Mercado de Jamaica – A Must Visit In Mexico City Part I

If you ever need flowers, the mercado de Jamaica (Jamaica market) in Mexico City is the place to be. It used to be Pike Place Market in Seattle for me, but I recently visited this market for the first time and it surpassed my expectations. My mom had been telling me about it for some time and she finally took me in my most recent trip to Mexico.

The colors and the life of the flowers and plants are abundant. The vendors aren’t aggressive and the crowds aren’t bad. It is definitely not a touristy place and let’s hope it stays that way, I just had to share this place. 

I visited during the holidays (December) where the prices are at its highest but it was still a really good deal compared to prices in the US. During this time, besides all the regular flowers and plants you can also find Christmas trees, wreaths, all sizes and colors of nochebuenas (poinsettias), traditional piñatas and more.

I can only imagine the market is filled with cempasúchil (Mexican marigolds) and sugar skulls in November for the Day of the Dead celebrations.

You’ll find exotic flowers…

Mexican style flower banners…

La Virgen de Guadalupe (Virgin of Guadalupe which is a title of the Virgin Mary associated with a celebrated pictorial image housed in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in México City)…

Beautiful green plants…

Flower Elmos and Lions and “I Love You” arrangements for anniversaries or apologies…

Cute winter arrangements…

And puppies and tigers…

And seas of nochebuenas…

Tip: my mom (pictured above) told me to wear rainboots because there are a lot or water puddles around the market and it was a very good tip; probably from all the water the flowers need. Keep this in mind if you visit.

Of course, there were plenty of roses…

And deer…

More roses…

And beautiful claveles (carnations).

We ended up leaving with a pine wreath, other plants to decorate the wreath, pink roses, red and white carnations, and a few other plants to make a big flower arrangement for the Christmas dinner.

There were tons more flowers of many other kinds, you just have to visit to experience and see all.

Mercado de Jamaica Info:
Address: Guillermo Prieto 45, Jamaica, Venustiano Carranza, 15800 Ciudad de México, D.F., Mexico Map
Closest Metro Stations: Jamaica (Line 9 Brown) and La Viga (Line 8 Green)
Open 24hrs and 365 days a year. So if at 3am you are drunk and want to buy flowers for your date, you can.

But flowers are not all there is at the mercado de Jamaica, there is fresh produce and meat, and candy and nuts, and piñatas and incense and more… You shall see more of that on Part II.

What is your favorite market in the world?