182 Best Shopping in Brazil

The interior of this intimate chocolate shop is almost as exquisite as their hand-crafted chocolate bars. Produced by the Aquims, one of Rio's leading gourmet families, whose mission is to show the world what chocolate can really taste like when cultivated with care and free from over-production and too much sugar. In addition to chocolate bars, there are delectable brownies and gifts wrapped in evocative jungle packaging.

Ask the staff for tasters before you buy.

For lace aficionados, a trip to the town of Aquiraz is a must. Ceará's first capital (1713–99) is today a hub for artisans who create the famous bilro (bobbin) lace. On the beach called Prainha (6½ km [4 miles] east of Aquiraz) is the Centro de Rendeiras Luiza Távora. Here, seated on little stools, dedicated and patient lace makers explain how they create such items as bedspreads and tablecloths using the bilro technique.

Part shop, part museum, Araribá Arte e Artes has one of the best selections of authentic native artisanal items in Brazil. Owner Marcelo spends half the year traveling to hard-to-reach tribes for the pieces. Highlights include hand-woven wall-hangings, baskets, and jewelry.

This fair that takes place roughly every couple of months combines fashion, design, art, and gastronomy from independent labels and artisans. The quality of the goods on offer and the experience itself has improved over the years, and since it moved to an alfresco spot overlooking the Lagoa, it's become a highlight in Rio's event calendar. Expect live music, great shopping, and the chance to watch a parade of beautiful people.

Heaven for music collectors, Baratos Afins opened inside the popular Galeria do Rock in 1978 and is also a record label. The company was the brainchild of Arnaldo Baptista, guitar player in the influential 1960s Brazilian rock band Os Mutantes. The store sells all kinds of music, but if you're looking for rare records, ask for the owner, Luiz Calanca.

Originally a flea market that took place on the sidewalks of Parque Farroupilha, Brique da Redenção has expanded into a full-blown Sunday antiques, crafts, and arts fair that spills over the full length of Avenida José Bonifácio on the southeast side.

The wide range of crafts by regional artisans—including tapestries, embroidery, jewelry, and sculptures—makes this center within the Palácio das Artes complex well worth a visit.

Vendors at this outdoor fair sell antiques, rare books, records, and all types of objets d'art on the first Saturday afternoon of the month. New and vintage fashion is also a strong suit, although cheaper fashion has sadly begun to take over. Live samba music and capoeira performances create a festival-like atmosphere, and the pavement bars and restaurants buzz with locals and visitors.

The crowded, lively Feira de São Cristóvão, better known as the Feira Nordestina, is a social hub for Brazilians from the country's Northeast who live in Rio. They gather to hear their own distinctive music, eat regional foods, and buy arts, crafts, home furnishings, and clothing. With two stages for live music, the fair takes on a nightclub vibe after dark, and there are some seriously impressive displays of forro dancing. This fair is at its busiest and most exciting on the weekends. It's best to take a taxi here.

A good place to find high-quality modern and contemporary paintings and sculptures, this gallery, which ships items abroad for customers, also sells photographs that can be made to size.

This shop in the Barra neighborhood carries unique sculptures and opens by appointment only, generally in the evenings.

This is one of the best gem shops in town, especially for the rare imperial topaz.

Upmarket swimwear store Lenny sells sophisticated, exquisitely cut pieces in a range of sizes, and lots of fashionable beach accessories. Prices are high, but the bikinis are particularly creative.

In the more than 400 stores in this beautiful old market dating from 1929 you can find typical products from Minas Gerais such as cheese, guava and milk sweets, arts and crafts, household trinkets, medicinal herbs and roots, and countless varieties of cachaça, the Brazilian sugarcane spirit. Everyone from municipal workers to local celebrities stop by the popular bars inside the market to drink beer and sample the notable appetizers, such as liver with onions. The market is particularly crowded on Saturday.

At the daily handicrafts fair in front of the Igreja de São Francisco de Assis, vendors sell various decorative objects carved in soapstone. Paintings and wood carvings can also be found here.

The city's first grocery market, this huge 1928 neo-baroque-style building is the quintessential hot spot for gourmets and food lovers. The building, nicknamed Mercadão (Big Market) by locals, houses about 300 stands that sell just about everything edible, including meat, vegetables, cheese, spices, and fish from all over Brazil. It also has restaurants and traditional snack places. The Hocca Bar is justly famous for its pastel de bacalhau (salt-cod pastry) and heaping mortadella sandwich.

One of the best places to buy all kinds of things, from fresh fish to hammocks and souvenirs, is Mercado Adolfo Lisboa, down along the river. Built between 1880 and 1883, the building was based on Les Halles in Paris and has intricate iron-work that was made in France and shipped over by boat. It was made an historical landmark in 1987.

Exhibiting Brazilian craftsmanship at its finest, O Sol is a nonprofit, nongovernmental shop promoting and selling the handiwork of artisans from all regions of Brazil. It's one of Rio's best handicraft stores, and well worth a visit.

Clovis Gomes and Fatima Nasser run a collective featuring plenty of interesting paintings and sculptures. Many of the pieces are small enough to easily pack away while traveling.

Tiny Toca do Vinicius bills itself as a "cultural space and bossa nova salon," and indeed the shop feels like more than just a place of business. Bossa nova aficionados from around the world gather here, and if you're one of them, there's a good chance you'll leave with the email address of at least one new pal. You'll also find sheet music, T-shirts, CDs, and books on music, including a few in English. One Sunday a month the shop hosts an intimate bossa nova concert.

The small, quiet village of Vitoriano Veloso, more commonly known as Bichinho, is recognized in the region for the quality of its arts and crafts and reasonable prices. It's a good option for a day trip. All artisans are based on the same road that cuts through the village. If you want to see artisans at work, head to Oficina de Agosto, the workplace of Toti Bech, an artist who created the craft tradition of Bichinho some 15 years ago.

The charming liquor store Garrafeira sells a wide range of cachaça, including excellent versions from Minas Gerais State.

You can buy close to 100 brands of cachaça here. The bar serves amazing caipirinhas and other cachaça-based drinks.

This shop has beautiful bamboo and feather handicrafts and colorful ceramics made by the Kadiweu and Terena peoples.