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Mexico Travel Plans

I am planning a trip to Mexico for late November for 11 days. I have air tkts purchased and am flying into Mexico City. I am interested primarily in the colonial cities of the interior of Mexico, and somewhat but less interested in a beach area. Previously I have been to the cities of Guanajuato, Zacatecas, San Miguel, Oaxaca, San Cristobal and Merida, as well as Mex City. I would like to go to new places. My plan is to stay for a night in Mex City, go to Morelia for 4 nights, Patzcuaro for 4 nights, and return to Mex City for the last two nights. Some other possiblities instead of Mor. and Patz. are Cuernavaca and Taxco, Guadalajara and vicinity, Puebla and ????, or any of the above for less time, and combine that with a short beach stay. Does anyone have any thoughts on the above? As for hotels, in Mex. City, I have stayed at the Majestic right on the Zocalo, which I thought was fine and in a great locations - for about $80. I may stay there again. Does anyone have other recs for Mex. hotels in that same general price range, and maybe up to $120. Imn Morelia, I am looking to stay at the Virrrey de Mendoza, in Patzcuaro at the Mansion Iturbe. Does anyone have any thoughts on these places? Any ideas will be appreicated.

Hi Howard! I came from the Europe forum, because I saw your question. My suggestion is that 4 nights in Morelia and 4 nights in Patzcuaro might be too much, you should try to cut back nights there and add Guadalajara and Taxco. I definitely thought Guadalajara, Taxco and Puebla were worthy towns to visit, and they are not far from Morelia and Patzcuaro. Besides the colonial center in Guadalajara, there's the artisan and colonial barrios of Tlaquepaque and Tonala. Guadalajara also has a very nice "modern" area with huge shopping malls, restaurants, etc., that makes for a good short stop to see a very prosperous side of Mexico. Taxco is very touristy, there's one silver shop right after each other, but it is a very picturesque town and the Santa Prisca church is the most beautiful church I have seen. My visit to Cuernavaca was very short and frankly, I was not as impressed with it as with the other colonial towns, but there are a lot of beautiful hotels where you can go and relax. I also spent just a little time in Puebla - not as cute as the other towns but it has a nice church, a great market, and great shopping. When you go to Patzcuaro make sure to visit Janitzio island on Lake Patzcuaro - very picturesque island and the indigenous people still speak their own language, keep their own culture, eat the little fish from the lake, etc. Just so you'll know, my favorite colonial towns are: Guanajuato, Guadalajara, San Miguel de Allende, Taxco and Patzcuaro. Also, you said that you have been to Mexico City, and that you're flying over there, have you visited the colonial suburbs of San Miguel and Coyoacan and Frida's (Kahlo) house - they are a very worthy day-trip. If you have any other questions, let me know. P.S. - are you driving by yourself? and I would love to ear about your visit to Oaxaca - I haven't been able to go there yet!

Howard, I spent a few days in Morelia in March and really loved it. The city is lovely. We stayed 6 nights in Morelia and took day trips. Originally we planned to stay in Patzcuaro, but we enjoyed our B&B so much in Morelia, we didn't want to move. You might want to check out this website - http://www.mexconnect.com/foromichoacan/ which has a good forum for that area. There are some wonderful restaurants in Morelia - if I remember any of the names, I'll post again. We took a day trip to Santa Clara del Cobre and bought some wonderful copper pieces there. It was much less expensive than buying it in Morelia. I'm sure you'll have a great trip.

Mariarosa and Susan - Thanks for your helpful answers. One reason I was staying in Morelia and Patzcuaro for 4 nites each was that the hotels I cited, which both seem very nice, ahve a deal - stay 3 nites and get the fourth nite free. From Morelia, I plan to spend a full day going to the butterfly sanctuary. In Patzcuaro, maybe two half day trips - to the lake and to one or two of the small towns nearby. I know that especially in Patzcuaro, there are not a whole lot of sites to visit. I like to bike/hike, so I thought amybe I could spend some time doing one or both of those activites, even if it is just on a road that goes out of town. Would play this by ear. I could always sit for an extra hour int he zocalo. On previous trips, I have found that I sometimes have travelled around to much, so wanted to limit the places I stayed in to 3 on this trip. I am travelling around by bus.Taxco and Puebla are in a different direction from Mex City, than Mor. and Patz, so I do not want to do all that. Guad and around sounds good...prob my #2 choice...but i am leaning towards making that another trip. I did spend a day in Coyoacan and San Miguel..incluidng the Rivera and Kahlo museums..I really liked those areas. One particular site I would like to get to is Templo Mayor...I ahve been at the entrance on 2 different trips..but both times decided...not to go in. I thought Oaxaca was very nice..great zocalo, beautiful churches..plus is has the added benefit of the ruins of Monte Alban and Mitla nearby. The area is somewhat poorer than the more northerly colonial towns, so is a little more rough around the edges. Def. worth a trip. To get to

Me again. Howard, I would have no trouble spending 4 days in both Morelia and Patzcuaro. I'm sure you'll find lots to occupy your time. I know what you mean about moving around too much. I always have to be slow down when I'm planning a trip and remind myself that I don't have to see everything. The butterfly sanctuary is a very good trip. We took a tour - there were 7 of us. The driver didn't speak much English and the guide spoke no English. I speak some Spanish, but not enough. Fortunately one of the other tourists (German) spoke very good English and Spanish. The tour was very reasonable, I thought and we loved it. On the ride to and from the sanctuary, we passed through a few villages - one seemed full of bakeries (where we stopped on our way back) and one full of straw goods! I agree with you about Oaxaca - definitely worth a trip. We spent a week there a few years ago and I'd love to go back. BTW, we took an ETN bus from Mexico City to Morelia. It's definitely first class. Only 3 seats across instead of 4, so very comfortable. It leaves from the Observatorio terminal (I believe that's the name).

Ahh! The free 4th night, that explains it! OK, I think you can just take it easy in Morelia and Patzcuaro and enjoy absorbing the culture. I imagine that you are the type of person who can sit in a plaza and just observe people and that you don't have to be "doing" something all the time. There's more to see in Morelia than in Patzcuaro, but I know that there are many small towns around Lake Patzcuaro that specialize in making all sorts of handcrafts (e.g., Quiroga), that we didn't get a chance to visit (if you like shopping). If you get antsy, Guadalajara is about 3 hours (or less) from Morelia. Please post your trip report when you get back, I would love to know how your trip went!

The 4 for 3 is still in place in Pátzquaro. If you have a car, you can travel much of the area and the butterfly forests to the E.
M

Hi,

I'm also planning on going to Morelia and Patzcuaro early December. If you have a the time visit Guadalajara, beautiful city. Susan do you mind telling me which B&B you stayed in Morelia, any recommendations in Patzcuaro?

Not hard at all to spend 4 nights each place but I would urge you to day trip to The archaeological site ( small pyramid & other ruins) in Tingambato & The marvelous national park in Uruapan with waterfalls, Rapids, water sculptures, flora & Fauna all with in 45 minutes of Patzcuaro.

In Patzcuaro,we loved the 4X3 with breakfast and parking at Hot Mansion Iturbe and Rest Cha Cha Cha, perhaps the best in all of Michoacan.
M (SMdA, Gto.)

I would also recommmend Taxco. It is very fun in the evening. There is also a large cave near Taxco. It is open to the public with guided tours.