Sedona Shopping Tips by madamx Top 5 Page for this destination

Basha's Supermarket: Go Mexican

This tip is particularly for Canadians or anyone who has trouble finding Mexican food products. Basha's is the place to stuff your suitcase full of authentic Mexican ingredients for your next mole.

There is one Mexican food store/cafe in Calgary, where I live, but the items there are very expensive. At Basha's, I was astonished to find bags of Pasilla peppers at 1/2 the price back home (even with the exchange rate!). I also found big bags of corn tortillas -- which probably sounds pretty lame, but they are very hard to find back home. I also picked up bags of authentic Mexican chile powder, various types of dried chiles, and Mexican oregano, plus cans of green chile sauce, jalepeno salsa and tomatillo salsa.

What to pay: Cheap, cheap, cheap -- a large bag of dried Pasilla chiles were $1.97 US.

Address: Highway 89A, West Sedona

Theme: Food and Drink

Jerome

Sedona is a shopper's paradise -- but try finding a place to park so you can shop! We decided to go to Jerome instead, and were not sorry. Less crowded, and tons of shops to pick up that perfect souvenier for a large selection of local arts and crafts, which I think makes very thoughtful gifts for those back home.

The little town of Jerome is not particularly picturesque, but is worthwhile to look at, since it was built on the side of the mountain. As a result, the town streets are twisted, steep, and narrow, as well as the road up the Jerome.

You do get a flavor of the old west, looking at some of the historic buildings. Amongst the boutiques which are housed in mostly historic, renovated buildings, you can still find old abandoned building shells, left as is. I thought this was probably the most interesting feature of Jerome.

It's claim to fame is that it was a mining town in the late 1800's, then virtually abandoned in the late 1950's. Hippies and artists moved in the 60's, and now the main draw here is it's stupendous views and the SHOPPING.

Most of the stores here sell jewellery, arts, or crafts, and this is the perfect destination for a girl's road trip. Or guys, if you know any guys who are into shopping.

What to buy: There are an overwhelming amount of boutiques here, and items range from weird and tacky to gorgeous and tres expensive! You can find something here for everyone on your shopping list, and don't forget to buy a treat for yourself.

What to pay: Prices range from reasonable to expensive, depending on what you want to buy.

Directions: Jerome is located 28 miles west of Sedona

Theme: Local Craft