Guanajuato Travel Forum

What would be your suggestions for my whirlwind tour? I'm a photographer and the city looks drop-dead-beautiful, so I'd like to go to some of the more photogenic places. Also would like to get in a wee bit of shopping. I've heard that university students can be hired to guide you about the city. True? If so, what would be a fair price to pay?

There are lots of tourist guides offering their services, including kids that would charge a small tip. I would suggest a city tour that takes about 3 or 4 hours with a guided tour and you'll see most of it.

Good Luck.

Guanajuato is one of the most picturesque cities in Mexico, and just walking around will afford you all sorts of opportunities for pictures. The old churches are particularly photogenic in the afternoon light, and be sure to walk some of the pedestrian-only "callejones" that meander up the canyon walls. There are small plazas with fountains all over the center of the city, and if you walk up tree-shaded Paseo de la Presa toward the lake, you will see some impressive colonial mansions. If you want a good overall picture, head for the road that follows the canyon rim above the city. The view from the Pipila statue is good, depending on the light. Hope for sunshine!

As for shopping, there are small shops all along the street that passes in front of the Theatre and the main plaza (Jardin de la Union). Turning your back on the plaza and heading a bit to your right, then left, will take you within sight of the municipal market (mercado central). The building itself is beautiful. It was imported from Europe, designed by Brunel, and the cupola is by Gustav Eiffel. Inside the market, you will see colorful stalls of fruit and vegetables and all manner of other products. Be sure to go in the morning when it's more active. There are many inexpensive shops across the street from the market.

To locate a guide from the university in the summer might be difficult because the students are on vacation. You might check with Academia Falcon, one of the private Spanish schools that also teaches English to local students. Email: infalcon@academiafalcon.com You could also just get a good map, either before you go or at the tourist office, which should be listed online.

There are a couple of places that guides always want to take you which are not really that interesting photographically and take a lot of time. One is the "Momias" or mummies, dessicated bodies of the dead that were exhumed and placed on display when their families failed to pay for their burial plots. Every guide in the city will want to take you there. Unless you have a taste for the morbid, skip it. The other is the Alondiga de Granaditas, a large stone building that played an important part in the independence movement and is now a historical museum. Guides love to show you the hooks where the heads of Padre Hidalgo and his cohorts hung for ten years, but the building is not that impressive.

Buen viaje!

Martha Racine Taylor, Author of Live It and Learn It! The Complete Guide to Language Immersion Schools in Mexico

Wow Martha. Your tips make me definitely want to go back to Guanajuato for a return visit. I only did a day trip there last year, and have been thinking about going for about a week sometime this winter/early spring.