Mexico City has excellent options for shopping. You'll find some of the largest, most modern shopping malls in Latin America — Perisur, Galerias Insurgentes, and Plaza Loreto — along Avenida Insurgentes, once the main Aztec thoroughfare into the city.

In the Centro Histórico, shops displaying jewelry, leather goods, perfumes, and gourmet candy line Calles Cinco de Mayo, Madero, and Correo Mayor. And even if they're beyond your budget, you'll enjoy window shopping along Calles Florencia, Hamburgo, and Londres in the Zona Rosa.

If your taste leans toward the upscale, then head for Colonia Polanco, with its thirty blocks of deluxe boutiques along Avenida Presidente Mazaryk. Collections by world-famous designers, dressmakers, and jewelers will dazzle you. Colonia Polanco also sports some fabulous shopping malls — Pabellon Polanco, Plaza Polanco, and Plaza Mazaryk.

If you're searching for typical Mexican handicrafts, try the Mercado Ciudadela Artesaniás, outside the Balderas subway station downtown, or the equally good Artesaniás Buenavista, next to the railroad station. You'll also find a good FONART shop across from Alameda Central.