Pátzcuaro and Janitzio
Pueblo MáGico / Lago De PáTzcuaro · Pátzcuaro, Michoacán
Patzcuaro is a Purepecha lake town at 2,140 metres in Michoacan, with whitewashed walls, red tile roofs, wooden balconies and one of the finest main squares in Mexico. It hosts the most famous Day of the Dead observance in the country: on the night of 1 November families cross to the island cemetery of Janitzio and keep a candlelit vigil among the marigolds until dawn. It has become extremely crowded, and the criticism that it is now a spectacle is fair, so many visitors choose the smaller lakeside cemeteries of Arocutin, Cucuchucho and Tzurumutaro instead. The rest of the year the town is calm, cool and cheap. A ring of craft villages around the lake still makes what a bishop assigned them in the 1530s: copper at Santa Clara del Cobre, guitars at Paracho, straw at Tzintzuntzan, pottery at Capula. A free Juan O'Gorman mural fills an old church that is now a library. Check current Michoacan travel advice before you go and drive by day.
Plaza Vasco de Quiroga, Centro, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, 61600, Mexico
An open town - free, no gate. Museums and craft workshops keep daytime hours and many close on Mondays; the Friday market is the largest. ⚠ NOCHE DE MUERTOS FALLS ON 1-2 NOVEMBER, with the vigil building from late evening on 1 November and running to dawn. ⚠ IT IS A FAMILY VIGIL IN A WORKING CEMETERY, NOT A FESTIVAL - ask before photographing anyone or any grave, no flash, do not step on graves. ⚠ JANITZIO IS THE FAMOUS AND MOST CROWDED OPTION; the lakeshore cemeteries at Arócutin, Cucuchucho and Tzurumútaro are quieter and closer to what visitors imagine. ⚠ ROOMS SELL OUT SIX TO TWELVE MONTHS AHEAD FOR THOSE TWO NIGHTS and prices double or triple. ⚠ LAKE LEVELS HAVE DROPPED SHARPLY - check locally that island launches are running normally. ⚠ ALTITUDE 2,140 METRES AND THE VIGIL IS AN ALL-NIGHT OUTDOOR EVENT NEAR FREEZING. ⚠ HOURS AND PRICES NOT VERIFIED FOR THIS FILE.
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