Quito Shopping

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Mariscal Sucre, also known as either New Town or Gringolandia is the area of town with Tourist hotels, restaurants and shops. I am very glad I stayed in the old town but the bet souvenir shopping was here by far.

This market is located 2 hours north of Quito and is a must. The local indigenous people display and sell handmade linens, scarfs, jewelery and clothing with beautiful detail at a crazy low price. Learn your money in Spanish and negotiate on everything.!

What to buy: The silk and alpaca scarfs can be bought for as little as $3.00. The jewlery has amazing detail and can be bought for as little as $5.00 for a handmade ring or a necklace. Be firm on your price and walk away. 90% of the time the will give in and and you will get a beautiful gift you will treasure!

What to pay: As little as $3.00 us dollars for a scarf or ring!

You need some extra piece for your wardrobe? You forgot to put your bathing suit in your bag. You need cheap T- shirts or an extra padlock right away? Don't worry. Everything is very cheap in Quito. You can even find good trendy clothes at ridiculously low prices. Amazonas is the street with cheap clothes but in a very good shape. One example is “Casa de las Maletas” at Amazonas 724 and Veintimilla st., which has clothes, bags and more. Go on walking in the same street and you will meet panama hats at excellent prices, nice sweaters, trousers, T-shirts, bags and suitcases and a lot more.
Another place where you can find anything you can imagine is the old city, especially Chile, Montufar, and Sucre streets. A 3-floor shopping mall with the best prices in Quito is in Chile and Cuenca corner, called Granada market. It's packed with clothes, footwear, hats, bags, underwear and many more. If you look carefully you will find very good pieces for everyday use.
For small inexpensive gifts and artcraft go to the artisan market in Mariscal, Juan Leon Mera and George Washington. There is a great range of items and it's fun browsing.
Also El Ejido park especially on the weekends.
For more fashionable and well sewn clothes or more serious gifts you'll have to go to the shopping malls in the New Town.

Located in Plaza Fochs in La Mariscal, you'll find this shop selling coffee, teas and all things chocolate. I stopped in for a drink and to buy a small gift for Catalina, since I knew she'd share with me! ;-)

They have plenty of nice chocolate-related gift items and this is also a good alternative if you didn't like the dessert menu at one of the area's many restaurants.

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Quitocentro is a big mall of the same standard that you'd expect to see in the USA or Western Europe. That being said, it's the type of place I try to avoid when I'm at home! However, since I had a bonus day in Quito and I was just exploring the area around the Sheraton hotel near the soccer stadium, I decided to walk across the street and see what the place was like.

There are a number of international designer labels here as well as some local brands, a grocery store, cinema, restaurants and plenty of ATMs for your convenience. I strolled through and was out the door in twenty minutes.

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The Mercado Artesanal La Mariscal is a huge cluster of outdoor shops with vendors selling all kinds of artesania. If you're looking for something truly special, of high quality, I don't think this is the place. But, if you're looking for some inexpensive trinkets to pass out to your co-workers when you get back from vacation like I was, then this place will do the job. It's also just fun to browse the huge range of items on offer at this large marketplace.

This market is there most days, but is really hopping on Sundays. You can find woven items (gloves, hats, etc), silver jewelry, and other handicrafts (including items made from TAGUA).

On Sunday, there is huge artists' display - paintings, artwork made from native feathers - lots to choose from in all price ranges. It is big, but also intimate enough that you can meet the artists and do a little bargaining.

What to pay: Nothing was terribly expensive. A hat for $4; bracelet for $15; a painting for $30. Be sure to bargain a bit - it adds to the fun!

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I went to the Mercado Artesanal at the corner or calle Juan Leon Mera and George Washington looking for the last 3 Christmas gifts on my list: a Christmas ornament for Mama, some cigars for my friend Mike who was serving in Iraq at that time, and a belt for my friend Nick. This is a nice urban artisan market, but it still did not have all the atmosphere, not to mention the aromas of the Otavalo market the previous Saturday. I saw some belts in the first corridor, but held out to see if I could find some better ones. I bought Mike's cigars first and I found some better looking belts in the last corridor for Nick. The ironic thing is, all the world-famous Panama hats are made in Ecuador. I finished my Christmas shopping for 2007 here on 15 November when I finally found the Christmas ornament I wanted to find for Mama.