Port-au-Prince shopping runs on two speeds: sweaty downtown markets where mangoes, charcoal and tin sculpture share a stall, and cool Pétion-Ville boutiques selling museum-grade art. Bring cash in gourdes, bargain politely in Creole, and buy directly from the maker where you can.
Some 30 open-air ateliers on Rue Noailles hammer flattened oil drums into filigree wall art — Georges Liautaud's legacy since the 1950s. Watch the chisel work, then buy. Small pieces 1,000–3,000 HTG, large panels 8,000–25,000 HTG. Open roughly 8:00–16:00.
Long-running Rue Panaméricaine spot for griot with pikliz, tassot and legume, plus a courtyard bar. A plate runs 800–1,500 HTG, Prestige beer around 250 HTG. Useful mid-day reset with parking and a craft stall or two out front.
Compact gallery on Rue Metellus stocking canvases from the Saint-Soleil and Cap-Haïtien schools plus sequined drapo. Unframed mid-size canvases 15,000–60,000 HTG; small studies from 4,000 HTG. Staff write export certificates for older works.
Late-afternoon street market ringing Place Saint-Pierre: madan sara vendors with avocados, Haitian coffee from Thiotte, cocoa balls, straw baskets and second-hand pèpè clothing. Everything is negotiable; coffee packs from 400 HTG.
Haiti's oldest commercial gallery (founded 1956), now on Rue Lamarre, holding works by Hector Hyppolite's successors, Préfète Duffaut and Frantz Zéphirin. Serious canvases run 60,000 HTG upward; prints and small works from 8,000 HTG.
Flagship café-shop of Haiti's best-known roaster, selling ground and whole-bean arabica from Haitian cooperatives alongside espresso drinks. Retail bags 500–900 HTG; a cappuccino about 300 HTG. Air-conditioned, card accepted.
Showroom of the papier-mâché workshop that exports Haitian ornaments worldwide: painted animals, nativity sets, masks and Christmas baubles made from recycled cement bags. Ornaments 300–900 HTG, larger sculptures 3,000–12,000 HTG.
Evening browse along Rue Rigaud and Place Boyer's edge: small designer shops, leather sandal makers, jewellers working in cow horn and coconut, plus liquor shops with the full Barbancourt range including the 15-year Estate Reserve.
Sequined vodou flags — beaded lwa portraits taking weeks per piece — are Haiti's signature textile art. Constant's studio-trained beaders sell direct: small flags 6,000–15,000 HTG, large collector drapo 40,000 HTG and up.
Working neighbourhood market south of the Champ de Mars: spices, cassava bread, klerin in recycled bottles, herbal remedies and enamel cookware. Prices in tens to hundreds of gourdes; a bottle of klerin around 300 HTG.
Air-conditioned supermarket useful for packable gifts: Barbancourt 5-star (around 1,800 HTG), Rebo and Café Selecto coffee, Haitian cocoa, mamba peanut butter and Prestige. Fixed prices, card accepted, receipts for customs.
Sunset stalls around the park sell mahogany bowls, carved dominoes sets, cornhusk dolls, coconut-shell bowls and small tap-tap models painted in bus livery — the easiest last-minute souvenirs before an early flight.