Things to do in Querétaro State
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Templo de Santa Rosa de Viterbos
The 18th-century Templo de Santa Rosa de Viterbos is Querétaro's most splendid baroque church, with its pagoda-like bell tower, unusual exterior paintwork, curling buttresses and lavishly gilded and marbled interior. The church also boasts what some say is the earliest four-sided clock in the New World.
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Museo Regional
The Museo Regional is beside the Templo de San Francisco. The ground floor holds interesting exhibits on pre-Hispanic Mexico, archaeological sites, Spanish occupation and the state's various indigenous groups.
Upstairs exhibits reveal Querétaro's role in the independence movement and post-independence history (plus religious paintings). The table at which the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in 1848, ending the Mexican-American War, is on display, as is the desk of the tribunal that sentenced Emperor Maximilian to death.
The museum is housed in part of what was once a huge monastery and seminary. Begun in 1540, the seminary became the seat of the Franciscan province…
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La Casona de los Cinco Patios
It’s hard to go past trying one of the diverse eating and drinking options at La Casona de los Cinco Patios, all of which are under the auspice of a mansion with five patios. Locals rave about San Miguelito for its food, old-fashioned service, ambience and decor: each table has different chairs and is decorated with themed, hand-painted wooden platters. Popular dishes include filete de res en salsa de mezquite (beef fillet with mesquite plant sauce). La Antojeria is at the entrance to Cinco Patios and at the other end of the pricing scale. It’s a family-friendly, fun and Mexican-themed place serving up every style of antojito known in Mexico.
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El Cerrito
If you happen to be interested in archaeology, check out El Cerrito, a 30m-high pyramid-like structure sitting atop a small hill located in El Pueblito, 7km from central Querétaro. Archaeologists, who are still excavating the site, believe it was occupied between AD 600 and 1600 by the Teotihuacán, Toltec, Chichimec, Otomí and Tarasca cultures. Besides the pyramid, there are the remains of a possible ball court and some outlying structures. A later fort-type construction on its top dates from 1876.
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Neblinas Ecotienda & Café
This extraordinary shop, café, gallery and cultural center supports communities in the Sierra Gorda. Everything here has an ecofriendly and sustainable message: the café serves delicious snacks (don’t miss the hamburgers with the handmade endangered animal–shaped rolls or the penca de nopal, cactus plate), the neat restaurant-gallery’s decor resembles a semi-desert environment and the shop sells organic produce. Cultural performances include live jazz and dance.
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Templo Y Convento de la Santa Cruz
This convent was built between 1654 and about 1815 on the site of a battle in which a miraculous appearance of Santiago (St James) led the Otomí to surrender to the conquistadors and Christianity. Emperor Maximilian had his headquarters here while under siege in Querétaro from March to May 1867. After his surrender and subsequent death sentence, he was jailed here while awaiting the firing squad. Today it’s used as a religious school.
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Teatro de la República
This lovely old and functioning theater, complete with impressive chandeliers, was where a tribunal met in 1867 to decide the fate of Emperor Maximilian. Mexico’s constitution was also signed here on January 31, 1917. The stage backdrop lists the names of its signatories and the states they represented. In 1929, politicians met in the theater to organize Mexico’s long-time ruling party, the PNR (now the PRI).
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Mercado de la Cruz
The central plazas and surrounding pedestrian streets, particularly around Plaza de Armas, are lined with restaurants catering to all tastes and budgets. They have outdoor tables and a vibrant evening atmosphere with live music (sometimes clashing with each other). After 17:00, the cheapest and most genuine eating experiences can be found at the Mercado de la Cruz.
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Biznarga
Their friends liked their cooking so much they opened their kitchen to the public. And why not? A not-to-be-missed, slightly rasta experience with graffiti, artworks and memorabilia. The creativity extends to the dishes – excellent salads, homemade pizzas, juices and more. One of the country’s best-value eateries.
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San Miguelito
Locals rave about San Miguelito for its food, old-fashioned service, ambience and decor: each table has different chairs and is decorated with themed, hand-painted wooden platters. Popular dishes include filete de res en salsa de mezquite (beef fillet with mesquite plant sauce).
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Guided Tours
Guided Tours of the city center on the Tranvía bus in Spanish, leave from Jardín Zenea, near Plaza Constitución. For details, ask at the tourist office or at the information kiosk in Plaza Constitución. Also offered are longer trips (around $120 for two hours) to regional attractions.
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Olé Spanish Language School
The Olé Spanish Language School offers a range of courses with homestay options and extracurricular programs. Prices start at around M$195 per hour, and week-long courses range from moderate group classes for 15 hours from M$2080 to 35 intensive one-hour private classes for M$5265.
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Museo de Arte de Querétaro
Adjacent to the Templo de San Agustín, Querétaro’s art museum occupies a splendid baroque monastery built between 1731 and 1748. It is worth visiting to see the building alone: angels, quirky gargoyles, statues and other ornamental details abound, particularly around the stunning courtyard.
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Ranas
The little-visited archaeological site of Ranas has well-built walls and circular steps incorporated into a steep hillside. There are ball courts and a small hilltop pyramid. Dating from as early as the 8th century, the site is appealing for its rugged forest setting.
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Museo de la Restauración de la República
If you can read Spanish or are a real history buff, check out the Museo de la Restauración de la República which covers Querétaro’s role in Mexico’s history, particularly the French occupation and the eventual ousting of Emperor Maximilian.
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Templo de San Francisco
This impressive church fronts Jardín Zenea. Pretty colored tiles on the dome were brought from Spain in 1540, around the time construction of the church began. Inside are some fine religious paintings from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.
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La Viejateca
Whatever you do, don’t miss your nightly liquid dose at this former pharmacy, now ‘barmacy.’ It’s worth going for the decor alone – apothecary jars, former household paraphernalia and much more – besides which, it’s good old-fashioned fun.
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Café del Fondo
This relaxed, rambling hangout is popular with newspaper-reading elder statesmen, chess-heads and chatterboxes. Decent set breakfasts go for only M$30. Snacks and a four-course comida corrida are also on the menu (around M$35).
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La Parroquia de Santa María de la Asunción
The wide and attractive Plaza Miguel Hidalgo is surrounded by portales (arcades), overlooked by the 19th-century neoclassical La Parroquia de Santa María de la Asunción with its pink facade and decorated tower.
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Risi & Bisi
For your touch of Italian – and a good alternative if you need a night off the chiles rellenos (stuffed chilies) – head to this relaxed trattoria for a selection of pasta, pizza and salad dishes. Service isn’t its strong point.
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Café Tulipe
This Mexican teashop serves up French-style fare, including quiche, crepes and cheese fondue. There's an excellent afternoon tea deal between 16:00-19:00 - tea or coffee with a huge slab of the cake of your choice (around $37-42).
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Casa Real
Popular among the mature Mexicans, La Casa de la Marquesa's attractive courtyard bistro (up the road from the hotel itself) boasts a gurgling fountain, fine food, superlative service and a good upscale comida corrida.
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La Mariposa
Unchanged since 1940 (as the photos will testify), this Querétaro institution is more about the quaint atmosphere than the food. Don’t leave without trying the mouthwatering mantecado (vanilla ice cream; M$30).
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Restaurante Bar 1810
Covered with fairy lights and situated on the pretty plaza, this is the eatery for excellent steaks or a variety of pastas and seafood dishes. Live crooners complement (or otherwise) your meal.
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Casa de la Zacatecana
This is a finely restored 17th-century home with a lovely collection of 18th- and 19th-century furniture and decorations (and its own murder mystery – skeletons were discovered in the basement).
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