Travelling to Guanajuato Mexico

[robertbrown]

Hello. In two weeks I'll be travelling to Guanajuato, Mexico, where

I'll be spending 10 days in a house near the center of the city. I'm

looking for any suggestions of places to photograph, places to eat,

things to see. I'm especially interested in unusual, non-touristy,

off-the-beaten path sorts of things to do. I also like good food and

drink . . . again, any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

In general, I like to photograph abstracts, architecture, flowers,

and landscapes, though I will shoot people on occasion. I'll be

travelling with a Canon 20D (several L lenses), Hasselblad 501, and

Hasselblad Xpan. I do shoot for several stock agencies, so the trip

is a mixture of business and pleasure.

 

Thanks,

Bob

 

www.robertobrownphotography.com

[phoneguy]

I'm jealous. I try to get sown to Mexico whenever I can.

 

http://www.bootsnall.com/namericatravelguides/jun00guanajuato.shtml

 

http://www.mexconnect.com/MEX/mxc/gto.html

 

http://www.donquijote.org/guanajuato/

 

Mike

[Spearhead]

Guanajuato is very small and 10 days is a long time to be there. It's hard to go anywhere without finding something to shoot, but you can probably go everywhere in four or five days. You can pretty much walk every street in two days. It is a great city because of the tunnels routing traffic under much of the city and leaving open plazas.<P>

 

It's the wrong city for great food in Mexico - there's nothing exciting or even interesting about the local food. It's not that it's bad, but it's not that good, and it certainly can't compare to local cuisines in places like Puebla or Oaxaca or Merida. Also, my credit card number was lifted there, and I'd recommend using cash only. Quinta las Acacias has excellent breakfast, however, and the local aristocracy seems to breakfast there sometimes.<p>

 

Of course the big tourist attraction is the Mummy Museum, which is definitely worth a visit, but that's a half day at the most, less depending on what day you go there. The Diego Rivera museum, which is in the house he grew up in, is very nice if somewhat tiny. There are hot springs in the area, some old mines, and Queratera is a decent day trip. <p>

 

<center><img src="http://www.spirer.com/images/clownsmexnew.jpg"><br><i>Clowns, Guanajuato, Copyright 2001 Jeff Spirer</i></center>

[david_henderson]

I was there at the end of November. I got some decent photographs in Guanajuato but I'd echo what Jeff Spirer said about ten days being a long time. I was there three days and felt it was enough. I didn't find the main streets at all productive and suggest you take every opportunity to climb steeply up away from them. There's quite a lot of graffiti around.

 

I found that both San Miguel and Zacatecas were more productive for me, and of course you'll be able to get to the former from Guanajuato, albeit that it is more touristy.

 

Driving in Guanajuato is a nightmare. The few main roads in town are choked and finding things very difficult indeed. If you're driving in I seriously suggest finding a taxi at the edge of town and following him in.<div></div>

[david_henderson]

I should have added that Guanajuato is surrounded by hills and there's a ring road which looks down into town with decent views. Also there'a a rack railway from the centre of town which takes you up to a viewpoint which is more interesting than these things usually are. You can get a taxi (very cheap) out to the ring road and walk back down into the city.

[mike meeks]

Be sure to stop off in the little town of Dolores-Hidalgo on your way to San Miguel. The little church in the zocalo is where Father Hidalgo sent out the "Grito de Dolores" in 1810. Now it is called "El Grito" and the President does it every year at midnight of the 15th of September. It is a pretty little town and nobody goes there.

[robertbrown]

Mike, thanks for the links--much appreciated.

 

Jeff, thanks for all the advice and the photo of the clowns! I've spent several months in Mexico over the years, most of the time in Guadalajara, but also time in Oaxaco, Puerta Vallerta, Colima, and a lot of other little towns. I'm sorry to hear the food is only OK, though I like Mexican food a lot, so ok is fine. I will try out the places you've suggested, and will probably venture out of town for a few day trips, either by bus or hire a driver.

 

David, thanks for all the advice and I love the photo--it's just the sort of thing I like to shoot. I rent cars when I go to Europe, but use buses or taxis in Mexico. I thought about renting a car, though, but after reading about the tunnels I figured driving might be too much for this gringo. I do plan to get out of town: my wife wants to go to San Miguel, so that's on the list. I'll also try to make it to Zacatecas. Thanks again for all the advice.

 

Mike, Dolores-Hidalgo sounds like a terrific place. I'm definitely putting it on the list. Thanks.

[j.martin___]

As has been mentioned, simply walking up and down and around the city will give you great opportunities to get the type of shots you mentioned you are interested in. If you go to the mummy museum, I suggest you at least have a look at the panteon just beside it. I found it very interesting -- sort of a filing cabinet style cemetery -- but then I had never seen anything like that before.

 

I think you are making a good choice in basing yourself in Guanajuato and seeing Dolores Hidalgo and San Miguel from there. When I visited Dolores there were very few other tourists.

 

You might also want to visit coming back to life ghost-town Pozos.

 

For food in Guanajuato, I really liked Truco 7.

 

http://www.pbase.com/zuiko40.mexico

[robertbrown]

J., thanks for the suggestions--I'm really looking forward to the trip. I even bought a new Canon 5D to break in. I'll post some photos here on my return.

[jfochoa]

Hi, Robert! I think 4 days is enough to visit Guanajuato... but you need 6 more days to take pictures! You will see a lot of places to shot. And I suggest you to visit San Miguel de Allende. Greetings from Uruapan, Michoacan! (Sorry... my English is very bad :-(