Guadalajara
Capital De Jalisco / Patrimonio Mundial (Hospicio CabañAs) · Guadalajara, Jalisco
Mexico's second city and the source of many things foreigners think of as Mexican: mariachi, tequila, the charreada and the broad-brimmed hat all come from Jalisco. Guadalajara has roughly five million people in its metropolitan area at 1,566 metres, a mild climate and relatively few foreign tourists for its size, so it feels like a working city more than a destination, which is why it is worth a visit. The historic centre is a flat chain of plazas from the cathedral to the Hospicio Cabanas, an 1805 neoclassical orphanage whose chapel dome carries Jose Clemente Orozco's Man of Fire, one of the great murals of the twentieth century and the reason UNESCO inscribed the building in 1997. The inscription covers that building, not the whole city. Beyond the core are the huge Mercado Libertad, the craft towns of Tlaquepaque and Tonala, the Plaza de los Mariachis and the tequila towns an hour away. The city is easy to get around by light rail, rated good value for hotels and food, and best for visitors who like markets and music.
Plaza de Armas, Centro Histórico, Guadalajara, Jalisco, 44100, Mexico
An open city - free, no gate. ⚠ THE HOSPICIO CABAÑAS, THE UNESCO-INSCRIBED BUILDING (1997, for the Orozco murals - the inscription covers the building, not the city), keeps daytime museum hours and generally closes on Mondays. Museums across the city mostly close Mondays. Mercado Libertad runs daily through the day. ⚠ THE PLAZA DE LOS MARIACHIS CHARGES PER SONG - agree the price and the number first. ⚠ THE GUADALAJARA INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR IN LATE NOVEMBER FILLS EVERY HOTEL IN THE CITY and doubles rates; the mariachi encuentro falls in late summer. ⚠ TONALÁ'S STREET MARKET RUNS THURSDAYS AND SUNDAYS. ⚠ HOURS AND PRICES NOT VERIFIED FOR THIS FILE.