González Burguete Group

Mar 15, 202319 min read

My Guanajuato Trip (2019)

Updated: Sep 21, 2023

Guanajuato is on of the most colonial state in Mexico as it had the most important mining cities while Mexico was a Spanish colony. Then, it was the state where the Mexican Independence movement started. Currently, all cities of the state have representation of the Mexican Baroque style which was very fashionable during the 18th century.

Guanajuato is located in central Mexico, and its capital is Guanajuato City. Guanajuato has borders with the states of Jalisco to the west, Zacatecas to the northwest, San Luis Potosi to the north, Queretaro to the east, and Michoacán to the south. Guanajuato is home to several historically important cities like Dolores Hidalgo, San Miguel de Allende, Celaya, Guanajuato City, León, Salamanca and Irapuato.

Guanajuato has abundant rainfall making this attractive to the first Spanish settlers. Between 1520 and 1530, silver and gold were discovered in the city of Guanajuato. Despite the riches of the land, most people lived in oppression and poverty including the criollos (new world-born Spanish), while the European-born Spanish lived in opulence. In September 1810, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (a criollo) in the town of Dolores started the Mexican Independence.

As part of my research, I checked out all the most seen places of each city and its surrounding. This particular trip was designed as two separate trips one over a weekend and the other over long week. The currency for Mexico is the Mexican peso and it is recommended to exchange at the airport just after landing, as who has time to search for the best rate.

My first adventure was over Christmas week in 2019 and the second adventure over Easter weekend in 2022. I usually make local trips while visiting my parents in Mexico and this was the reason for the short trips. However, I am going to arrange this trip as single trip with the best travel pattern.

On Day 1, after a nice breakfast at my parent’s home, we started our family road trip. We left Mexico City around 10am and we arrived to beautiful city of León around 2pm.

León is the most crowded city in Guanajuato, making it 4th in Mexico. León was founded in 20th January 1576 and is best known from its leather industry mainly for shoes and bags. The Spanish arrived in 1575 and it remained under the influence of Spain until 1824. Between 1863 and 1866, the French occupied it. Therefore, the architectural style is very rich as it depicts both periods plus the local style.

After settling down at the hotel’s room and while my parents were resting, I decided to explore all the public areas of the hotel like gardens, pool, and convention centre.

After an hour of exploring the hotel, we decided to start exploring the city centre. Our first stop was the Arch, where I took many photographs and couple of selfies. The Arch is the gateway to the city centre, and the beginning of the tour because of its location.

The Arch (Arco de la Calzada de los Héroes) was finished in 1893 in a Neoclassic style and was designed by Pedro Tejada León. The lion bronze sculpture on the top was added in 1958, has a length of 3m, and was created by sculpture Humberto Peraza Ojeda.

After the arch, our next stop was the Expiatory Sanctuary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus which is in the same street as the arch. We parked the car next to the Sanctuary in order to explore the church and take photographs of the exterior, interiors, and many selfies around. Although the church was constructed in the 20th century, the architecture looks like the famous Notre-Dame in Paris making this the most unbelievable sights in León.

The Expiatory Sanctuary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Templo Expiatorio Diocesano del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús) started construction in July 1921 in a Neogothic style based on old European medieval cathedrals. The construction is ongoing with 90% completed with just some details missing. The shrine has stained glass windows and the doors are bronze with designs created by sculpture and architect José Carlos Ituarte González.

After an hour taking amazing photographs of the Sanctuary, I decided to leave my parents and started my walking tour through Francisco I Madero street, while my parents drove towards the city centre to find another parking lot and a place for lunch.

During my walking tour towards the city centre, I took photographs of amazing buildings, tourists, locals, artists and any detail that I found interested. The photographs that I love the most are the ones I take on my street photography tour as the people are going on with their daily life, making this my favourite style casual photography.

My next stop was the main garden or the Martyrs Plaza of January 2, which is at the end of the street and in a pedestrian area. Most Mexican gardens consists of a kiosk in the middle of the square, surrounding by many trees and benches, making this the most popular location for gathering by people of all ages.

The Martyrs Plaza of January 2 (Plaza de los Mártires del 2 de enero) is framed by three neoclassical portals, and has an impressive garden with bulbs tree, numerous benches, and an elegant kiosk. The portals housed many businesses like hotels, restaurants, jewellery , and fashion stores. At the far end of the garden, the municipal palace is located which housed the town hall.

The Municipal Palace (Honorable Ayuntamiento) has an Ionic architectural style. The building was occupied by Pauline Priests, and French military. In 1869, after being remodelled became the seat of the government. The building houses a bronze statue of Benito Juarez (Mexican President) and various mural painted between 1972 and 1873 by Jesus Gallardo.

After taking some photographs of the garden from many points of view and of the municipal palace, I continued my walking tour towards the Founding Plaza (Plaza de Fundadores), where the Fountain of Lions; the Parish of San Sebastian Martir, and the Temple of the Third Order are located, which are one next the other.

The Parish of San Sebastian Martir (Parroquia de San Sebastián) was the first temple constructed in the city at the end of the 16th century where the façade is made of quarry, and the walls of stone. The Temple of the Third Order (El Templo de la Tercera Orden) was constructed by the Franciscans priest during the 18th century and has a mural with all names of the founders.

After entering the temple and taking amazing interior and exterior photographs, I made my way towards the restaurant that my parents had chosen which had the best local cuisine in order to eat lunch and rest. However, on my way I made a stop at the fountain. The fountain was impressive as the sculpture of the lions were very vivid and lifelike.

The Fountain of the Lions (La Fuente de los Leones) was placed in the square in 1976 to celebrate the four century of the foundation of the city. The fountain is built of quarry and is crowned by four lions each symbolising a century, and was designed by architect and sculpture Ricardo Motilla Moreno.

After my short stop at the fountain, I made my way to meet with my parents at the restaurant as they were already waiting for me and they were also starving.

After enjoying a very tasty local lunch and around 5pm, we continued our walking tour towards the Metropolitan Basilica and the bronze wall. The walk was short as it was at the end of the pedestrian area of the city centre. I was very aware of all the tourist taking photographs in front of the wall and then I realised why were the stopping by, as the wall was facing the Basilica.

The Bronze Mural (Mural de Bronce: Mártires del 2 de enero) was created by sculpture José Arturo Tavares Padilla and opened on 2nd January 2012. The mural has a length of 127m and weighs 60 tons. The centre piece is the image of an angel with open arms and this is considered the city’s garden. The bronze mural is the centre piece located at S.S. Benedict XVI Plaza, named after the pope, and is located in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral.

After the taking photographs of the mural, it was time to enter to the famous Metropolitan Basilica. The Basilica has amazing interiors as it has all the heritage and styles since Mexico was a Spanish colony in conjunction with all the precious stones and metals that were extracted in this part of Mexico. The Basilica has a rich architecture and detail decorations, making this the best building of its kind in this area.

The Metropolitan Basilica of the Most Holy Mother of Light (Basílica Metropolitana de La Madre Santísima de la Luz) was consecrated in 1866. The construction began in 1764 in a Neo-classic Baroque style with a length of 72cm, a width 13m and a height of 20m. The cathedral has two bell towers.

After an extensive photographic session of the interior and exterior of the Metropolitan Basilica including the bronze mural from every viewpoint, we decided to return towards the main garden and we stopped in a bakery for an afternoon coffee.

After a lovely tea break, we returned to the Founders Plaza where we decided to wait for the sunset. While we were waiting, a local orchestra was performing and the evening was very pleasant, so we decided to sit at the Plaza’s benches and enjoy the free concert.

After an amazing two hours of a free concert where we heard all kinds of music from European classical to Mexican classical, we decided to return to the hotel.

After reaching the hotel but before returning to my room, I decided to take some night photography of the public areas of the hotel as the moon was beautiful and the environment was perfect for inspiration to strike.

After an amazing day exploring León, I returned to our room around midnight to update my Facebook profile and planned my next day’s adventure.

On Day 2, we decided to have an early start as we were having a day trip to Guanajuato City and breakfast with my parents’ friends, so we were out of the hotel around 8am. We decided to go to the most famous restaurant in León for a special breakfast. The restaurant is called Las Monjas (the nuns) and we meet my mother’s childhood friends as this was part of a reunion trip with them.

After breakfast and around 10am, we made our way to Guanajuato City in a tourist bus with all my parents’ friends as they were planning lots of fun activities. Our first stopped was the Valenciana Mine located north of Guanajuato City.

The Valenciana Mine (Mina de la Valenciana) started extraction of silver in 1774 with a huge abundancy which was equivalent to 2/3 of the entire production of silver in New Spain. Currently, the mine is still extracting silver at a depth of 760m, making this a subterrain mine. The mine is part of a mine complex which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988. The mine has a museum where local guides take people around the old mining facilities and down the mine by a way of a long and steep staircase, which is not very recommended if you suffered from any form of claustrophobia or anxiety as it is an underground mine, so be mindful as it has a depth of 185m.

After arriving to the mine and seeing the conditions of the stairs, I decided that I was not going to take the tour because I was very worried about the stair, the underground situation and above all the mild case of claustrophobia that I have. However, my parents and their friends were brave enough to take the tour and when they finished, they were very satisfied with their adventure. I used this time to do a lot of shopping as there was a huge variety of stones, and after my parents arrived, we did more shopping.

After the shopping spree with my parents and around 2pm, we decided to continue our tourist tour and our next step was San Cayetano Temple. The temple is on top of the hill and to reach there you need to climb some stair, but not as many as the mine. At the top, you are able to have an amazing view of the town and in a clear day you might see Guanajuato City.

The San Cayetano Temple of the Confessor (Templo de San Cayetano Confesor) was completed in 1788, built from pink quarry in a Churrigueresque (Mexican Barroque) style, and designed by architects Andrés de la Riva and Jorge Archundia. The interior conserves a number of glided altarpieces and a pulpit is decorated with encrusted ivory and precious hardwoods.

After visiting the temple and taking lots of amazing photographs of the interior including their big organ, the exterior, and panoramic views. I decided to take some photos of my parents and their friends with the background of the church and due to the stairs, the effects were one of a kind.

After this spontaneous photo session, I decided to go for more shopping but this time just window shopping, as I was interested in seeing what amazing local handicrafts were available as they are based in lots of local semi-precious stones.

After this unexpected tour to the mine, we made our way to Guanajuato’s city centre. The trip took us around 20 minutes to arrive and around 1 hour to find parking, as there was a local fair due to the bank holiday which was blocking the best car routes.

Guanajuato City is the capital of Guanajuato State. The city centre is comprised of narrow and winding streets where cars cannot pass through, long sets of stairs up the mountainside, and most of the avenues are underground. The historic city is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988 in conjunction with the adjacent mines. The city was one of the most influential during the colonial period due to the Valenciana Mine. The city comprises of many alleys which have very distinctive names, with the most famous called Alley of the Kiss (Callejón del Beso).

After parking, we decided that our first stop would be stopping for lunch at the best location which is the historic city centre, as it has numerous small plazas and colonial-era mansions, which housed some open-air restaurants.

Therefore, our first stop was Union Garden as this is where the best restaurants are located. The city centre is a pedestrian zone, so the best way to cover the city is by walking all over the place.

Union Garden (Jardin de la Unión) is a triangular park located opposite to the Juarez Theatre. The first trees were planted in 1836 followed by the installation of the kiosk, the benches, and the lanterns making this the perfect setting to the main block of the city.

Around 4.30pm and after walking all over the Union Garden, we managed to find the perfect restaurant with an open-area facing the garden to enjoy the best regional specialists and the ambience of the garden.

After a traditional lunch, they decided that the group wanted was to attend a traditional callejoneada but we needed to wait around 2 hours for this. While some people decided to spend this time entering the museum featuring exhibition related to Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra’s ‘Don Quixote’, I decided to have an amazing photo session of the exterior of the Juarez Theatre and surrounding areas.

The Juarez Theatre (Teatro Juárez) is one of the most famous theatre in Mexico. The theatre was opened in 1903, was designed by architect José María Noriega in a Neoclassic style for the exterior and an Eclectic style for the interior. The theatre is an important centre of artistic activity where the most famous artist of the time appear, and since 1972 has been the main venue of the International Cervatino Festival, related to Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.

This theatre has a special place in my heart as when I was a teenager, I used to play in a musical group as part of my High School experience which tour the country and in 1992, we played inside this theatre. However, I am unable to remember the interior as it was prior to digital photographs and most of my photographs of this time are blurred. Therefore, during this trip I just focused on exterior photographs as the architecture is one of the most amazing of its kind, as it is a fusion of many European and Mexican styles.

Around 7pm, we made our way to the gathering place for the callejoneada which was next to the Juarez Theatre.

The Traditional Callejoneada comes from the word Callejón which means alleys and were created in 1881 at the University of Guanajuato. The callejoneadais a walking tour of all the main alleys of the city starting at the Juarez Theatre and ending at the Alley of the Kiss. The tour is accompanied by estudiantinas or tunas (musical groups) which tell the story of each of stop of the tour. The callejoneada is the most important and memorable tradition of Guanajuato’s City.

During my life, I have attended two callejoneadas the first one in 1992 and the second one in this trip. Each callejoneada has a different feeling, during the first one I was a teenager and I attended this with many groups so we were all flirting and the experience was very romantic. However, during this one I attended with my parents and their friends so the experience was different as I was there to enjoy the night tour and take lots of amazing photographs.

The callejoneada ended at the Angel Square which is located next to the Alley of the Kiss.

After the callejoneada, we made our way back to the parking lot, we walked De Paz Avenue and we stopped briefly next to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guanajuato. I was able to take few exterior photographs, as we were in a rush because it was getting late.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Guanajuato (Basílica Colegiata de Nuestra Señora de Guanajuato) is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988. The exterior has a Baroque and Neoclassical style, the interior has a Baroque style, and the main altar is gilded.

After a brief stop in front of the basilica, we continued our way towards the Juarez Theatre and then towards the parking lot. Finally, we made our way towards Leon but before reaching the hotel, we stopped for dinner at a local taco shop.

After a very late dinner, where I had many glasses of rice flavour water, we arrived to the hotel around 11pm. Where we packed our things as our trip would continue onto the next stop the following day, and I was finished around 2am.

On Day 3, we left the hotel around 10am and after packing all our things in the car, we decided to have breakfast with my parents’ friends and then continued our trip. We had breakfast in a chain restaurant next to our hotel.

After breakfast we had an extensive group photographic session and then we continued our trip to Dolores Hidalgo.

Dolores Hidalgo is the birthplace of Mexican National Independence, was established in 1810, and is been denoted as a Pueblo Mágicos by Mexico’s Secretariat of Tourism. The central square is the most popular tourist spot of the town as it has the statue of the Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (father of the Independence) and the historic church.

We arrived to Dolores Hidalgo around 6pm. After parking the car and checking in, I made my way to our room to arrange my camera for my first walking tour of the city. Our hotel was walking distance from the city centre. As it was late, I was only able to take night photographs which were not very favourable due to the artificial light.

At the city centre, we enjoyed some artisanal ice cream and grill white corn in the cob. While my parents were eating their ice cream, I walked around the square to scout the best location for the next day’s photographic session.

After a nice but short walked in the city centre, we made our way back to the hotel while I stopped in every artisanal centre for some window shopping. On our way, we decided to have dinner at a local restaurant.

After dinner, we returned to the hotel to plan the next day, have an early night to rest, and focus on continuing exploring the next city of our Guanajuato trip.

On Day 4, after having breakfast at the hotel, we left the hotel to have our daytime walking tour of the town’s centre. I started my photographic session at the Great Hidalgo Square which is in front of the Parish of Our Lady of Sorrows.

The Parish of Our Lady of Sorrow (Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores) is the place where Father Miguel Hidalgo started the Independence movement of Mexico. The parish was finished in 1778 in a Churrigueresco Baroque style with a height of 30m, and was constructed of pink quarry.

While I was exploring the city centre and taking photographs of the square and every building surrounding it, my parents decided to enjoy the peacefulness of the garden and waited for me as I finished with my photographic session. The square might not be the most unique on its architecture or style but the town is full of Mexican history as it is in this place where a group of people decided to stop the Spanish abuse and seek their freedom.

After an amazing morning exploring the town’s full history, we made our way to our next city of this Guanajuato trip, San Miguel de Allende.

San Miguel de Allende is a round 272km from Mexico City and was named after two famous people friar Juan de San Miguel and Ignacio Allende, a martyr of the Mexican Independence. The oldest section of the town is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008. The town has Baroque and Neoclassical colonial structures. It became a prominent city as the major route between Mexico City and Guanajuato City passed through this city.

After arriving to San Miguel de Allende around 2pm, we checked in at the hotel and then we made our way to the city centre, where we enjoyed lunch at an amazing local restaurant.

After lunch, while my parents rested at the benches of the main square, I started my photographic walking tour of city centre starting from the restaurant and covering every street around the main square ending with the Parish of San Michael Archangel, as well as scouting the best locations for the night’s photographic session. The Allende Garden (main square) has the best shades in the area due to the amazing array of trees.

The Parish of San Michael Archangel (Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel) is unique in Mexico, it is the emblem of the town, and the most photograph church in Mexico. The parish was finished in 1890 in a Gothic style like the Medieval churches in Europe.

The parish is one of the most beautiful church that I have seen in Mexico, even after travelling all over Europe and comparing this church with other medieval churches in Europe, I can say that what makes this unique is that is the only one built with pink quarry.

After an amazing afternoon taking lots of photographs, the next step was to have dinner nearby while waiting for the sunset to take new photographs of the place, as different light makes the architecture change colours as this was an amazing site.

After an exciting sunset and the breathtaking night photo session, we decided to have dinner in a new local restaurant on our way to the hotel.

After dinner, we arrived to the hotel around 9pm to arrange my things for the following day and have an early night, as the trip was starting to get very exciting.

On Day 5, after having breakfast at the hotel, we decided that this would be the perfect day for some shopping including handicrafts and souvenirs. Therefore, our first stop was the main handicraft market north of the city centre.

The Market Area is located in Lucas Balderas Street. The first market is the Handicraft Market (Mercado de Artesanía), next to this one is the local market (Mercado San Miguel) and it ends with the Souvenir Market (Mercado Ignacio Ramírez). This is the commercial area of San Miguel de Allende, the best area for shopping, and the best local cuisine.

My favourite part of every trip is when I go to the local handicraft market to find what makes the city unique, as I tried to add something new to my house’s decoration and something special for my Christmas decorations. Since living in England, I made of my Christmas tree a collection of every place that I visited.

Additionally, during the last past few years I have been collecting all types of butterfly, different kinds of material that do not break, as some do not survive the trip to England. Currently, my favourite butterfly set a set of two painted aluminium Monarch butterfly made in Mexico.

After enjoying a very extensive shopping spree, we decided to have lunch inside the food market and enjoyed some local specialities.

After enjoying an amazing lunch, we made our way to the city centre but this time we took a different route to enjoy the architecture of all the city. Our next stop was the Church of Our Lady of Health.

The Church of Our Lady of Health (Templo de Nuestra Señora de La Salud) was constructed in the 18th century by father Luis Felipe Neri, and has a façade in Baroque stipe style.

After taking some exterior photographs, we continued walking towards the Allende Garden. This walking tour gave me the opportunity of taking some street photography specifically capturing some casual photographs of people carrying out their daily activities, as these are the photographs that capture the people in that particular period of time like a time capsule as you are able to distinguish the current trends.

In addition to taking street photographs, I also decided to continue exploring the local handicraft and made it a point to enter every single handicraft shop on our way to the Allende Garden.

Allende Garden (El Jardín de Allende) is the most popular place in the town as every social event occurs there from live music to fireworks. This is the best place to enjoy a relaxing evening after a day full of activities including shopping. The garden has many iron benches, the laurel trees which are cut in a geometrically way, and you can hear the Parish’s bells every 15 minutes.

In most Mexican towns, the main square is the heart of the town as every social event that the town celebrates happens there. It is also the best place for gathering for people of all ages, but above all is the best way to spend your afternoons specially in a very hot day, as the shade of those trees is amazing.

After enjoying the sunset in the garden, we made our way back to the hotel and we decided to have dinner at the hotel’s restaurant, as this was our last night of this Guanajuato trip.

After dinner, I made all the arrangements for this blog, as I am keeping very good notes, and prepared all my things as we were leaving the following day after breakfast.

On Day 6, before eating for breakfast we made sure that all our luggage was ready. After finishing packing, we made our way to the restaurant for a healthy and delicious breakfast.

After breakfast, we returned to our rooms to verify that everything was packed and while my father was checking out, my brother and I were packing everything in the van.

After packing everything, we were ready to start the trip back to Mexico City. In Mexico the best routes are those with tolls as these do not have many freight transports. Although they are expensive, they fulfil the purpose of being faster, as most of them cut couple of hours to the journey from the non-toll routes.

From the north, the best toll route to Mexico City is via Queretaro City. Due to the length of the trip, we always made at least three stops in the way: two for petrol and one for lunch. My parents have so many road trips north, that they even have their favourite restaurant which they always stop and even my brother has his favourite dishes. In my case, I love this restaurant as it has the best painted metal butterflies and ladybird in the market, and I always make sure to see their handicrafts.

After lunch, we continued our trip back to Mexico City, however, on this occasion there was a car accident just in front of us. The car accident made that all the cars in front of us to stop and were unable to move for almost an hour.

After a very long trip, we decided to stop for dinner. Our family tradition is to have dinner before arriving to my parents’ home at the next-door taco shop. I even do this every time I arrived to see my parents, every time a different next-door taco shop as my parent’s house is located around many taco shops.

Guanajuato is one of those states that is unique to Mexico, although most of the cities are similar as they were all built in the same period with the same materials and in the same style. This is the only state that has this style, making this a unique Guanajuato style.

Guanajuato is one of those states that caters to many types of tourist as you can find amazing buildings, is full of Mexican history, is full of precious metals and semi-precious stones, is full of Spanish-Mexican traditions, and above all house the famous Cervantine Festival which is all about the author and Don Quixote. Therefore, if you want to know more about what makes Mexico unique, and the reason why Mexico was the most important and rich country of New Spain, just come to Guanajuato and make your opinion about it.