Guadalajara

Overview

Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco and Mexico's second-largest city, is the heartland of the country's most iconic traditions — mariachi music, tequila and charrería (Mexican rodeo) were all born here. Often called the 'Pearl of the West', it pairs a grand colonial centre and the UNESCO-listed Hospicio Cabañas with the craft towns of Tlaquepaque and Tonalá and an easy gateway to the agave fields of Tequila.

Travel

Guadalajara is the capital of Jalisco and the second-largest city in Mexico, and for many it is the most quintessentially Mexican — the birthplace of the country's defining symbols. Mariachi music, tequila, charrería (the Mexican rodeo and national sport) and the broad-brimmed sombrero all originated in Jalisco, and the city wears that heritage proudly. Its colonial heart is monumental: the twin-spired Catedral, the neoclassical Teatro Degollado, the Rotonda de los Jaliscienses Ilustres and the long Plaza Tapatía, which leads to the city's masterpiece — the Hospicio Cabañas, a vast early-19th-century neoclassical complex and UNESCO World Heritage Site whose chapel is covered in José Clemente Orozco's murals, crowned by his apocalyptic “El Hombre de Fuego” (Man of Fire). Around the centre, the absorbed former villages of Tlaquepaque and Tonalá are Mexico's great craft towns, famous for ceramics, blown glass and handicrafts, with Tlaquepaque's pedestrian core and its mariachi-filled El Parián a highlight in themselves. The city is also the gateway to Tequila — the agave town an hour to the west, where the blue-agave landscape and historic distilleries form their own UNESCO World Heritage Site, reached by day tour or the festive tequila-tasting trains. Tapatío food is a distinct cuisine: the torta ahogada (a “drowned” pork sandwich in spicy tomato sauce), birria (rich goat or beef stew), carne en su jugo and the fermented-corn drink tejuino. Guadalajara is a modern, business-minded metropolis too — a major technology hub sometimes dubbed Mexico's Silicon Valley — with a mild, high-altitude climate, leafy western districts like Chapultepec and Lafayette for dining and nightlife, and a growing light-rail network (SITEUR's Mi Tren) plus the Mi Macro rapid buses. Miguel Hidalgo International Airport (GDL) connects the city across the Americas.

Frequently asked questions