Caracas shopping runs on two currencies and two speeds: bolívares at the municipal markets, dollars in the eastern malls. Between them sit Wayuu mochilas, Chuao cacao bars and Venezuelan designers working out of Las Mercedes townhouses.
Caracas's largest municipal food market, three levels of stalls that open around 05:00 and thin out by 14:00. Buy queso de mano wrapped in leaves, casabe discs, papelón cones and Guayana coffee sold by the kilo.
The tidiest market in the city, on Avenida Ávila behind Plaza Sucre. Ground floor is fruit and Andean cheeses, the upper gallery has spice stalls selling onoto, ají dulce and ready-mixed guasacaca for taking home.
An open-air row of Wayuu vendors from Zulia, two blocks from the municipal market. Hand-crocheted mochila bags, chinchorro hammocks and mantas take weeks to make; prices scale with the tightness of the weave.
A kilometre of pedestrianised avenue between Plaza Venezuela and Chacaíto, lined with shoe shops, luggage stalls and the surviving old cafés. Street vendors sell leather sandals and cheap electronics until dusk.
The compact luxury mall at the head of Avenida Río de Janeiro, with Venezuelan labels alongside imports. The surrounding Las Mercedes side streets hide independent studios selling resort wear and hand-tooled leather.
A bookshop inside the arts complex under Paseo Las Mercedes, strong on Venezuelan poetry, Monte Ávila reprints and art monographs. The attached café and arthouse cinema make it the natural midday stop in the district.
Converted warehouses in Los Chorros holding galleries, a ceramics studio and design shops selling prints, textiles and furniture. Librería Lugar Común anchors the courtyard; most spaces close Monday and open 10:00-19:00.
Four terraced levels of boutiques, eyewear and jewellery around an open plaza, busiest in the early evening when the bars fill. Smaller and calmer than Sambil, with a stronger concentration of local accessory brands.
A four-storey craft warehouse on the colonial village square, stocking hammocks, Andean wool, tinajas, devil masks from San Francisco de Yare and painted wooden saints. Open daily from 09:00, the deepest single stock in the country.
A chocolatier working with Venezuelan beans a few doors from Plaza Bolívar in El Hatillo, selling filled bonbons, chocolate-covered coffee beans and boxed assortments. Cool room at the back for boxes travelling in hot weather.
A bean-to-bar workshop inside the old coffee estate turned cultural park, roasting Chuao, Sur del Lago and Ocumare beans on site. Tastings run through the afternoon and bars are stamped with their plantation of origin.
The vast red mall on Avenida Libertador, useful on a last afternoon for rum: Santa Teresa 1796, Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva and Cacique are all stocked, along with vacuum-packed coffee and duty-free-legal quantities.