3 Best Places to Shop in Greater Mexico City, Mexico City

Remarkable for its sheer enormity, the country's largest shopping mall is in the heart of the appropriately upscale (although a bit soulless) modern Santa Fe commercial district. Centro Santa Fe contains more than 500 shops and restaurants, a huge central ice-skating rink, a luxury multiplex cinema, and a kids theme park; it's also in immediate proximity to a giant convention center and several hotels. Anchor stores include some noted Mexican brands, including Casa Palacio, Liverpool, and El Palacio de Hierro, and you'll find a number of luxury boutiques, most of which have branches in Polanco or other more central neighborhoods. For ardent shopping enthusiasts, it's worth the 18-km (11-mile) trip from downtown. Until the Toluca–Mexico City commuter rail opens by the end of 2024, a car is the best way to get here.

As sensory experiences go, the city's most impressive floral market, located about a mile east of Roma and south of Centro Histórico, is quite impressive. The nearly 1,200 stalls proffering boldly colored, radiant arrangements and cut flowers along with a huge variety of potted plants fill the air with fragrant aromas. You'll find more than 300 vendors selling other goods, including snacks, fruits, and fresh juices, plus a good variety of ornate piñatas.

In the affluent Bosques de las Lomas neighborhood near Santa Fe, in the rolling hills west of the city center, this exclusive shopping mall stands out as much for its chic boutiques as for its location inside the iconic Arcos Bosques towers. They were designed by Teodoro González de León in 1996 and comprise two angular 35-story towers joined at the top by a four-story lintel. The shopping center isn't huge, but it contains an upscale food court and restaurants along with such retailers as Brooks Brothers, Kiehl's, and Lululemon.