Colourful and quite small and well organised for a Latin American market.
To be honest, I had been waiting a long time to visit a market with handmade goods in Guatemala. Not because there aren’t lots of beautiful handmade items in Mexico, but because many of the things I had seen and particularly liked on my trip came from Guatemala. Especially concerning the patterns. I just love Aztec patterns.
So, on one of my days in Panajachel, I went to the Mercado Artesanal (Artesanal = handmade) and had a look around. The market really has a lot to offer. Bags, T-shirts, hoodies, trousers, shoes, jewellery, blankets, tablecloths, scarves and so on and so forth. I was a bit cautious tbh, because… well frankly I was scared of falling in love with everything and spending waaaay too much money. And I neither had the money nor the space in my backpack for that. 😀 Besides, I a) was very aware that the prices here would probably be a bit higher, b) it was pretty much my first real Guatemalan market with handmade items (and you shouldn’t usually buy the first thing you see), and c) because I knew about Chichicastenango – that’s THE market for handmade items in Guatemala. It’s huge and has absolutely EVERYTHING! But more on that later 😉😊
Otherwise, the Mercado Artesanal in Panajachel is very cute, quite quiet and just nice to stroll around. And for those who wanna know: I actually found my beloved hoodie with Aztec/Guatemalan pattern at the market 😊

Go or not? Definitely go. It’s good for yourself, for souvenirs and simply to get an idea of all the handmade stuff there is in Guatemala. And you might be a little less overwhelmed when in Chichi (Chichicastenango) 😀