Mexico: Guadalajara, Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende

1. Day 1: Arrive in Guadalajara

   Guadalajara International Airport to your hotel in the historic centre

   • Drive about 36 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Guadalajara
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Guadalajara International Airport (GDL), about 20 km south of the centre, where a driver meets you in the arrivals hall with your name and your tracked flight time, so nobody waits at the kerb. The drive to our central hotel takes 30 to 45 minutes. 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. 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.

   Included

   • 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

   Free time: Free until the late-afternoon briefing

   Activity: About 2 km of flat walking in the evening.

2. Day 2: Tequila and the agave fields, then Tlaquepaque

   Guadalajara to Tequila and back, then Tlaquepaque

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Guadalajara
   Day 2 details

   We leave at 8:30 am for Tequila, about 65 km north-west, a drive of a little over an hour past the Tequila volcano into hills of blue agave. This landscape and its old distilleries were listed by UNESCO in 2006. In a field a jimador shows how the plant is harvested after years of growth: the leaves sliced away with a coa, a flat round-bladed tool, to leave the heavy heart, the piña. At a working distillery we follow the piñas from the ovens to the stills, then taste blanco, reposado and añejo side by side, with water and soft drinks for anyone who prefers not to drink. 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. Dinner there is your choice.

   Included

   • 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

   Free time: Late afternoon free; dinner your choice

   Activity: Short walks in the fields and the distillery, on uneven ground.

   

3. Day 3: The Orozco murals, then into the Bajío

   Guadalajara to Lagos de Moreno, then Guanajuato

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Guanajuato
   Day 3 details

   We are at the Hospicio Cabañas when it opens, around 10 am. Built in the early 1800s as a hospice for orphans and the poor, it was listed by UNESCO in 1997 for its courtyards and for the murals José Clemente Orozco painted inside between 1936 and 1939, with the Man of Fire filling the main dome. Benches let you lie back and look straight up at it. 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. The evening is free to find your feet in the alleys around the hotel.

   Included

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

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: The Hospicio Cabañas is closed on Mondays, so departures never start on a Wednesday, Friday or Saturday.

4. Day 4: Guanajuato on foot and a callejoneada

   A walking day in Guanajuato

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Guanajuato
   Day 4 details

   Guanajuato grew in a narrow ravine over rich silver veins, and its centre is best seen on foot while the traffic runs through tunnels underneath. UNESCO listed the town and its mines in 1988. From the Jardín de la Unión we go into the Teatro Juárez, opened in 1903, to see its Moorish-style auditorium, then climb to the yellow Basílica and the long steps of the University. Your guide leads you through the alleys to the Callejón del Beso, where balconies on either side almost touch, and on to the Alhóndiga de Granaditas, the granary stormed by Hidalgo's insurgents in 1810, now the regional museum. 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. 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.

   Included

   • 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

   Easier option: Skip the callejoneada's climbs: watch it set off from the Jardín de la Unión and walk back to the hotel on the flat.

   More active option: Walk up to the Pípila by the stepped alleys instead of the funicular, about 15 steep minutes.

   Free time: Afternoon free

   Activity: About 6 km on steep cobbles and steps at about 2,000 m. The Alhóndiga closes on Mondays and the Teatro Juárez may too; departures are set so this day is never a Monday.

   

5. Day 5: The silver mines of La Valenciana

   Guanajuato to La Valenciana and back

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Guanajuato
   Day 5 details

   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. 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.

   Included

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

   Optional experiences

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

   Easier option: Stay at the shaft head and skip the underground gallery, which has uneven steps and low ceilings.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: The mine visit goes a short way underground on uneven, sometimes wet steps; wear shoes with grip.

6. Day 6: Dolores Hidalgo, then San Miguel de Allende

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

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in San Miguel de Allende
   Day 6 details

   We leave Guanajuato at about 9 am on the road over the Sierra de Santa Rosa, through oak woods with views back over the valley, and reach Dolores Hidalgo in about an hour and a quarter. 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. After a sit-down lunch we drive about 40 km south to San Miguel de Allende, arriving mid-afternoon with time to rest. 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.

   Included

   • 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

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: San Miguel sits at about 1,900 m and its streets are steep cobbles; the walk is about 3 km. The Casa de Hidalgo is listed by most sources as closed on Mondays; departures are set so this day is never a Monday.

7. Day 7: Atotonilco and a hot-springs morning

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

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in San Miguel de Allende
   Day 7 details

   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. 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.

   Included

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

   Optional experiences

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

   Easier option: Skip the pools and sit in the gardens, or take the van back to town after Atotonilco.

   Free time: Lunch, afternoon and evening free

   Activity: Bring a swimsuit and a towel; the pools are warm, the air can be cool in the morning.

8. Day 8: A day in Querétaro

   San Miguel de Allende to Querétaro and back

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in San Miguel de Allende
   Day 8 details

   We leave at about 9 am for Querétaro, about 65 km south-east and an hour and a quarter away, a larger city whose historic centre UNESCO listed in 1996. We start at the viewpoint over the aqueduct, whose 74 stone arches were built in the 1720s and 1730s to carry water into the town. Then your guide walks you through the pedestrian streets of the centre: the Plaza de Armas; the house of Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, the Corregidora, whose warning in 1810 made Hidalgo start his rising early; the Templo de San Francisco; and the Templo de Santa Rosa de Viterbo, with flying buttresses outside and gilded altarpieces within. We pass the Teatro de la República, where the 1917 Constitution was proclaimed. Lunch is a sit-down meal in the centre, with enchiladas queretanas or gorditas. 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.

   Included

   • 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

   Free time: Late afternoon free

   Activity: About 4 km of flat walking in Querétaro.

9. Day 9: 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

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   Day 9 details

   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. 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.

   Included

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

   Easier option: Flying from Querétaro (QRO)? We drop you there after the Cerro de las Campanas, about 30 minutes away.

   Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 8 pm from Mexico City; 7 pm is the earliest we advise.

   

Wildlife and weather: October to April is dry and sunny, with warm afternoons and cold mornings and nights in December and January in Guanajuato and San Miguel, at about 2,000 m. April and May are the hottest months. From June to September afternoon storms are common, so mornings carry the walking. The Cervantino festival in October and Día de Muertos fill hotels.

• Guadalajara2 nights
• Guanajuato3 nights
• San Miguel de Allende3 nights