Shopping in Taxco, Mexico: Handcrafts, Souvenirs & Malls

Mercado de Artesanias (Crafts Market)

Located directly behind St. Prisca's Parish Church, this popular place offers a great variety of jewelry and handicrafts made of various materials, such as rattan, wood, clay and papel amate (paper made of bark), adorned with motifs in bright colors. Very typical, in the state of Guerrero, are the beautiful painted and lacquered wooden boxes of Olinala, also the jaguar masks made of carved wood and the colorful varnished earthenware. Here, you can also enjoy the typical Mexican market folklore, with its hustle and bustle and never-ending bargaining. In this market you will surely find something special to take home with you.

Plaza Borda

Nowadays, as it has been since colonial times, the main square of Taxco called Plaza Borda, is still the ideal place for trading goods. Traveling merchants, coming from small villages to this city of silver, offer handmade articles at very low prices, ranging from leather belts and bags to basketry and pottery adorned with bright colors. Also hats, vessels, plates, smiling rag dolls, and even small pieces of furniture are sold in the area surrounding the Temple of Saint Prisca, right in the very heart of Taxco.

Taxco El Viejo (Old Taxco)

At this small village, located only 6 miles from downtown Taxco, you'll find a great variety of typical handicrafts and fine jewelry. There is a wide selection of bracelets, earrings, buttons, and buckles, as well as silverware, jars, and cups. Here you'll also find original articles belonging to William Spratling. The very attractive prices are yet another feature of this fabulous place for shopping in Taxco.

Tianguis de la Plata (Silver Street Market)

Every Saturday, the handicraft workshops display their wares at this beautiful street market, where you can find decorated jars, jewelry with crystal inlays and precious stones, and countless other incredible pieces made of silver, as small as a pair of earrings or as complex as a dinner set, complete with trays, plates and tableware. Taking advantage of the excellent prices, people from the whole country come to this street market, in Taxco, to do business with the silver merchants. They return here on a regular basis to renew their stocks and make good profits selling fine silver articles in their hometowns.

Silver Workshops and Shops

Part of the attraction of Taxco is to admire the artistic process of the silversmiths in their workshops, witnessing firsthand the melting and molding of this precious metal that they transform into the most charming pieces of jewelry, filigree, fine silverware, elegant trays, and even incredibly large sculptures.

While browsing around the silver shops, in the surrounding areas of downtown Taxco, it is possible to observe the skilled silversmiths working. They will gladly demonstrate their techniques, especially if they can make a sale afterwards.