Guanajuato: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

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Guanajuato is squeezed into a narrow ravine where silver was found in the 1540s; by the eighteenth century its mines produced a large share of the world’s silver, and the profits built its churches and mansions in pink and green stone. Its cars run through tunnels beneath the streets, and its lanes are too narrow for them. A World Heritage site since 1988. Half a day on foot.

A short history of Guanajuato

Guanajuato was built in a narrow ravine between mountains, thanks to the silver mines opened there in the 16th century. In the 18th century the La Valenciana mine produced an enormous amount of silver, and the city became one of the richest in the Spanish world. On 28 September 1810 rebels led by Miguel Hidalgo attacked the fortified granary, the Alhóndiga de Granaditas, in one of the first battles of the Mexican War of Independence. The painter Diego Rivera was born in the city in 1886. In 1988 the city and its mines were declared a World Heritage Site.

The ten best sights in Guanajuato

1
Jardín de la Unión
The triangular square of laurels
2
Teatro Juárez
A grand theatre with muses on the roof
3
Basilica of Our Lady
The yellow church of the patroness
4
University of Guanajuato
The great white stairway
5
Templo de la Compañía
The Jesuit church beside the university
6
Museo del Pueblo
Colonial art in a mansion
7
Casa Diego Rivera
The painter’s birthplace
8
Plazuela de San Fernando
A quiet square of cafés
9
Plaza de San Roque
Where the Cervantes festival began
10
Alhóndiga de Granaditas
The granary of the first battle of 1810

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What is an audio walk?

Tours in Guanajuato →

A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Guanajuato:

Free walking tours in Guanajuato

The silver city

Jardín de la Unión · A triangular square of laurels clipped flat into a green roof. In the evening the estudiantinas gather here — students dressed as Spanish minstrels of the sixteenth century — who lead crowds through the lanes singing, in a callejoneada.
Teatro Juárez · A theatre built over thirty years and opened in 1903 by the dictator Porfirio Díaz, with a portico of Doric columns, bronze muses on the roof and an interior in a Moorish style; it is the main stage of the Cervantino festival in October.
Basilica of Our Lady · The yellow basilica of the patroness of the city, a wooden statue of the Virgin said to have been hidden from the Moors in a cave near Granada for centuries and sent here by King Philip II in 1557, which would make it one of the oldest Christian images in the Americas.
University of Guanajuato · A university with roots in a Jesuit college of 1732, whose white main building of 1955 rises up a monumental stairway of over a hundred steps, a favourite seat for students in the evening.
Casa Diego Rivera · The house where Diego Rivera, Mexico’s great muralist, was born in 1886. The city long resented his politics and atheism, and the museum opened only in 1975, after his death.
Plaza de San Roque · A stone plaza before a church where, in 1953, students began staging the short comic plays of Cervantes. Their performances grew into the Festival Internacional Cervantino, now one of the biggest arts festivals in Latin America.

1810 and the lanes

In September 1810 Guanajuato saw the first great battle of Mexico’s war of independence. Half a day; take the funicular up and walk down.

Alhóndiga de Granaditas · A fortress-like granary where the Spanish of the city barricaded themselves in on 28 September 1810. After the leaders of the rising were executed in 1811, the heads of Hidalgo, Allende, Aldama and Jiménez hung in iron cages at its four corners for ten years, until independence in 1821.
Mercado Hidalgo · An iron-and-glass market hall opened in 1910 for the centenary of independence, with a clock tower; a local story claims it was designed as a railway station.
Plazuela de San Fernando · A small square of cafés near the Callejón del Beso, a lane so narrow that, in the legend, two lovers kissed from balconies on opposite sides until her father killed her; couples kiss on its third step for luck.
Subterránea Miguel Hidalgo · After floods tore through the city, the river was diverted and its old stone-vaulted bed, along with old mining tunnels, was turned into roads, so that traffic runs beneath the town and the streets above are left to people.
Funicular · A short funicular behind the Teatro Juárez that climbs the steep hillside in under a minute to the monument above the city.
El Pípila · A huge stone statue of 1939 of a miner nicknamed El Pípila who, according to the story, tied a stone slab to his back against the musket fire and set fire to the door of the Alhóndiga, letting the rebels in. From its feet the whole coloured city spreads below.

Mines, mummies and the centre of Mexico

Above and around the city lie the mines that made it rich, its strange museum of the dead, and a giant statue at the geographic centre of Mexico. A day by taxi or bus.

Museo de las Momias · From 1865 the city charged a tax on graves, and when families could not pay, bodies were dug up; many had mummified naturally in the dry, mineral-rich ground. More than a hundred are displayed. Outside, sweet shops sell charamuscas, toffee shaped like mummies.
La Valenciana · Beside the mine of La Valenciana, once the richest silver mine in the world, its owner the Count of Valenciana built the church of San Cayetano in the 1760s–1780s, with three altarpieces of gilded carved wood. Legend says silver dust was mixed into its mortar.
Mineral de Cata · A mining village whose church of the Lord of Villaseca is covered inside with retablos, small paintings on tin given by miners and their families in thanks for rescues from cave-ins, floods and illness.
Presa de la Olla · A colonial dam of 1749 at the top of the valley, surrounded by the mansions of mine owners, a favourite place for a Sunday walk since colonial times.
Cristo Rey del Cubilete · On a mountain about two and a half thousand metres high, said to be the geographic centre of Mexico, stands a bronze Christ about twenty metres tall, completed in 1950 after the government destroyed an earlier monument during the Cristero War.
Quijote Museum · Back in town, a museum of paintings, sculptures and objects depicting Don Quixote, given by the Spanish-born publicist Eulalio Ferrer, which made Guanajuato the Cervantes capital of the Americas.

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A guide in your headphones, stop after stop.

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Getting to Guanajuato and getting around

Bus Station · West of town; buses to San Miguel and Mexico City

Cheap eats in Guanajuato

Guanajuato eats like a student town: enchiladas mineras, the miners’ enchiladas in guajillo sauce under fried potatoes and carrots; gorditas and tacos from the market; fresas con crema in paper cups; and cajeta, goat-milk caramel from nearby Celaya. A plate of enchiladas mineras costs about four or five dollars.

Mercado Hidalgo · Enchiladas mineras upstairs
Jardín de la Unión · Strawberries and cream
Museo de las Momias · Mummy-shaped sweets

Museums in Guanajuato

Guanajuato’s museums range from Diego Rivera and Don Quixote to the war of independence and the mummies.

Alhóndiga de Granaditas · Independence
Casa Diego Rivera · Rivera’s birthplace
Quijote Museum · Don Quixote
Museo del Pueblo · Colonial art

Things to do in Guanajuato with kids

With children: a funicular, tunnels for cars, singing students and mummy sweets.

Funicular · Up the hill
Subterránea Miguel Hidalgo · The tunnels
Jardín de la Unión · Follow the estudiantina

Holy places in Guanajuato

Silver-rich churches and the shrine at the centre of Mexico.

La Valenciana · The golden altars
Basilica of Our Lady · The patroness
Cristo Rey del Cubilete · The great Christ

Nightlife in Guanajuato

Guanajuato’s nights are callejoneadas, student bars and, in October, the Cervantino festival.

Jardín de la Unión · The callejoneada
Plazuela de San Fernando · Bars on the square
Teatro Juárez · The Cervantino

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Frequently asked questions about Guanajuato

What is there to see in Guanajuato?

The top sights in Guanajuato are Jardín de la Unión, Teatro Juárez and Basilica of Our Lady. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Guanajuato?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of Guanajuato without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in Guanajuato?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Guanajuato, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The silver city.

How do you get to Guanajuato and get around?

The main ways are Bus Station. Full details are in the transport section on this page.

Where to stay in Guanajuato, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Guanajuato that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

Looking for a hotel in Guanajuato for your dates?

Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.

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