Guadalajara
Standing proudly at the eastern end of dramatic Plaza Tapatía is one of Guadalajara’s architectural landmarks, and a Unesco World Heritage site since 1997…
Must-see attractions in Western Central Highlands
Western Central Highlands
Volcán Nevado de Colima (4260m) is accessible on foot from the last week of October till the first week of June. Patches of pine forest cover Nevado’s…
Guadalajara
Guadalajara’s cathedral is the city’s most conspicuous landmark with distinctive neo-Gothic towers built after an earthquake toppled the originals in…
Guachimontones Archaeological Site
Guadalajara
Just 40km west of Guadalajara is the fascinating and distinctive archaeological site known as Guachimontones – one of the only ancient ruins in the world…
Morelia
Morelia’s cathedral, considered by many to be the country's most beautiful, dominates the city center, where it flanks rather than faces the central plaza…
Guadalajara
One of the city's most important churches, the Basílica de Zapopan, built in 1730, is home to Nuestra Señora de Zapopan, a petite statue of the Virgin…
Guadalajara Region
If you have time for only one distillery tour while in Tequila country, make it this one. Here you'll see the entire process, from piña harvesting to…
Museo Regional de Historia de Colima
Western Central Highlands
This excellent museum in a colonial era casona (mansion) has an extensive collection of well-labeled artifacts spanning the region’s history, from ancient…
Guadalajara
On Thursday and Sunday, Tonalá bursts into a huge street market that sprouts on Avenida Tonaltecas and crawls through dozens of streets and alleys and…
Guadalajara
This superb collection of over 500 pieces of national folk art is housed in a converted religious mission and includes well-displayed miniature figurines,…
Centro Cultural Juan Beckman Gallardo
Guadalajara Region
Opened in 2018, this gorgeous colonial-style cultural center is home to a modern museum with well-curated exhibits on the history and culture of the…
Morelia
This 18th-century palace, originally a seminary and now housing Michoacán state government offices, has a simple baroque facade. Inside, its soaring…
Morelia
From 1660 to 1767, the Palacio Clavijero, with its magnificent minimalist main patio, imposing colonnades and pink stonework, was home to the Jesuit…
Western Central Highlands
Comala’s obligatory sight is this former home of Mexican artist Alejandro Rangel Hidalgo (1923–2000), which now contains a museum dedicated to the man’s…
Western Central Highlands
Overlooking Comala and Colima, 23km and 30km to the north respectively, is smoking Volcán de Fuego (3820m), Mexico’s most active volcano. It has erupted…
Guadalajara Region
Free Spanish- and English-language tours are available at the high-end 100% agave distillery Tres Mujeres, where some 40 different tequilas are produced,…
Guadalajara
Just south of Avenida Javier Mina and the Mercado San Juan de Dios, this is the very birthplace of mariachi music. By day it’s just a narrow walking…
Museo Universitario de Artes Populares
Western Central Highlands
Colima's best museum, this is a showcase for folk art including a superb collection of masks, mojigangas (giant puppets), musical instruments, baskets and…
Guadalajara
Among the best of the many ceramics museums in the greater Guadalajara region, this one focuses largely on works from Tonalá, arguably the finest in…
Morelia
Housed in a dozen rooms of a renovated late-18th-century baroque palace, this museum contains an impressive array of pre-Hispanic artifacts, including a…
Guadalajara
Guadalajara's most important museum tells the story of the city and the surrounding region, somewhat haphazardly, from prehistory to the revolution…
Reserva de la Biosfera Sierra de Manantlán
Western Central Highlands
A 1396-sq-km swath of the jungle-clad limestone mountains northwest of the city of Colima is protected by Unesco as critical habitat. It is certainly…
Guadalajara
The golden-hued Palacio de Gobierno, which houses the Jalisco state government offices, was finished in 1774 and is well worth visiting to see two…
Santuario de la Virgen de Guadalupe
Morelia
A standard baroque structure on the outside dating from 1708 to 1716, this hushed sanctuary to Mexico's patron is a different story within. Get ready for…
Colegio de San Nicolás de Hidalgo
Morelia
This building is now part of the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, which produced such scholars as Morelos, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and…
Guadalajara Region
Las Piedrotas are a large and impressive group of rock formations set in cow pastures in what's called the Valle de las Enigmas about 6km north of town…
Morelia
This museum, arguably Morelia's best on the subject of José María Morelos y Pavón, resides in the former house of the independence hero, who bought the…
Guadalajara Region
The Casa Sauza estate invokes Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic fairy tale The Secret Garden. The colonial-style grounds are adorned with Italianate…
Museo Nacional de la Escultura Sebastián
Western Central Highlands
Housed in an eye-catching steel and glass structure, the 'National Sculpture Museum Sebastián' is a two room gallery showcasing over 70 works, most by one…
La Campana Archaeological Site
Western Central Highlands
The low, pyramid-like structures at this bell-shaped (thus campana) archaeological site date from as early as 1500 BC. They have been excavated since the…
Guadalajara
Three blocks west of Parque Revolución is this museum of contemporary art housed in a French Renaissance building (1917) that once served as the…
Museo de Arte Huichol (Wixarika)
Guadalajara
This small but surprisingly informative museum has a worthwhile display of artifacts from the Huichol (or Wixarika) people, an indigenous group known for…
Guadalajara Region
El Tépalo waterfall can be reached on foot from Ajijic. From the center follow Guerra and Encarnación Rosas north, then turn right on Callejón al Tépalo;…
Guadalajara Region
Don’t miss this school for special-needs kids dedicated to teaching self-confidence along with computer and art skills. Wonderful recycled art is made by…
Morelia
This ambitious museum contains five rooms chock-a-block with religious paintings and sculptures, including more than 100 depictions of the crucified…
Western Central Highlands
Some 4km northeast of Colima, this extensive, manicured site was settled some time around 1300 BC, reaching its zenith between AD 1100 and 1400. There are…
Templo Expiatorio del Santísimo Sacramento
Guadalajara
This dramatic neo-Gothic church, begun in 1897 but not completed until 1972, dominates the neighborhood thanks to its enormous stone columns, 15m-high…
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Alfredo Zalce
Morelia
Modern-art fans might find something interesting at this art museum in Morelia's city park named for the Michoacano artist and muralist Alfredo Zalce …
Guadalajara Region
Two kilometers south of Tequila sits the beautiful Hacienda La Cofradia estate where the 100% blue agave Casa Noble tequila brand is distilled. The…
Guadalajara
Construction of this neoclassical theater, which is home to the Guadalajara Philharmonic, was begun in 1855 and completed four decades later. Above the…
