65 Best Places to Shop in Mexico

Named for the late novelist and screenwriter Elena Garro, this huge bookstore occupies an early-20th-century mansion that's been enclosed within a stunning contemporary glass-walled, two-story addition. You'll find a terrific selection of literary and artistic titles as well as concerts, lectures, children's events (from puppet shows to storytelling), and other cultural programming. There's also a café with an enchanting garden seating area.

Get your organic fix at the Mercado Orgánico every Saturday 9–3 between November and April. Jewelry, artwork, flowers, soaps, fruit, and vegetables are a few of the goodies you’ll find here. Food stalls serve everything from tacos to pizza, and entertainment is offered for kids. You will surely leave with a bag full of fresh veggies and local art.

Conveniently located in the Corridor, the Koral Center houses stores, medical facilities, a day spa, and El Merkado—a gourmet food court that converges 20 culinary offerings and the latest in Mexican gastronomy. You’ll find everything from tacos and tapas to sushi and an organic market selling local products.

This is the best one-stop shop in Cozumel for Mexican crafts and art. Numerous display rooms, covering almost a block, are filled with clothing, furnishings, home-decor items, quality tequilas, and jewelry. There are smaller branches at Puerta Maya, the international pier (SSA), the Cozumel airport, Punta Langosta, and the gift shops of some hotels.

Mercado 28 is Cancún's largest open-air market. In addition to a few small restaurants, it has about 100 stalls where you can buy many of the same items found in the Zona Hotelera at a fraction of the cost. Expect to be confronted by aggressive vendors trying to coax you into their shop. This is a great place to haggle, and usually you can end up paying half of the initial asking price.

This market is a one-stop shop for all the gifts, souvenirs, and keepsakes you might need. Loaded with stalls selling everything from hammocks to beaded Huichol jewelry to woven palm hats, Ciudadela is a mixed bag to say the least, both in terms of quality and prices. But with a little patience, you will almost certainly find something special to take home.

Upscale, open-air Paseo del Carmen has numerous boutiques—including Zara, Ultrafemme, and Old Navy. Seattle-coffee lovers can get their fix at the Starbucks that dominates the center of the mall. A cobblestone path makes this one of the area's most popular and pleasant shopping destinations.

This three-story plaza on Playa's main drag houses Sanborn's department store, Harley Davidson, Forever 21, Oakley, Hurley, American Eagle Outfitters, and much more. There's even a Häagen-Dazs where you can cool off with an ice cream before more shopping.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Be the best-dressed person at your next party wearing one of the many styles of casual, breezy, tropical white clothing for sale here.

With several locations in El Centro, this popular superstore (a Mexican version of Walmart) has a large selection of local and American products.

Selling everything from food and clothing to appliances and medicine, and keeping long hours, this Mexican grocery chain is about as close as you can get to the Walmart experience. You'll find the island's best selection of groceries here.

Open daily from 7 am to 11 pm, this big, full-service grocery store also carries clothing, kitchenware, appliances, furniture, and a terrific selection of wine. For those renting a nearby condo, this is a place to stock up on food and beverages. Brand-name sunscreens, while expensive, are available.  The deli and bakery are excellent places to pick up picnic provisions; coolers and ice are sold here, too.

Next to the convention center, this open-air market has about 50 stalls selling crafts and souvenirs. Everything here is overpriced, and vendors are pushy, but you can try bargaining. Stalls deeper in the market tend to have better deals than those around the periphery.

On the northeast side of the downtown square, an unnamed artisan market sells a respectable assortment of Mexican wares. Practice your bartering skills—start low, compromise, smile—while shopping for blankets, T-shirts, hammocks, and pottery. Most sellers accept only cash.

Excellent art pieces made by Indigenous craftspeople are for sale here, including sculptures, paintings, and more. The art pieces are purchased by the store owners in small villages in the mountains and brought here for sale.

A haven for anyone with a sweet tooth since 1874, Dulcería Celaya specializes in candied pineapple, guava, and other exotic fruits; almond paste; candied walnut rolls; and cajeta, a thick caramelized milk similar to Argentine dulce de leche. There's another branch in La Roma, but you have to come to Centro for the atmosphere.

Calling itself "the cutest shop in town," El Armario offers a selection of Mexican folk art, ceramic pottery, candles, clay figurines, and papier-mâché—plus fresh coffee out on the patio.

This three-level entertainment and shopping plaza features brand-name restaurants, upscale clothing boutiques, a food court, and chain stores, all in a circus-like atmosphere. For spring breakers the main draws are the nightclubs, Coco Bongo and Señor Frog's. The bungee trampolines set up here during high season are especially popular with children. You will also find several ATMs.

This is the main shopping mall in the whole Puerto Vallarta–Riviera Nayarit area, offering 73,000 square feet of shopping on two floors and a magnificent view of the arriving cruise ships. This mall and the surrounding shops are mainly visited by cruise-ship passengers and Mexican out-of-towners looking for everything from sporting goods to clothing and housewares. Galerías Vallarta has restaurants, parking, a 12-theater cinema, and a fast-food court with the ubiquitous McDonald's, Domino's Pizza, Chili's, and Starbucks.

This mall carries designer brands with price tags to match. There's a food court and some restaurants, too.

This family-run outfit specializes in hammocks and has many sizes and designs.

One of the nicest malls in Mérida wraps around an artificial lake—you can even zip-line over it. Its main anchor is Gran Chapur, a department store, sitting amid a number of smaller boutiques. The Harbor also has a movie theater as well as a number of restaurants: Maya de Asia has delicious Maya-Asian fusion dishes; Porfirio's is a lively Mexican bar and restaurant; and there are smaller venues including a Starbucks, Mr. Sushi, and Hamburgesia for, yes, burgers.

The only place in town to buy folk art from all over Mexico is just off the main square at the San Miguel Hotel. You'll find something to suit any budget, including a collection of textiles.