Top Rated Shopping in Antigua

There's a good chance that travelers to Antigua can find what they're after at Kafka : the restaurant, bar, and hostel serves customers meals or drinks in their choice of seating spaces, including a terrace, garden, and even hammocks. Wireless internet is available throughout, although events like happy hour may prove distracting! A tiny clothing store in the entrance, where a talented weaver can often be found selling her textiles, will even keep guests well-clothed for exploring this beautiful city. Call ahead for hours of operation.

Vending folk artwork from the highlands of Guatemala, Casa de Gigantes grabs customers' attention immediately with two huge carved wooden statues of a man and a woman standing midway through the store. They are traditional artifacts from the Baile de los Gigantes of the Fiesta de Corpus Christi, celebrated 60 days after Easter each year. Founded in 1963, Casa de los Gigantes is proud to offer both traditional and original designs of furniture and home accessories in pine wood, as well as providing a retail venue for women from around Guatemala who work in other materials. Textiles, pottery, beading, and carved stone crafts are available in the store.

Slip past sparkling jewelry displays in the front of this group of stores to access a dense selection of well-chosen books; world-traveling guidebooks are joined by literary treats like Isabel Allende novels and Harry Potter translated into Spanish. The shop also sells textbooks, magazines, calendars, and will gladly place special orders for other requests.

With its enormous stock of artisanal creations, Artesanias La Momosteca is likely to have just the item you're looking for: purses, hats, wooden carvings, backpacks, landscape paintings, wallets, ponchos, shawls, duffel bags, post cards, totes, shirts, and really, anything else you might imagine carrying home fill the floor (and wall, and table, and ceiling) space and spill out the doors. If you don't see what you want, don't worry—another store location is situated just a few steps down the street. Both are conveniently set between Parque Central and the Mercado de Antigua.

A small restaurant, café, and shop for gourmet and imported foods, Culinaria melds European and Guatemalan influences in creating satisfying dishes and tempting desserts. Focaccia, fusilli pasta, and a traditional Guatemalan soup called chapina are among the favorites choices on the menu—although children tend to prefer a simple quesadilla. The sweet treats behind glass cases, such as tartaletta de limón and tourist-recommended brownies, are a great way to finish the meal. In the shop, pick up specialty meats, bottles of wine, and imported cookies and cheeses to take home.

Tienda Delicio, S.A., true to the word play in its name, offers a laundry list of delicious gourmet goods. Prepared sandwiches await suggestively near a case of beers, wines, and liquors, or the cheeses and dips make great accompaniments to their homemade baked goods. Pastas, meats, fish, and spices are welcome sights for those with access to a kitchen, and the deli even offers delivery... although, only two blocks from center, the location is conveniently accessible from most of Antigua.