy, and department store all under one big roof, Mega Soriana has a huge covered parking lot and pretty much anything you would need for a short or extended stay on Cozumel. Soriana's wine and international beer offerings are second to none. It's open daily from 8 am to 10 pm, though alcohol sales on Sunday cease at 3 as they do around the island for carryout.

Although many deal in the same wares, the shops and stalls of the García Rejón Crafts Market sell some quality items, and the shopping experience here can be less of a hassle than at the nearby municipal market. You'll find reasonable prices on palm-fiber hats, hammocks, leather sandals, jewelry, handmade guitars, and locally made liqueurs. Persistent but polite bargaining might get you even better deals.

Small shops and outdoor stands sell an interesting mix of wares at this informal and fun market that divides El Centro from Colonia Emiliano Zapata. Harley-Davidson kerchiefs, Che paintings on velvet, and Madonna icons compete with the usual synthetic lace tablecloths, shell and quartz necklaces, and silver jewelry amid postcards and key chains. The market is partially shaded by enormous fig and rubber trees and serenaded by the rushing river; a half-dozen cafés and restaurants provide sustenance.

Sellers of chilis, herbs, seafood, and produce fill this pungent and labyrinthine municipal market. Early in the morning, the first floor is jammed with housewives and restaurateurs shopping for the freshest fish and produce. The stairs at Calles 56 and 57 lead to the second-floor Bazar de Artesanías Municipales, where you'll find local pottery, embroidered clothes, guayabera shirts, hammocks, straw bags, sturdy leather huaraches, and piñatas. Note that most initial prices are inflated as vendors expect you'll bargain—one way to begin is to politely request a discount.

For fresh produce, the Mercado Municipal is your best bet. It's open daily from 6 am until 2 pm. A second market (Mercado Javier Rojo Gomez) operates during the same hours on Avenida Guerrero between Mateos and Matamoros.

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.

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.

With a block of 75 stalls, Plaza Artesanos has a wide selection of handmade crafts and souvenirs, including pottery, jewelry, blankets, clothing, hammocks, leather bags, and even pure Mexican vanilla extract. Don’t be afraid to barter by starting at half the asking price and then meeting somewhere in the middle.

North of the convention center, the two-story Plaza Caracol has chain stores, souvenir shops, jewelry boutiques, and pharmacies. If you work up an appetite, it also has a food court. Free Wi-Fi is available at the Häagen-Dazs ice cream shop.

This shopping mall is lively and full on weekends and evenings, even when others are dead. Its anchors are the Soriana supermarket and the second-floor casino. Surrounding these are tiny stores dispensing electronics, ice cream, fresh flowers, and more. This is also a good place for manicures and haircuts. Adding to the commercial center's appeal is the six-screen Cinemex movie theater.

An outdoor mall conveniently located across the street from San José del Cabo’s string of resorts, Plaza del Pescador offers guests an alternative to hotel dining. You'll find everything from sushi and gelato to tapas and a wine bar. Among the 25 shops and restaurants are a bookstore, jewelry store, fitness gym, and coffee shop.

In addition to housing about 30 shops and restaurants, this mall also hosts art exhibits and other cultural events. While parents shop, kids can enjoy the games arcade and play area.

Near the convention center, the large Plaza la Fiesta probably has the Zona Hotelera's widest selection of Mexican goods, including jewelry, clothing, handicrafts, alcohol, and other assorted souvenirs. Look carefully at what you buy, though: not everything here is made in Mexico. There are some good bargains, but this is not a place to haggle.

Nuevo Vallarta was in dire need of a proper, non-tourist-oriented shopping center, and that's exactly what Lago Real is—an unpretentious mall featuring a wide array of shops and services including Walmart, Cinépolis, Telcel, a food court, and several banks.

This family-friendly mall features restaurants, shops, and cinemas.

With 100-plus shops, several big department stores and restaurants, two movie theaters, a video arcade, and plenty of fast-food outlets El Centro's shopping mecca will—for better or worse—make you feel right at home. The mall is intolerably crowded on weekends.

This Mexican-colonial-style outdoor mall in Playacar sells handcrafts, clothes, jewelry, and specialty items like tequila and cigars. There is also a Starbucks.

This fancy, multilevel shopping mall is across from the downtown cruise-ship dock. A covered pedestrian walkway leads over the street from the ships to the center, which houses several jewelry, sportswear, and souvenir stores, as well as ice-cream shops and chain restaurants and bars such as Hooters and Señor Frog's.