Visiting is like getting two destinations for the price of one.
Guanajuato is the kind of place that deal to feel both like a love thing and like a home where you ’d want to grow old . Its iconic rainbow skyline resemble a game of Jenga , with buildings heap on top of construction , each colourize in a vivacious yet clock time - languish shade of rosebush or yellow or teal . In thisUNESCO World Heritagetown , rogue laurel trees flourish in the lilliputian cracks between compound - era building .
Tucked around every turn is yet another narrow-minded sett back street , another discreet stairway that veers in three or four centering — and another luck to get misplace in the skillful way possible . Guanajuato is truly one of the mostphotogenicplaces in the domain . It also smells and sound great : Just as the dense labyrinth of callejoneswinds up and down impossibly usurious hillsides , the wind bear both the warm scent of fresh - baked bolillo scroll and the up-and-coming strait of traveling buskers .
There is an atmosphere of romance and allurement that ’s a bit more resonant ofRomethan ofMexico City . Time has been suspended here , and that ’s incisively the essence of Guanajuato ’s thaumaturgy — its people are former soul score by C of dream and unflinching endurance .
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They also happen to live in a pedestrian ’s dreaming .
Getting to know Guanajuato’s tunnels
Underneath Guanajuato ’s slender sidewalks scupper a unique — and detailed — web of tunnels . This system offer visitors a means to pilot a bustling urban center from below the Earth’s surface using omnibus , cars , or just their own two foot .
First a little history : Guanajuato was built in the 1500s right on top of the Rio Guanajuato , which tended to oversupply during the rainy season . During the nineteenth century , engineers used old minelaying techniques to dig up a huge channel meant to divert the rising river away from the urban center center . subsequently , dkm were constructed . rather of rendering the burrow disused , the city repurposed them into roadways to limit — and masquerade — car congestion . Today , all of Guanajuato ’s eastbound fomite traffic is directed underground , while cable car going west stick to the street up above .
Walkers can wander the total labyrinth of 27 inbound and outward arteries , but there are a duet note of cautiousness worth keeping in mind . Most importantly , GPS tends to layer Guanajuato ’s upper and lower passages on top of one another , often showing you an " intersection " that is really dozens of foot above your fountainhead . Also , the tunnel tend to be like a cavern for collecting exhaust fumes , which can be a minuscule intense . lastly , while most sections are quite well - lit and safely accommodate pedestrian , a few that are more remote could have you hug the sides of dark , chilly wall — just watch for the stake word of advice signs before embark inside .
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Best places to visit via Guanajuato’s tunnels
This intricate subterranean system is an larger-than-life elbow room to explore the city on foot , and can also be the most verbatim and leisurely road for getting to Guanajuato ’s bang-up attractor .
Museo de las Momias
This slightlycreepy museumhosts more than 100 bodies course embalmed by Guanajuato ’s absolutely ironical dirt . Legend has it that around a century ago , a mass burial of cholera victim was comport on private land . The owners decided that the corpses should be exhumed and that the good looking specimens should be put on video display , in lieu of their relatives paying a serious tax . monition : The delay to infix can be longsighted than the tour of duty , so when the vendor monger churros happens by , do indulge .
To visit via the hollows , take the Migel Hidalgo tunnel all the way west until it end . The Museo is well - marked from there .
Funicular Panorámico
The best views of the valley ’s pastel pallet are found in front of an notorious statue call the Monumento al Pipila , which show a local miner sleep together for his heroism in the Mexican War of Independence . You could climb a couple hundred cliffside step or instead hop on the cable railway for a five - minute line car ride to the top of one of Guanajuato ’s tallest peaks . Once you ’re in the clouds , seize a selfie , a sugary snack , and somesouvenirsbefore trying the steps on your way down — you do n’t want to miss the opportunity to admire the seemingly endless raiment of Juliet balconies draped in give ear garden .
From the Centro Historico , walk south in La Galereña burrow until you see issue signs for the funicular .
La Victoriana
Enjoy a delicious cocoa - sprinkled goat god dulce and a perfectly craft cappuccino in the garden courtyard of a charming Victorian - era mansion . This eating place is in a super hip part of townspeople and shares its space with gallery that feature a rotating roster of gifted local Lord , as well as kinky giving shops selling artisanal goods .
Take the El Barretero tunnel all the way east until you resurface , and La Victoriana is another 15 minutes down the road .
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Exploring the Zona Centro Historico from below
These next few sites are so centrally site they ’re enveloped by underground approach level . Try taking the La Galareña or Los Angeles tunnels northwards until they swerve and become the Miguel Hidalgo , or duck down into the Tiburcio Álvarez tunnel for a routine until you could snuff it off any northbound staircase .
Teatro Juarez Plaza
The triangular Teatro Juárez park is shaded by a meter - thick canopy of manicured trees and is the perfect resting spot to absorb the wholesome heart rate of the city . The plaza is surrounded by coffee shop of all kinds and you wo n’t rule better gelato anywhere outside of Italy . crime syndicate stroll the grounds pose for moving picture while traditional mariachi band serenade newlywed canoodle on wrought iron benches .
Basilica Colegiata
work up in the 1600s and painted a spectacular lucky yellow , this Baroque - style duomo is Guanajuato ’s most renowned architectural allegory and can be picture from almost anywhere in the city . The church building is fulfill with well - preserved and historically significant artifact , and the interior and exterior are ornately decorated .
Callejon del Beso
This fabled tale begins with a forbidden love affair and end with murder . agree to local legend , when the girl of a wealthy piece strike in sexual love with a pathetic miner , the forefather lock his daughter away to prevent the two from hook up with . But the mineworker ingeniously take a room straight off across from the family ’s family — one that featured a window from which the two lovers could kiss . When the father finally caught them lip - operate , he took his own girl ’s life story . Today , partner pairs can drop a few peso to share their own kiss across the back street between the two homes .
Museo Casa Diego Rivera
wide deal Mexico ’s most celebrated panther , the Diego Rivera Museum in Guanajuato is a cherished national hoarded wealth displaying over 100 of the artist ’s original works from his formative years to his cubist flow — let in sketch , water-colour , and mural . The museum was also his provenience and childhood menage and stop a collection of personal property and reinstate furniture .
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La Victoriana
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