Places to Explore

• Ajijic

  Ajijic has narrow cobblestone streets, vibrantly colored buildings, and a gentle pace—with the exception of the very trafficky main highway through the town's southern end. The foreign influence is... (more)

• Around Lago de Chapala

  Mexico's largest natural lake is a one-hour drive southeast of Guadalajara. Surrounded by jagged hills and serene towns, Lake Chapala is a favorite Tapatío getaway and a haven for thousands of North... (more)

• Centro Histórico

  The downtown core is a mishmash of modern and old buildings connected by a series of large plazas, four of which were designed to form a cross when viewed from the sky, with the cathedral in the middle... (more)

• Chapala

  Chapala was a placid weekend getaway for aristocrats in the late 19th century, but when then-president Porfirio Díaz got in on the action in 1904, other wealthy Mexicans followed suit. More and... (more)

• San Juan Cosalá

  San Juan Cosalá is known for its natural thermal-water spas along Lago de Chapala.... (more)

• Tequila

  As you leave the smog of Guadalajara, the entire landscape changes; suddenly, the land is the distinctive blue-green color of agave. As you near Tequila, families are selling pure agave tequila in plastic... (more)

• Teuchitlán

  For decades, residents in this sleepy village of sugarcane farmers had a name for the funny-looking mounds in the hills above town, but they never considered the Guachimontones to be more than a convenient... (more)

• Tlaquepaque

  Tlaquepaque arts and crafts fill the showrooms and stores here; you'll find carved wood furniture, colorful ceramics, and hand-stitched clothing. Pedestrian malls and plazas are lined with more than 300... (more)

• Tonalá

  Among the region's oldest pueblos is quiet Tonalá, a place of dusty cobblestone streets and stucco-covered adobe dwellings. Although it's been swallowed by ever-expanding Guadalajara, Tonalá... (more)

• Zapopan

  Mexico's former corn-producing capital is now a municipality of wealthy enclaves, modern hotels, and malls surrounded by hills of poor communities (as is much of metropolitan Guadalajara). Farther out... (more)

• Zona Minerva

  Also known as Zona Rosa (Pink Zone), this district west of the Centro Histórico is arguably the pulse of the city. At night a seemingly endless strip of the region's trendiest (and most touristy)... (more)