371 Best Places to Shop in Mexico

This ethical and sustainable boutique sells a curated selection of Mexican-made clothing, jewelry, homewares and more. It's a shop that genuinely cares about giving back: beyond providing a space for 150-plus talented local artisans to showcase their products, portions of every sale are donated to a children's charity, recycling center, and dog rescue, all in Todos Santos.

Here the Huichol are treated as a people, not a product. At their downtown Vallarta shop, the owners— a Mexican-Canadian couple—are happy to share with customers their wealth of info about Huichol art and culture. They work with just a few farming families, providing all the materials and then paying for the finished products, amazing and colorful handicrafts that represent the most sacred elements of their culture. Huichol imagery is so colorful because they actually see these images when they eat peyote, an hallucinogenic cactus, as part of their religious rituals.

This boutique carries modish fashion for the city or the beach, much of it by young, Latinix talents. You can browse slick sunglasses by Mexican-born Miami designer Sunny Patoche, Mónica Márquez chunky women's boots, stylish Paruno men's shoes, and the store's own print tote bags and playful T-shirts. There's an interesting selection of skateboards, too, as well as books and other whimsical gifts.

Although Abrazos also has napkins, place mats, pot holders, and baby bibs, the small shop is primarily known for dresses, blouses, men's shirts, and women's aprons in the store's outstanding cotton fabric, printed exclusively for the shop in Day of the Dead skulls and other iconic figures. The fabric is sold by the meter as well.

This modish chocolate shop sells Mexico's finest, in bars, tablets, soaps, massage oils, and brownies. Locals swear by the coffee. There are other four branches around Playa del Carmen and Cancún.

Shop for wonderful silver and gold jewelry at Alberto's, which has a couple of branches. It's generally open Monday through Saturday.

This is a large store with a ton of red-clay items traditional to the area—in fact, their predecessors were crafted before the 1st century AD. Rustic pottery and glazed ceramic pieces come in traditional styles at reasonable prices.

There are more than 20,000 titles in stock at Alma Libre. You can buy outright or trade in your own books for a discount and replenish your holiday reading list.

This is the bookstore you wish you had found before your trip. Hundreds of books, most of them in English, cover topics from the country's cuisine to its couture. There's also a great travel-guide section, as well a cheap used-books section.

Make your home bathroom feel like a spa with these handmade stone dishes, trays, and dispensers. Made out of marble, onyx, and resin sourced from the Mexican states of Puebla, Chiapas, and Oaxaca, you can buy individual items or complete sets.

Once you return home, traditional huaraches, guayaberas, and straw hats might not look as appropriate as they did when you were on vacation. The items from Mexican designers at men's store Amerindio, however, have a cool factor that will be stylish even back at home.

Ana Lucia Pewter sells beautiful locally made pewter items—from decorative tableware to picture frames—at ridiculously low prices.

Ancestral sells local handicrafts and Mexican products of Nahuatl (ancient Aztec) origin. You can even buy beautifully hand-painted bull skulls. From time to time, they also offer workshops and embroidery, painting, and Nahuatl-language classes.

Next to City Hall, within a large old passageway called Pasaje Von Humbolt, is a small shop with beautiful designs in silver jewelry, much of it with semiprecious stones.

One of only a few outdoor malls in the city, Antara Polanco has a collection of upscale stores that includes Carolina Herrera, Zara, Hugo Boss, and Coach as well as branches of several luxury stores that are also found along the neighborhood's ritzy Avenida Presidente Masaryk; there are plenty of dining options, too.

Arte Mexicano Nopal sells Mexican handicrafts, reproductions of ancient art, candles, incense, and small gifts. It's generally open daily from 10:30 am but closed on Sunday during the low season.

This shop in the Casa de la Cultura sparkles with crafts from the various regions of Guerrero state. Look for hand-loomed shawls, painted gourds, hammocks, baskets, silver jewelry, and Olinalá boxes. The latter come from a town in the northeast part of the state known for its lacquer work.

The range of crafts in San Cristóbal extends far beyond those made by indigenous groups. Arte Sandía has a wonderful array of housewares, including plates and dishes covered with the store's namesake watermelon. (It's a popular theme in this country, as the watermelon has the three colors of the Mexican flag.) You'll find plenty of women's clothing here, too.

Artes de México has a huge selection of Mexican crafts, including ceramics, tin, paper, iron, and wooden items, at reasonable prices.

Sort through an excellent selection of crafts, including painted copal-wood animals with comical expressions, at this shop.

Artesanías JMB produces traditional Talavera for home and garden use, packing and shipping purchases internationally for an additional fee. It's one of the higher-end shops in downtown Dolores Hidalgo, where you tend to see the same, low-end merchandise in many shops.

Artesanías Vázques has Talavera ceramics from Dolores Hidalgo.

A shop, restaurant, and gallery, Artículo 123 first opened in this area otherwise dominated by electricians and hardware stores back in 2012. The food leans toward southeast Asian while the shop up front sells pretty keepsakes and gifts sourced from around Mexico, from carved stone mezcal glasses to cotton napkins and woven hats.

This small boutique at Casa Natalia has jewelry, handbags, and art made from recycled metals. Artwalk also has a good selection of brass jewelry from Mexico City.

Cute clothing, accessories, and more can be found at this brand new waterfront boutique.

With more than 17 years in Sayulita, Annie Banannie has become one of the most beloved residents in town. She's the shop owner, manager, and jewelry artist, working strictly in silver (no gold) and semiprecious exotic stones from all over the world. You will find great pieces with emeralds, sapphires, and rubies, and many other stones.

This government-run bazaar offers a wide range of local crafts, including some that are hard to come by—like bull horns carved into necklaces and earrings using an old technique that only a small number of families in Campeche State still know about. All prices are fixed, so there's no need to bargain.

Bazar Casa Ramirez sells high-quality Talavera pottery and other ceramics, paintings by local artists, jewelry from Taxco, wooden carvings, and papier-mâché figurines. Everything here is made in Mexico. Be sure to check out the displays upstairs.

As its name implies, "popular art," or handicrafts, are sold at the Parque Santa Lucía on Sundays beginning at 9 am.