Historic or futuristic, pristine or chaotic, rural or urban, the markets here are a food lover's fantasy—as much for the spectacle as for the shopping.
Mexico City
MERCADO DE LA MERCED
Dazzlingly colorful, La Merced occupies four whole blocks and brings together food from all over Mexico. Dozens of zany piñatas dangle above the stalls as shoppers jostle past stacks of chiles, nopales (cactus paddles), blocks of queso blanco (white cheese), rainbow-colored blankets and sweet-smelling guavas (Cerrada del Rosario at Calle General Anaya).
DON'T MISS: The fragrant Mexican vanilla.
Castries, St. Lucia
CASTRIES MARKET
Bright parasols shade this raucous, century-old market offering big green breadfruit, giant avocados and the island's famous spices: star anise, nutmeg, vanilla. In case you're not interested in bois bandé (a bark used for aphrodisiac tea), there's also banana chutney, hot sauce and nifty brooms made from palm fronds (Jeremie St. and Peynier St.).
DON'T MISS: The sweet potato pudding and cow heel soup from the makeshift kitchens at the end of the market.
Birmingham, U.K.
SELFRIDGES FOOD HALL
White resin floors and exposed ductwork give the new Selfridges a futuristic look. The food—Spanish Pata Negra jamón (ham), marbled Japanese Wagyu beef, the best Scottish kippers, truffled foie gras—makes it a 21st-century shopping mecca (Upper Mall East, Bullring; 011-44-8708-377-377).
DON'T MISS: Simon Malin's Modern-British cuisine at the white-on-white Gallery restaurant.
Cork, Ireland
ENGLISH MARKET
Under the grand vaulted ceiling of this 400-year-old market, Moroccan spice blends sit next to Irish favorites like sheep's tripe boiled in milk, and drisheens (blood sausages). It's worth a trip just for the remarkable Irish farmhouse cheeses (Grand Parade between St. Patrick's St. and Oliver Plunkett St.).
DON'T MISS: The nearby Jacobs on the Mall, whose chef, Mercy Fenton, is Ireland's Alice Waters (30A South Mall; 011-353-21-425-1530).
Barcelona
MERCAT DE LA BOQUERIA
Early in the morning, Barcelona's top chefs gather at Spain's most Mediterranean market to pick up glistening shellfish, colorful game birds, pencil-thin asparagus and coveted mushrooms from the Petras stall. Boqueria even has a cooking school (Rambla at Carrer de la Petxina).
DON'T MISS: The sautéed baby squid and cava at the El Quim de la Boqueria stall
Modena, Italy
MERCATO COPERTO
There are larger markets in Italy, but this is the most picture-postcard-perfect. You'll find gorgeous peaches and figs, artful displays of fresh egg pasta and—this being Modena—the world's best aged balsamic vinegars (13 Via Albinelli).
DON'T MISS: The impeccable panini with Lambrusco at Schiavoni, a tiny market snack shop (011-39-059-243-073).
Berlin
KADEWE
With 34,000 kinds of global food products—1,200 wursts and smoked meats; 1,300 types of cheeses; 400 types of bread; 2,400 wines—the vast food hall in Berlin's glitziest department store awes with sheer statistics and variety, like ostrich eggs and exotic fruit you've never seen before (Tauentzienstr. 21—24; 011-49-30-2121-0).
DON'T MISS: The incredible selection of German Rieslings in the Weine section.
Moscow
YELISEYEVSKY
A recent $3 million makeover has returned this landmark 1901 emporium to its original czarist splendor, with crystal chandeliers and Art Nouveau stained glass. There are dozens of different caviars, imported Cognacs and prepared delicacies like Siberian meat dumplings and Georgian cheese pies (14 Tverskaya Ulitsa).
DON'T MISS: The traditional jam-filled gingerbread from the city of Tula.
Helsinki
KAUPPATORI MARKET
Bright piles of cloudberries and lingonberries, iridescent-green peas and baskets of potatoes that seem far too pretty to eat line this harborside market. In the summer, competing scents include those of innumerable lilacs, roasted meat pies and cinnamon buns (east end of Esplanadi).
DON'T MISS: The smoked-reindeer sandwiches from one of the indoor market stalls.
Manaus, Brazil
MERCADO MUNICIPAL
Imagine an 1882 wrought-iron replica of Paris's vanished Les Halles market in an eco-tourist Amazonian town. Vendors scale giant fish and hawk tropical fruit and potions for use in macumba, an Afro-Brazilian religion (Rua dos Barés 46; 011-55-92-233-0469).
DON'T MISS: The indigenous beige-and-black straw baskets.
NICE, FRANCE
COURS SALEYA
The market showcases the best of Southern France—lavender honey, violet-tipped artichokes and bright marzipan fruit—on a promenade by the sea.
ISTANBUL
BALIK PAZARI,
Set in a building fashioned after 19th-century Parisian arcades, this market features open sacks of spices and henna, briny grape leaves and tubs of silvery Black Sea mackerel (Istikâl Caddesi at Sahne Sokak, Beyoglu).
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