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Guadalajara

As Mexico’s second-largest city, Guadalajara delivers a less frenetic alternative to the nation’s capital. And, while many of the images recognized as Mexican have their roots here – mariachi music, wide-brimmed sombreros, the Mexican hat dance and charreadas (rodeos) – Guadalajara is as much a vanguard of the new Mexico as it is guardian of the old. An embarrassment of museums and theaters drive the cultural life forward, fusion chefs have sharpened the edges of an already legendary culinary scene and foresighted local planners are doing their damnedest to tackle the traffic.

Guadalajara can’t match the architectural homogeneity of smaller colonial cities, though its historic core, anchored by the wonderful cathedral and Instituto Cultural de Cabañas, is handsome. The hipster Chapultepec neighborhood is sprinkled with fashionable restaurants, coffeehouses and nightclubs. The mellow suburbs of upscale Tlaquepaque and grassroots Tonalá are folk-art shoppers’ dream destinations, while Zapopan has some interesting colonial architecture.

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Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Guadalajara.

  • Museum

    Instituto Cultural de Cabañas

    Standing proudly at the eastern end of dramatic Plaza Tapatía is one of Guadalajara’s architectural landmarks, and a Unesco World Heritage site since 1997…

  • Ruins

    Guachimontones Archaeological Site

    Just 40km west of Guadalajara is the fascinating and distinctive archaeological site known as Guachimontones – one of the only ancient ruins in the world…

  • Cathedral

    Catedral de Guadalajara

    Guadalajara’s cathedral is the city’s most conspicuous landmark with distinctive neo-Gothic towers built after an earthquake toppled the originals in 1818…

  • Cathedral

    Basílica de Zapopan

    One of the city's most important churches, the Basílica de Zapopan, built in 1730, is home to Nuestra Señora de Zapopan, a petite statue of the Virgin…

  • Market

    Tonalá Street Market

    On Thursday and Sunday, Tonalá bursts into a huge street market that sprouts on Avenida Tonaltecas and crawls through dozens of streets and alleys and…

  • Museum

    Museo Pantaleón Panduro

    This superb collection of over 500 pieces of national folk art is housed in a converted religious mission and includes well-displayed miniature figurines,…

  • Street

    Plaza de los Mariachis

    Just south of Avenida Javier Mina and the Mercado San Juan de Dios, this is the very birthplace of mariachi music. By day it’s just a narrow walking…

  • Museum

    Museo Nacional de la Cerámica

    Among the best of the many ceramics museums in the greater Guadalajara region, this one focuses largely on works from Tonalá, arguably the finest in…

  • Museum

    Museo Regional de Guadalajara

    Guadalajara's most important museum tells the story of the city and the surrounding region, somewhat haphazardly, from prehistory to the revolution…

  • Notable Building

    Palacio de Gobierno

    The golden-hued Palacio de Gobierno, which houses the Jalisco state government offices, was finished in 1774 and is well worth visiting to see two…

  • Museum

    Museo de las Artes

    Three blocks west of Parque Revolución is this museum of contemporary art housed in a French Renaissance building (1917) that once served as the…

  • Museum

    Museo de Arte Huichol (Wixarika)

    This small but surprisingly informative museum has a worthwhile display of artifacts from the Huichol (or Wixarika) people, an indigenous group known for…

  • Theater

    Teatro Degollado

    Construction of this neoclassical theater, which is home to the Guadalajara Philharmonic, was begun in 1855 and completed four decades later. Above the…

  • Plaza

    Plaza Tapatía

    The fabulously wide pedestrian and elevated Plaza Tapatía sprawls for more than 500m eastward from Teatro Degollado to the Instituto Cultural de Cabañas…

  • Monument

    Rotonda de los Jaliscenses Ilustres

    Jalisco’s hall of fame, in the plaza on the north side of the cathedral, is ringed by 30 bronze sculptures of the state’s favorite writers, architects and…

  • Museum

    Museo de Arte de Zapopan

    Two blocks east of the Basílica de Zapopan, MAZ is dedicated to modern art. Four sleek minimalist galleries hold temporary exhibits, which have included…

  • Plaza

    Plaza Guadalajara

    Plaza Guadalajara is shaded by dozens of severly cropped laurel trees and has great views of the east of the cathedral. Boasting a few fine cafes, it's a…

  • Museum

    Museo de Arte Sacro de Guadalajara

    This pious collection astride the eastern flank of the cathedral is filled with dark and brooding 17th- to 18th-century religious art, as well as some…

  • Gallery

    Galería Jorge Martínez

    It's worth popping into this interesting modern and conceptual art gallery to see if there's an exhibition showing (there's no permanent collection on…

Top experiences

Whether it’s a guided tour of a historic landmark, private tasting of local delicacies, or an off-road adventure — explore the best experiences in Guadalajara.

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