Reserva de la Biósfera Santuario Mariposa Monarca
Inland Michoacán
In the eastern-most corner of Michoacán, straddling the border of México state, lies the incredible 563-sq-km Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, a…
Must-see attractions in Inland Michoacán
Inland Michoacán
The upstart Volcán Paricutín (2800m) might be less than 80 years old, but clambering up the volcanic scree slopes to its summit and looking out across…
Morelia
Morelia’s cathedral, considered by many to be the country's most beautiful, dominates the city center, where it flanks rather than faces the central plaza…
Antiguo Convento Franciscano de Santa Ana
Inland Michoacán
South of the lake and just west of Hwy 120 lies this enormous religious compound built partly with stones from the Purépecha yácatas (temples) taken from…
Museo de Artes e Industrias Populares
Inland Michoacán
Highlights among the well-curated exhibits of this impressive folk-art museum include a room set up as a typical Michoacán kitchen, cases of gorgeous…
Morelia
This 18th-century palace, originally a seminary and now housing Michoacán state government offices, has a simple baroque facade. Inside, its soaring…
Morelia
From 1660 to 1767, the Palacio Clavijero, with its magnificent minimalist main patio, imposing colonnades and pink stonework, was home to the Jesuit…
Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Salud
Inland Michoacán
Built on a hill atop a pre-Hispanic ceremonial site, this cathedral-cum-pilgrimage site was intended to be the centerpiece of Vasco de Quiroga’s utopia…
Tingambato Archaeological Site
Inland Michoacán
Stroll through luscious avocado groves to the beautiful ruins of this ceremonial site called Tinganio in Purépecha, which predates the Purépechan empire…
Parque Nacional Barranca del Cupatitzio
Inland Michoacán
This incomparable urban park is just 15 minutes west of the main plaza, but it’s another world. Tropical and subtropical foliage is thick and aflutter…
Inland Michoacán
Pátzcuaro’s leafy main square – more commonly known as 'Plaza Grande' – is Mexico’s largest plaza after the Zócalo in Mexico City and the only one in the…
Museo Antiguo Convento Franciscano de Santa Ana
Inland Michoacán
House in the former Franciscan Monastery of St Anne, this fascinating museum showcases Purépecha culture and history and documents the arrival of the…
Morelia
Housed in a dozen rooms of a renovated late-18th-century baroque palace, this museum contains an impressive array of pre-Hispanic artifacts, including a…
Inland Michoacán
Some 12km south of central Uruapan, the wild Río Cupatitzio makes its last act count. It pumps hard over the vine-covered, 30m-high red-rock cliffs and…
Tzintzuntzan Archaeological Site
Inland Michoacán
This site comprises an impressive group of five semicircular reconstructed temples known as yácatas, which are all that remain of the mighty Purépecha…
Santuario de la Virgen de Guadalupe
Morelia
A standard baroque structure on the outside dating from 1708 to 1716, this hushed sanctuary to Mexico's patron is a different story within. Get ready for…
Colegio de San Nicolás de Hidalgo
Morelia
This building is now part of the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, which produced such scholars as Morelos, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and…
Inland Michoacán
This cool, rambling colonial edifice was built as a Dominican convent in the 1740s. (Before that, it was the site of the Hospital de Santa Martha, founded…
Biblioteca Gertrudis Bocanegra
Inland Michoacán
On the northern side of Plaza Chica and occupying the cavernous 16th-century Templo de San Agustín, this stunning public library has a barrel-vaulted…
Morelia
This museum, arguably Morelia's best on the subject of José María Morelos y Pavón, resides in the former house of the independence hero, who bought the…
Inland Michoacán
This old textile factory from the 19th century is essentially a living museum. Hand-loomed and hand-dyed bedspreads, tablecloths and curtains are still…
Inland Michoacán
Pátzcuaro’s second plaza, usually referred to as Plaza Chica, is officially named after a local heroine who was shot by firing squad in 1818 for her…
Inland Michoacán
A converted missionary hospital now houses the rustic ceramics studio of Manuel Morales, a fifth-generation local potter. His colorful, intricate work is…
Inland Michoacán
Embedded in the Huatápera, an old colonial courtyard building on the northeast corner of the main plaza, this small museum showcases handsome artesanías …
Morelia
This ambitious museum contains five rooms chock-a-block with religious paintings and sculptures, including more than 100 depictions of the crucified…
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Alfredo Zalce
Morelia
Modern-art fans might find something interesting at this art museum in Morelia's city park named for the Michoacano artist and muralist Alfredo Zalce …
Inland Michoacán
This restored mid-16th-century church in the village of San Francisco Coatepec de Morelos across Hwy 51 south of Zitácuaro appeared in the great John…
Biblioteca Pública de la Universidad Michoacana
Morelia
Installed inside the magnificent 17th-century Ex-Templo de la Compañía de Jesús, the shelves of the city's breathtaking university library rise up toward…
Parque Zoológico Benito Juárez
Morelia
Morelia's zoo is located 2.5km south of the Plaza de Armas and is surprisingly pleasant, with most critters in decent habitats. Animals include sea lions,…
Morelia
Morelia’s impressively preserved aqueduct north runs for just over 2km along (appropriately enough) Avenida Acueducto and then curves around Plaza…
Inland Michoacán
This creaky church is one of Pátzcuaro's oldest and is built on the site of a former hospital in the 16th century. Until the early 1900s, it housed the…
Morelia
A beautifully renovated 18th century casona (mansion), this museum hosts temporary exhibits and workshops often related to the history and culture of the…
Inland Michoacán
Among the intricately decorated guitars displayed at this small museum in the Casa de la Cultura – including classical, Flamenco, Hawaiian and steel…
Inland Michoacán
This sensational 16th-century church on the main square has a beautifully carved portal at the entrance carved in the Moorish Mudéjar style by an…
Inland Michoacán
Built between 1526 and 1539, this pink-stone eclectic-style Franciscan church has an impressive Plateresque-style doorway, an adjoining cloister and a…
Inland Michoacán
The Ihuatzio site contains a partially restored set of pre-Purépecha ruins, some of which date back as far as AD 900. The site lies about 1.5km up a…
Morelia
This irregular, conspicuously vacant plaza southeast of the center surrounds the Estatua Ecuestre al Patriota Morelos, a majestic statue of Morelos on…
Inland Michoacán
This hilltop lookout on an extinct volcano 3.5km west of the city center is a quintessential morning run for Pátzcuaro's more robust residents; but don't…
Inland Michoacán
At the northwest corner of Tzintzuntzan's monastic complex stands the church built for the Purépecha masses. Inside is El Cristo del Santo Entierro, a…
Morelia
Morelia’s largest park, named after the last Aztec emperor (r 1520–21), is an attractive affair frequented by families for its shady trees, outdoor…
