Mexico: Guadalajara, Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende

Arrive in Guadalajara

Guadalajara International Airport to your hotel in the historic centre

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Guadalajara
• Environ 36 min de route

Après-midi

Plan to land by about 2 pm to join the late-afternoon walk; the exact latest arrival is confirmed with your final itinerary. At about 5 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the week, then we walk the old centre while the light is soft: the Plaza de Armas and its iron bandstand, the twin spires of the cathedral, and the stairwell of the Palacio de Gobierno, where José Clemente Orozco painted Miguel Hidalgo with a raised torch above the steps. Guadalajara sits at about 1,560 m, so evenings are cool for much of the season.

Soir

Dinner is a welcome meal at a local restaurant, with birria, the slow-cooked Jalisco stew, or a torta ahogada, a pork roll drowned in tomato and chile sauce.

Compris

• Pick-up at Guadalajara International Airport (GDL)
• Welcome briefing with your guide
• Evening walk: the Plaza de Armas, the cathedral and the Orozco mural in the Palacio de Gobierno
• Welcome dinner

Tequila and the agave fields, then Tlaquepaque

Guadalajara to Tequila and back, then Tlaquepaque

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Guadalajara
• Environ 3 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal in the town of Tequila, followed by a short walk around its plaza and parish church. We are back in Guadalajara by about 3 pm for a rest. At 5 pm we drive 20 minutes to Tlaquepaque, a town of pottery and blown-glass workshops now inside the city, to walk Calle Independencia and hear mariachis in El Parián, the square where they play most evenings.

Soir

Dinner there is your choice.

Compris

• Jimador demonstration in the agave fields near Tequila
• Distillery visit with a local guide and a tasting of blanco, reposado and añejo
• Sit-down lunch in Tequila and a walk around the town
• Tlaquepaque in the evening: Calle Independencia and El Parián

The Orozco murals, then into the Bajío

Guadalajara to Lagos de Moreno, then Guanajuato

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Guanajuato
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Après-midi

At about 11:45 we set off east on the toll road, roughly two hours to Lagos de Moreno, a quiet colonial town of pink stone, where we stop for a sit-down lunch at the usual Mexican hour, around 2 pm, and a short walk to its parish church. The last stretch, about an hour and a half past León and Silao, climbs into the hills and through the road tunnels into Guanajuato, arriving in the late afternoon. This is one of the two longest drives of the trip, about 3.5 hours in all, and lunch breaks it in the middle.

Soir

The evening is free to find your feet in the alleys around the hotel.

Compris

• Hospicio Cabañas and the Orozco murals with your guide
• Sit-down lunch in Lagos de Moreno and a walk to the parish church

Guanajuato on foot and a callejoneada

A walking day in Guanajuato

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Guanajuato

Après-midi

Lunch is at the Mercado Hidalgo, an iron-framed market hall, with enchiladas mineras, the miners' dish, or guacamayas, rolls filled with crackling. The afternoon is free.

Soir

Before sunset the funicular lifts us to the Pípila monument for the view across the coloured houses, and after dark we join a callejoneada: student minstrels in Spanish-era capes lead a walk through the alleys, singing and telling the legends of the streets.

Compris

• Guided walk of Guanajuato: the Teatro Juárez (inside), the Basílica, the University, the Callejón del Beso
• The Alhóndiga de Granaditas museum
• Lunch at the Mercado Hidalgo
• The funicular to the Pípila viewpoint at sunset
• Evening callejoneada with student minstrels

The silver mines of La Valenciana

Guanajuato to La Valenciana and back

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Guanajuato
• Environ 30 min de route

Matin

In the late 18th century the Valenciana mine, on the hill above town, was among the richest silver mines in the world, and this morning we go up to see what it paid for. We leave at about 9:30 am for the 15-minute drive. The Templo de San Cayetano, finished in 1788 for the mine's owner, holds three gilded altarpieces carved from floor to vault in the churrigueresque style; your guide explains where the silver went and who did the work. Next door a local guide takes us to a historic mine, from the shaft head a short way underground along a narrow gallery, to show how ore was raised and how hard and dangerous the work was. We are back in the centre by about 12:30, and the rest of the day is yours.

Après-midi

Many people visit the Museo Casa Diego Rivera, the house where the painter was born in 1886, or the Mummy Museum; others take a long lunch on a small plaza or go back to a favourite alley. Your guide is around for suggestions.

Compris

• The Templo de San Cayetano at La Valenciana with your guide
• Guided visit to a historic silver mine with a local guide

Activités en option

• The Museo Casa Diego Rivera and the Mummy Museum (entry prices shown when you book)

Dolores Hidalgo, then San Miguel de Allende

Guanajuato over the Sierra de Santa Rosa to Dolores Hidalgo, then San Miguel de Allende

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : San Miguel de Allende
• Environ 2 h de route

Matin

From the parish church here, before dawn on 16 September 1810, the priest Miguel Hidalgo called his parishioners to rise against Spanish rule, the cry the president repeats every year on the eve of Independence Day. We see the church and Hidalgo's house, now a museum, visit a Talavera workshop where tiles and plates are painted by hand, and try the ice cream sold on the main square in flavours from avocado to tequila.

Après-midi

After a sit-down lunch we drive about 40 km south to San Miguel de Allende, arriving mid-afternoon with time to rest.

Soir

At about 5 pm your guide walks you through the centre: the Jardín Principal, the pink stone spires of the Parroquia, the Oratorio de San Felipe Neri and the Templo de San Francisco, ending as the Parroquia lights up at dusk.

Compris

• Dolores Hidalgo: the parish church of the Grito and the Casa de Hidalgo museum
• A Talavera workshop visit
• Sit-down lunch in Dolores Hidalgo
• Guided walk of San Miguel de Allende: the Jardín Principal, the Parroquia, San Felipe Neri and San Francisco

Atotonilco and a hot-springs morning

San Miguel de Allende to Atotonilco and the hot springs, then back

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : San Miguel de Allende
• Environ 45 min de route

Matin

A slow morning in the country. At about 9 am we drive 20 minutes north to the Sanctuary of Jesús Nazareno de Atotonilco, founded in 1740 and listed by UNESCO with San Miguel in 2008. Its walls and vaults are covered in paintings by Antonio Martínez de Pocasangre, worked over about three decades, which is why it is often called the Sistine Chapel of Mexico. It is still a pilgrimage church, so we go early and quietly, before most visitors arrive. In 1810 Hidalgo took a banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe from here as the flag of his rising. From there it is a few minutes to a hot-springs park on the same road, where pools of naturally warm water sit in gardens; at La Gruta a tunnel leads to a domed cave pool. Soak for a couple of hours, then we are back in town by about 1 pm.

Après-midi

Lunch and the afternoon are free: the Fábrica La Aurora, an old textile mill now full of studios and galleries, the craft market, or a long lunch on a rooftop.

Compris

• The Sanctuary of Atotonilco with your guide
• Entry to a hot-springs park on the Dolores road

Activités en option

• A Mexican cooking class in San Miguel in the afternoon (price shown when you book)

A day in Querétaro

San Miguel de Allende to Querétaro and back

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : San Miguel de Allende
• Environ 2.5 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal in the centre, with enchiladas queretanas or gorditas.

Soir

We are back in San Miguel by about 4 pm, with time to rest before the farewell dinner, a long table at a restaurant in the centre with the people you have travelled with.

Compris

• The aqueduct viewpoint in Querétaro
• Guided walk of Querétaro's historic centre: the Plaza de Armas, the Corregidora's house, San Francisco and Santa Rosa de Viterbo
• Sit-down lunch in Querétaro
• Farewell dinner in San Miguel de Allende

Cerro de las Campanas and on to Mexico City

San Miguel de Allende to Cerro de las Campanas in Querétaro, then Mexico City International Airport

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Environ 4 h de route

Matin

A last breakfast in San Miguel, then at about 9 am we head for Mexico City. The first stop, about an hour and a quarter away on the edge of Querétaro, breaks the road. We saw the aqueduct and centre yesterday; today is just the hill: the Cerro de las Campanas, the hill where Emperor Maximilian of Habsburg was executed by firing squad with two of his generals on 19 June 1867, ending the French intervention. A small chapel built by the Austrian government marks the spot, and a large statue of Benito Juárez looks out from the top of the park, beside the main campus of the state university. We saved it for today because it sits by the highway.

Après-midi

After a short walk we continue south, with a sit-down lunch on the way, and reach Mexico City International Airport (MEX) by mid to late afternoon, depending on Mexico City traffic, roughly 285 km and four hours of driving from San Miguel in all. Your guide checks your flight before saying goodbye. If you are staying on in Mexico City we can drop you at a central hotel instead, or at Querétaro airport (QRO) after the first stop.

Compris

• Cerro de las Campanas and the Maximilian chapel
• Sit-down lunch on the way
• Drop-off at Mexico City International Airport (MEX)