21 Best Places to Shop in Yucatán and Campeche States, Mexico

Located in one of the grand mansions from the early 20th century on Paseo de Montejo, this establishment caters to well-heeled visitors and locals. The 10 boutiques housed here include an outpost from top Mexican designer Carla Fernández, Xinú (a Mexican fragrance line), and Casa Lima, which has an excellent selection of charming gifts that will fit easily into your luggage. There's also a café serving pastries and small bites with tables overlooking Paseo Montejo.

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.

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.

Mérida's biggest English-language bookstore is relatively small, but it still offers a nicely curated selection of recent popular titles as well as a number that are focused on Mexican culture, cuisine, and history. The store also has bookish gifts including journals, bookmarks, and more. Several stores in the Carmesí complex, where the bookstore is located, are worth a stop, too; they mostly sell local, high-quality handicrafts. There's also Volta Café for a snack and drink.

Some visitors have a moment of disappointment when they learn that the Yucatán is not especially known for regional handicrafts unlike, say, Chiapas, Michoacan, or Oaxaca. Fortunately, Expendio Doméstico has opened its third location (after two in Mexico City) just to the east of Parque Mejorada. The wonderfully curated collection of typically Mexican objects includes black barro pottery, blown-glass pitchers, and embroidered tablecloths.

Mérida has several shopping malls, but the largest and nicest, Gran Plaza, has more than 200 shops and a multiplex theater. It's just outside town, on the highway to Progreso (called Carretera a Progreso beyond the Mérida city limits).

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

If you are looking for a guayabera, there's no shortage of shops in Mérida's historic center that will provide you with a lovely version of this tropical garment. If, on the other hand, you want edgier T-shirts, sweatshirts, and other attire—sold alongside beautiful Michoacan water pitchers in dazzling pastels, Mexican-themed notebooks and journals, and organic beauty products—then you'll want to drop by this shop on Paseo de Montejo.

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.

Shop for malachite, turquoise, and other semiprecious stones set in silver at Joyería Colonial.

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 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.

This boutique right in the center of town has an excellent selection of beach-chic essentials including wraps, swimsuits, beach bags, and flip-flops. Lolita also has jewelry and some home goods. Their men's offerings are not as extensive as their women's, but they do carry some trunks and shirts.

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.

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.

Although this store specializes in miniatures made of ceramics, tin, and other materials, it also has an assortment of other craft items.

This pleasant mall houses more than 114 stores and eateries (including Sears and McDonalds) plus the Cinépolis movie theater complex.