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City and municipality in Guanajuato, Mexico
Photo: Asenetp, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Guanajuato is a city in the Bajio region of central Mexico and is the capital city of the state bearing the same name. It is 390 km (about 250 miles) northwest of Mexico City. The name of the city means "Place of Frogs" in the local indigenous language and therefore the frog is the city's official pet.
From the travel guide. Select a place for details, a map and what is nearby.
Basílica Colegiata de Nuestra Señora de Guanajuato
Built from 1671 to 1696. Inside this church there is a 1000-year-old statue donated by Spanish King Charles I who tried to protect it from the Arab invasion in Spain.
Templo de la Compañía de Jesús / Oratorio San Felipe Neri
Built between 1747 and 1765.
Built in 1726, this was a Jesuit school in the latter half of the 18th century.
Iglesia de San Diego
This is the only surviving building from the original 17th-century convent, with a splendid rococo exterior.
Templo de San Francisco
A former Franciscan convent, built between 1792-1828.
Templo de la Valenciana / Templo de San Cayetano Confesor
Built from 1765-1788 with funding from the rich silver mines, this is considered to be one of the best examples of Mexican Churrigueresque architecture. Particularly noteworthy are the finely-carved, elaborate altars covered in gold leaf.
A 28-m-tall statue of an independence hero. Juan Jose Martinez, or also known as El Pípila, was a legendary hero who wore a stone slab on his back to protect himself while burning the Spanish troops holed up in the Alhóndiga, or granary, in September 1810. The view is beautiful, particularly at night.
The architecture of this theater is part Neoclassical and part Moorish, making it a really beautiful building. Inaugurated in 1903 by President Porfirio Díaz.
This space was built as the atrium for a 17th-century convent, of which the Templo de San Diego is the sole surviving building. It now functions as the central plaza, and always has a lot of things going on, day and night. There are a number of restaurants surrounding the garden, and in the afternoons and evening there free concerts are often given from the central gazebo.
An 18th-century neoclassical theatre that used to host vaudville-style comedies. Used as a cinema in the early 20th century, renovated and reinaugurated in 1955. Now operated by the University of Guanajuato and used as a venue for dance performances and for the Festival Cervantino.
Alley of the Kiss
Two balconies separated by only 69 centimeters is home of an old love legend. For a few pennies some children will tell you the story.
Regional Museum of Guanajuato
This building is where the independence revolutionaries burned the Spanish troops, and now houses a museum devoted to the history of the region, as well as an important photographic library.
Teacher's school. The building also houses an English language lending library open Tuesday and Thursday.
Congreso del Estado de Guanajuato
It was built as the city hall in 1903 and inaugurated by President Porfirio Díaz.
Small, secluded, colorful plaza around a central fountain with narrow callejons leading off it.
Beautiful town square in front of the Basilica. Cafes in the area, good people watching spot.
Lively town square with sidewalk cafes and bars.
Dam of La Olla
Built in 1749 to supply fresh water to the town. In this place you can rent a little boat. There's also a park and a great statue of Miguel Hidalgo casted in Italy also inaugurated by President Porfirio Díaz in the early 1900s. This area is very tranquil and quiet to have a break.
There is a 3-4 story series of steps that lead up to an auditorium, offering good views over the colonial city.
The first mine of Guanajuato, discovered in 1550.
The richest mine in Guanajuato still in operation today. It supplied enough silver to sponsor the Spanish Empire and its colonies.
Museo de las Momias
A must if you're in Guanajuato. In 1910, due to the overcrowding of the local graveyard, the authorities were forced to exhume several bodies and when they did that they found the bodies had turned into mummies rather than fully decomposing. After that they founded this really strange and unique museum.
The birthplace of Diego Rivera, a well-preserved traditional Mexican residence. Be sure to check out the collections of his simple, socialist-inspired works.
Museo Iconografico del Quijote
Small, but very well done. Art exhibits focused on Don Quixote.
Casa de las Leyendas
Exhibits about local myths, legends, and folklore with stories behind local oddities, like the infamous mummies, as told through animotronics.
Sort of house of horrors that's sweet in its corniness. Inside this house a woman was buried alive inside the walls. The tour is conducted (appropriately enough) in Spanish and will be difficult to understand for those not fairly fluent, though the sights are self-explanatory and the gasps and screams comprehensible in any language.
Museo del Pueblo de Guanajuato
Three floor museum with many historical artifacts and artworks about the city of Guanajuato.
From 1962 to 1987 this was the home of Canadian artist Gene Byron.
Hacienda del Cochero Galeras de la Inquisición
Features dungeons and torture instruments. Tour guides are required;;they dress as monks.
Galeria Mariana
Museo de Mineralogía Eduardo Villaseñor Söhle
One of the richest collection of minerals in the world. Ex-hacienda de San Matias.
Museo Dieguino
The underground excavated remains of the original 17th-century cloister, of which the Templo de San Diego is the surviving remnant today. Occasionally photography and art exhibits are also hosted in this space.
Museo Alfredo Dugès
Small but interesting collection of animal and human specimens. Many stuffed animals and some grisly body parts in jars of formaldehyde.
Small museum about the Spanish Inquisition, displays feature a number of macabre torture devices.
Holy Week
Easter is considered to be the most important religious holiday here, and commences with celebrations honoring Viernes de Dolores (Our Lady of Sorrows) on the final Friday of Lent. During the following week special altars are built and displayed in churches, public plazas, and in shops and homes. On Viernes Santo (Good Friday) at midday the Passion of the Christ is reenacted in front of the basilica, and in the evening the Procesíon de Silencio (Silent Procession) winds through the streets. Many tourists visit from other parts of Mexico at this time, and room rates are generally double.
An annual event since 2005, this festival celebrates music, dance, and art from the 5th to 15th centuries, with participants hailing from across Mexico.
Guillermo Pinto Reyes International Organ Festival
Named in honor of Mexican organist and composer Guillermo Reyes Pinto, this annual festival celebrates the city's many historic church organs, some of which date to the 16th and 17th centuries. Distinguished Mexican and international musicians are invited to perform, and all concerts are free to the public. The festival is organized by the Guanajuato Ministry of Culture; updated information is available at the Tourist Office.
An annual short film festival, co-hosted by the nearby city of San Miguel de Allende. Hundreds of films from nearly all genres are screened in venues including the Teatro Principal and movie theaters, as well as in alternative settings including the city cemetery. Most films are subtitled in Spanish and English.
Cervantino
This annual festival began as a series of weekly informal Cervantes comedy performances, and since then has grown to become one of Guanajuato's most celebrated events. The festival has a full program including theater, dance, and musical performances, and attracts both Mexican and international artists. Tickets can be purchased from StubHub or at the box office of Teatro Juarez, while outdoor performances in the plazas are free to the public. The dates and schedule for the festival are set in June; prices for hotel rooms generally double during this time.
Facilities include an indoor Olympic-sized pool, a diving pool, and an on-site gym.
Guanajuato and nearby León host the Mexican round of the World Rally Championship.
Funicular Panorámico
Ride the funicular to the top of the mountain where the statue of the "Pipila" is located. No pets, no bicycles.
It's a great place to find a wide variety of regional dishes at affordable prices. Vendors sell local specialties like enchiladas mineras or enchiladas cervantinas, as well as regional favorites like huaraches and pambazo. You can get a main dish for M$60-80. There are also eateries on the second floor. You see pictures of the dishes, which makes it easier to choose.
You get typical Mexican food like tlacoyos, gorditas, quesadillas and so on for the local price. There is one taco stall with meat, that you rarely find elsewhere.
There are black colored gorditas and there is a big variety of what you want on your sopes or gorditas for M$15. The tlacoyos for M$10 are wonderfully soft. You can also buy the black gorditas and sopes without anything on it for take-away and then preparing it in your accommodation by yourself. The food stall has a red color.
In the centro historico near the Qijote museum. You get very good tamales for M$8 each. You can choose between piña, mole, pollo, queso and prensado. It's popular amongst the locals.
Delicious
You get the "student" pasta without being a student for M$55. You can choose between Bolognese, chicken or mushrooms and add a sauce of your choice.
Chinese food. It has a big variety of meat that you can choose from. You get a main dish with spaghetti and/or rice with one kind of meat for M$70. There is another Comida China for the same price opposite of the Sr. Spaguetti that is open daily 11:00-19:30.
Coffee, tea, a mixed foreign and Mexican crowd, and high speed wireless internet access. It's between 5-10 minutes from Teatro Juarez up the main street towards the baseball stadium, just up the street from Bar Fly. The owner, an American expat, plays French horn in the city orchestra. Although it serves some distinctly Mexican drinks and snacks, it also has a much wider selection of tea and coffee drinks familiar to Americans and difficult to find in Guanajuato. (Tea is pretty unsatisfactory in the city, not so here. And they understand the concept of iced tea.) They also have low cost international calling and tasty snacks. Before lunch, a bakery a few doors down has a wider selection of pastries and rolls.
Can't make it down to Oaxaca this trip? Try this cheap and delicious Oaxacan taqueria right here in Guanajuato.
They have bagels, Mexican food, coffee drinks and teas. It is not expensive and it has its own bar. They often have live music at night.
Small, traditional café serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Popular with residents and visitors.
If you are looking for some after-clubbing late-night/early morning food, try some of their delicious quesadillas.
Delica Mitsu serves up homemade Japanese delicatessen "sozai", sushi rolls, grilled chicken, and more. Many of the dishes are made from vegetables only, so vegetarians will also feel at home at this tiny restaurant owned and operated by a sweet Japanese couple. Popular with tourists and locals, there are new items on the menu everyday which are sure to keep you coming back time and time again.
Fusion cafe offering vegetarian options. House-made chai, delicious coffee, muffins, and falafel.
Fabulous food at mid-range prices with a great atmosphere. A fine dining restaurant and art gallery combined.
Serves classic Mexican dishes in a lovely terrace and courtyard.
Features Mexican and American food at a decent price. They have tortilla soup, enchiladas, and hamburgers. They have excellent aguas frescas and milkshakes. Try the strawberry, it comes with cinnamon in it.
If you want cheap food and free internet access visit Santo Café which features a sweet little bridge upon which you can eat. The food here is very clean and you needn't worry about having fresh fruits or salads.
The beautiful Plaza Mexíamora host this unique café, where you can find peaceful atmosphere with an excellent coffee, classical music, interesting books in English and Spanish, and delicious desserts and baguettes. A very Mexican place with an international taste.
Traditional Mexican restaurant with cozy dining room filled with quirky decor. Excellent food with several regional dishes. House specialty is the enchiladas.
Upscale restaurant inside the Villa Maria Cristina.
Tapas restaurant with Mediterranean roots, but melded with locally sourced ingredients and flavors. Reservations recommended.
A small dive bar with a psychedelic video on loop near the main church. It's notable in that it has the best pulque in town. Well worth a visit if you haven't tried the local drink.
Has a younger crowd. The staff is friendly and gets to know their customers. There is reggae music as well as lamp shades made out of solo cups. A definite must-see. If you are young and female, the staff will flirt unabashedly, but they're harmless and worth getting to know. If they know you are in Mexico to learn Spanish (whether you tell them or your teacher does) they won't speak English to you at all.
Known for having giant, delicious margaritas and good food. They also do 2 for 1 drinks on Tuesdays, but if you're a girl, or at least with a girl, you pretty much get 2 for 1 drinks all the time.
Try out your Spanish, but don't worry, they have songs in English too.
Another favorite of locals and tourists. It is even bigger than Capitolio and boasts two levels. It is always packed on weekends, with the same type of crowd as Capitolio. Although it plays similar music to what you hear in Capitolio, it tends to play more electronic and techno music. It also offers great drink specials, especially on bottles.
Another chill bar that plays unique latino indie-rock and reggae. It's a good place to hang out and play pool. The bartenders are very sociable and entertaining. Why Not is open later than Bar Fly and is often the after hours destination of the Bar Fly crowd and staff.
A great bar in the Jardín Unión, they have live music from Wednesday to Saturday. Great prices, great environment, awesome terrace, great service, pool table! They serve snacks 19:00-22:00.
In an eponymous hotel, see Sleep below.
Lively bar with DJ spinning the tunes and frequent drink promos.
Speakeasy style bar where you need a reservation and secret code to get in.
A wide range of craft beer and a rooftop with a panoramic view
With a kitchen and terrace. Dorms and private rooms are available.
The entrance doesn't show it's a hostel, but it is. It might be noisy from the bar downstairs.
Great location in the historic center, budget, basic, no frills but clean, free kitchen, wireless, promotions and the best rooftop in Guanajuato. This is a legally-registered hostel in the city and the owner, Olivia Machuca, is the president of the Associacion of Mexican Hostels. Their goal is to provide a professional and friendly service to the visitors. La Casa del Tío is always recommended in travel guides such as Lonely Planet, Rough Guides and Let's Go among others. The laundry machine they offer on the website doesn't work. Dorms are for M$190 (2018). Private are also offered.
If you would like to stay outside of the center. It's near the trail to El Cerro de Bufa. Dorms have a modern design. Breakfast is included.
Very nice staff and a great daily fresh breakfast. Big, healthy and different every day, meat or vegetarian, whatever you prefer. Hardly any hot water in the showers though. Offered are dorms and private rooms.
For two persons it costs M$300 (Dec 2021). It's near the intercity bus station.
This Guanajuato B&B has location, location, location and remarkable value; one block from Plaza Baratillo and another block to Plaza Union and Teatro Juarez – the heart of Guanajuato City and easy walking distance to all within-city attractions. Very safe location, clean, friendly, Wi-Fi and great breakfast in a colorful, truly Mexican home.
Beautiful hotel with charming rooms at much lower prices than the tourist traps in the city center. Wonderful views and fantastic gardens, a really romantic place to stay but also family-friendly. Comfortable beds, plenty of hot water, and nice furnishings. Friendly staff who are happy to chat and give suggestions in Spanish, but they speak only very limited English. Fine with very late check-ins, but if you go earlier, they'll let you pick your room. Pool and TVs in rooms, but no food. It is, in fact, a blue house, and locals will be able to give you directions. They're fine with (or perhaps oblivious to?) gay/lesbian couples and unmarried hetero couples staying together.
It's a clean, quiet hotel with about 8 rooms in a colonial home. The staff is sweet and very helpful.
The hotel is a restored 18th-century house and centrally located, with helpful English-speaking staff. Nonsmoking rooms available, onsite restaurant and free Wi-Fi.
This hostel is downtown in 3 buildings around the quiet Plaza Mexiamora. In the El Zopilote Mojado building is a coffee shop with excellent coffee and desserts, and upstairs are the rooms, tastefully done. There is another building called Perros Muertos, colorfully decorated, with all the services (kitchen included) and two terraces with gorgeous views. Finally, La Casa del Infierno is located in Callejon del Infierno. This house has two small apartments and a main house, fully equipped with very Mexican decorations.
It's right in the entrance to Guanajuato, and the staff is very nice and helpful. They offer free of charge shuttle service during the day and are more than willing to make you as comfortable as possible.
Extensive number of facilities as 2 restaurants, 2 bars, heated outdoor swimming pool, movie theater for up to 24 people, Spa with covered heated pool, sauna, steam, and Jacuzzi, kid's lounge, among other. Elegant hotel in a converted mansion with manicured gardens in the courtyard.
A two-story indoor market selling from touristy stuff (handcrafts, souvenirs, etc.) to groceries (food, confectionery and clothing). It is said the structure of this market was originally intended to be a train station in Antwerp, Belgium, but it was brought to Guanajuato by President Porfirio Díaz and completed in 1910, shortly before the start of the Mexican Revolution. The façade of this building is made of pink quarry and boasts a tower.
This is your one-stop store for confectionery, established in 1955. It sells all sorts of local sweets, including such specialties like 'Charamuscas', figures made of caramel resembling the mummies. Try also 'Cajeta', similar to Dulce de Leche but made of goat's milk.
There is a weekly market every Sunday with lots of local vendors who come in to the city to sell their stuff. The rest of the week the food market has fruits, vegetables, a butcher and florist. There are lots of vendors who have stalls outside the market and sell clothes, sunglasses, DVDs, toys, candy and great food.
If you need to get all your basics at once, check out this place which is similar to a Wal-Mart.
The central city branch of the ubiquitous supermarket chain.
A modern shopping mall with a few international chain stores.
A branch of the hypermarket chain.
By bus
Intercity bus service in Mexico is quite reliable and comfortable. Several lines serve Guanajuato including Primera Plus.
By foot
Guanajuato is not very big and you can walk to most places, so a car is really not necessary.
By bus
Buses, called urbanos, are operated by the Sistema Coordinado de Transporte de Guanajuato, and run from 07:00-22:00 daily for a flat rate of M$7 (Dec 2021) for a single ride without transfer.
By e-hailing
Didi and Cabify are not available and Uber covers the city with a few cars (Dec 2021).
By taxi
A taxi to any destination within central Guanajuato should cost about M$50 (Dec 2021). Taxis do not use meters and the price should be confirmed first.
By tourist trolley
A trolley-like bus makes sightseeing tours of the city departing from Plaza de la Paz in the Centro, next to the Basilica of our Lady of Guanajuato. The rides lasts 1½ hours.
By car
Driving a car is not the best way to get to know Guanajuato; however, if you plan to get in and out of the city then you will need to use the underground roads or tunnels.
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