Where to shop, spa, stay, and explore in Loreto, a charming town in Baja California Sur.
Whether your favourite pastime is shopping, sailing, or spa time, Loreto in Baja California Sur has you covered. Love history, hiking, or horseback riding? You can find your kind of fun just outside of town, on your own, or with a top-notch local guide.
A sunrise walk to the seawall
WHERE TO SHOP IN LORETO
The main historic walking street in Loreto is Juan Maria de Salvatierra. A stroll along the shaded street from the town square to Calle Independencia takes about five minutes if you aren’t shopping. If you are, it can take a lot longer. Stop by pretty pink Plaza Julieta for glass ornaments, shirts and sunhats. 
Plaza Julieta has several fine shopsMake sure to walk to the back, through the shady atrium to find all the shops. Further along Salvatierra you’ll find a wide range of souvenir shops selling everything from leather goods to luchador wrestler masks. For quality hand-painted ceramics, 3D tin artwork and magical wooden creatures from Oaxaca called alebrije head to the modern Plaza Mision Loreto near Calle Independencia.
SIESTA AT THE SPA
Las Flores Spa & Boutique could not be more central, or more lovely. Located directly across from the butter-hued City Hall building in the square, Las Flores Spa offers facials, massages (including couple’s massages) and body treatments made from cactus, aloe vera and prickly pear. Their signature organic products are made in Iztapalapa. The boutique carries high-quality contemporary Mexican clothing for men and women. My massage was so relaxing I was tempted to drift into dreamland.
Cool and comfortable dresses are nice souvenirs
“The main historic walking street in Loreto is Juan Maria de Salvatierra and great for shopping.”
DON’T MISS THE MISSIONS
When the Jesuits arrived in 1697 one of their tasks was to build a Camino Real, a Royal Road for Charles II of Spain–without a budget. Luckily, they had soldiers to do the work, at first. Unluckily for the local Indigenous tribes, they were the ones eventually conscripted to build roads, aqueducts and stone churches. Many missions fell into disrepair but the ones that remain are both austere and evocative. Most of their treasures were carried away to missions along the camino that ends in San Francisco, but the remaining missions are each unique in their own way.
Our Lady of Loreto Mission
The original mission, Our Lady of Loreto, can be easily visited in town at most times of the day. Services are held regularly and there is a museum attached dedicated to its Jesuit founders. The most well-preserved is Mission San Francisco Javier Vigge-Biaundo, about 50 minutes southwest of Loreto. The paved road follows the original camino through rolling hills.
Photos Courtesy of: Debora Smith
Debra Smith
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