Must-see attractions in Guadalajara Region

  • Instituto Cultural Cabanas, Guadalajara, Mexico; Shutterstock ID 745346248; your: Sloane Tucker; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI
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    Instituto Cultural de Cabañas

    Guadalajara

    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…

  • Guadalajara Cathedral.

    Catedral de Guadalajara

    Guadalajara

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

  • Guachimontones Archaeological Site

    Guadalajara

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

  • The Basílica de Zapopan.

    Basílica de Zapopan

    Guadalajara

    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…

  • Cascahuín

    Guadalajara Region

    If you have time for only one distillery tour while in Tequila country, make it this one. Here you'll see the entire process, from piña harvesting to…

  • Tonalá Street Market

    Guadalajara

    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…

  • Museo Pantaleón Panduro

    Guadalajara

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

  • Centro Cultural Juan Beckman Gallardo

    Guadalajara Region

    Opened in 2018, this gorgeous colonial-style cultural center is home to a modern museum with well-curated exhibits on the history and culture of the…

  • Museo de Arte Sacro de Guadalajara

    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…

  • Main building of Tres Mujeres, a tequila company dedicated to the artisan manufacture of tequila near Amatitan.

    Tres Mujeres

    Guadalajara Region

    Free Spanish- and English-language tours are available at the high-end 100% agave distillery Tres Mujeres, where some 40 different tequilas are produced,…

  • Museo Regional de Guadalajara

    Guadalajara

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

  • Plaza de la Liberación

    Guadalajara

    This huge plaza due east of the cathedral was a 1980s urban planner’s dream project – two whole blocks of colonial buildings to be knocked down and…

  • Palacio de Gobierno

    Guadalajara

    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…

  • Las Piedrotas

    Guadalajara Region

    Las Piedrotas are a large and impressive group of rock formations set in cow pastures in what's called the Valle de las Enigmas about 6km north of town…

  • Casa Sauza

    Guadalajara Region

    The Casa Sauza estate invokes Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic fairy tale The Secret Garden. The colonial-style grounds are adorned with Italianate…

  • Museo de las Artes

    Guadalajara

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

  • Museo de Arte Huichol (Wixarika)

    Guadalajara

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

  • El Tépalo Waterfall

    Guadalajara Region

    El Tépalo waterfall can be reached on foot from Ajijic. From the center follow Guerra and Encarnación Rosas north, then turn right on Callejón al Tépalo;…

  • Plaza de los Mariachis

    Guadalajara

    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…

  • Centro de Integración Tapalpa

    Guadalajara Region

    Don’t miss this school for special-needs kids dedicated to teaching self-confidence along with computer and art skills. Wonderful recycled art is made by…

  • Mundo Cuervo

    Guadalajara Region

    Just opposite Tequila's main plaza and immediately recognisable by the enormous statue of a crow (cuervo in Spanish), Mundo Cuervo, which is owned by the…

  • Casa-Taller Orozco

    Guadalajara

    Orozco’s former home and studio, used briefly by the celebrated muralist in the early 1940s, today hosts temporary exhibitions. On permanent display in…

  • Parque Agua Azul

    Guadalajara

    This large, leafy park about 2km south of the city center is a nice place to rehab from too much urbanity. There are benches and lawns to lounge upon and…

  • Hacienda La Cofradia

    Guadalajara Region

    Two kilometers south of Tequila sits the beautiful Hacienda La Cofradia estate where the 100% blue agave Casa Noble tequila brand is distilled. The…

  • Teatro Degollado

    Guadalajara

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

  • Plaza Tapatía

    Guadalajara

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

  • Rotonda de los Jaliscenses Ilustres

    Guadalajara

    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…

  • Isla de Mezcala

    Guadalajara Region

    The more interesting island to visit on Lago de Chapala is Isla de Mezcala. Here you’ll find ruins of a fort where Mexican independence fighters held…

  • Museo de Arte de Zapopan

    Guadalajara

    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 Guadalajara

    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…

  • Museo Nacional de la Cerámica

    Guadalajara

    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…

  • Museo Regional de la Cerámica

    Guadalajara

    The Museo Regional de la Cerámica is set in a great old adobe building with stone arches and mature trees in the courtyard. It's a relatively small…

  • Casa Herradura

    Guadalajara Region

    The romantic old Hacienda de San José del Refugio is where Herradura tequila is distilled. It is one of Mexico’s prettiest distilleries, with regularly…

  • Los Cazos

    Guadalajara Region

    About 2km south of town is the leafy park of Los Cazos, with the 30m waterfall Casacada El Salto another 2km walk from the park entrance. You can picnic…

  • Isla de los Alacranes

    Guadalajara Region

    A ticket booth (9am to 7pm) at the pier’s entrance sells boat tickets to Isla de los Alacranes (Scorpion Island), 6km from Chapala, which has some…

  • Galería Jorge Martínez

    Guadalajara

    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…

  • Casa Siete Leguas

    Guadalajara Region

    Call ahead for tours at this fine tequila distillery in Atotonilco el Alto, a town about 110km northeast of Chapala. It's located in a large purple…

  • Museo Arqueológico de Ciudad Guzmán

    Guadalajara Region

    This tiny museum, no larger than a room divided into various sections, does a decent job outlining the history of southern Jalisco state through various…

  • Templo de Santa María de Gracia

    Guadalajara

    A block northeast of Plaza de la Liberación is the Templo de Santa María de Gracia, with a rather rough and austere interior; it was built as part of a…

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