Vacation Activities in Guadalajara

Although Guadalajarans like to think of themselves as different (calling themselves, uniquely, “Tapatíos”), their city is renowned as the “most Mexican” of cities. Visitors, both foreign and Mexican, come to Guadalajara to bask in its mild, springlike sunshine, savor its music, and admire its grand monuments. And, according to the U.S. State Department, there are some 50,000 Americans and Canadians living in and around the area.

Where To Go, What To Do in Guadalajara

The city-center heart of the municipality of Guadalajara is a bustling downtown, but it is mostly low-rise and relaxed compared to large North American cities. Nevertheless, buses empty squads of passengers curbside, subway trains scuttle underground, shoppers peruse department store displays, businesspeople relax for coffee-shop lunches, pigeons scurry and flutter, and families stroll broad, fountain-decorated plazas.

Highlights are the towering cathedral, the Regional museum, and the classic-facade Degollado Theater. Nearby, via shop- and restaurant-lined pedestrian walkways, spreads the visionary-scale Plaza Tapatía, graced by its own monuments, markets and galleries. These include the Hospicio Cabañas, Latin America’s largest colonial building, and the site of the José Clemente Orozco museum, with a treasury of the art of the renowned muralist. For shoppers, Plaza Tapatía also has the Magno Centro Joyero gold jewelry market and the adjacent Mercado Libertad, with a trove of appealing handicrafts. Next to the market is the Plaza de los Mariachis.

Guadalajara Cathedral

The downtown cathedral, dedicated to the Virgin of the Assumption when it was begun in 1561, was finished about 30 years later. A potpourri of styles—Moorish, Gothic, Renaissance and Classic—make up its spires, arches and facades. Although an earthquake demolished its steeples in 1818, they were rebuilt and resurfaced with cheery canary yellow tiles in 1854. A “cross” of plazas surrounds the cathedral: the Plaza Guadalajara in front (west) of the cathedral, then, moving counterclockwise, the Plaza de Armas to the south, Plaza Liberación to the east (behind), and the Plaza de los Jaliscienses Ilustres to the north of the cathedral.

Degollado Theater

The theater’s classic, columned facade climaxes in an epic marble frieze, depicting the allegory of Apollo and the nine muses. The Degollado’s resplendent grand salon is said to rival the gilded refinement of Milan’s renowned La Scala. Overhead, its ceiling glows with Gerardo Suárez’s panorama of Canto IV of Dante’s Divine Comedy, complete with its immortal cast—Julius Caesar, Homer, Virgil, Saladin—and the robed and wreathed author himself in the middle.

Named for millionaire Governor Degollado, who financed its construction, the theater opened with appropriate fanfare on September 13, 1866 with a production of Lucia de Lammermoor starring Angela Peralta. An ever-changing menu of artists still grace the Degollado’s stage. These include an excellent local folkloric ballet troupe every Sunday morning.

Libertad Market

At this point, Independencia Avenue runs directly beneath Plaza Tapatía, past the adjacent sprawling Libertad market also known as San Juan de Dios, built in 1958 on the site of the traditional Guadalajara tianguis (open-air market), known since pre-Columbian times. Follow the elevated pedestrian walkway south to explore the Libertad’s produce, meat, fish, herbs, food and handicrafts stalls.

University of Guadalajara

This grand neoclassical building was designed in large part by noted architect Rafael Urzúa and erected in 1918. Originally intended as the Jalisco state legislature, it became part of the university during the mid-1930s.

In the paraninfo, muralist José Clemente Orozco crafted a pair of monumental works between 1936 and 1939. Spreading across the cupola overhead, Man—as creator, thinker, questioner, investigator and celebrator—displays the master’s contemplative side. In contrast, above the stage spreads The People and Their Leaders in which a fire-ringed crowd confronts the evils of militarism, brutality and false science.

Templo Expiatorio

Across López Cotilla from Museo de las Artes, find the monumental Templo Expiatorio (Temple of Atonement). The temple commenced in 1897 by Italian architect Adamo Boari, who is celebrated for the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City. Although the soaring neo-Gothic facade and its towering 25-bell carillon are impressive enough, the radiant contemporary French stained-glass windows inside are the main attraction. Besides Biblical themes, one of the glass panes is, interestingly, of architect Ignacio Díaz Morales, who finished the interior construction in 1972 (and who is buried in the Grand Crypt beneath the sacristy behind the altar). The bells, accompanied by a mechanical procession of the Twelve Apostles, toll daily, at 9 a.m., noon and 6 p.m.

Los Arcos

This neo-Roman triumphal arch was erected 1939–1941 on what was, at the time, the country edge of Guadalajara. Inside the south pedestal entry door, find the bilingual information office of City Tourism.

Los Arcos is more than a monument. In addition to the tourism office, it houses temporary art exhibits and an unusually frank mural, illustrating the best and worst of Guadalajara, halfway up the south-side staircase.

Climb the three flights to the rooftop floor and enjoy the sweeping views, both east and west along Vallarta Avenue. On the east side, Centro Magno rises before the far-off downtown skyline, while on the opposite side, traffic circles around the Minerva Fountain in front of the shining glass tower of the Hotel Fiesta Americana.

Southwest of Minerva-Chapultepec, find the Plaza del Sol–Chapalita district, anchored by the famously successful Plaza del Sol shopping mall and the world-class Expo Guadalajara exposition center, largest of its kind in Latin America.

Near these busy centers is a sprinkling of deluxe hotels and fine restaurants that accommodate the flood of business travelers. And surrounding that, quiet, tree-lined residential neighborhoods, such as Chapalita, are populated by a mix of Mexican business and professional families and North American retirees.

Expo Guadalajara

Since it opened in 1987 as the largest exposition center in Latin America, Expo Guadalajara has maintained leadership among both its national and international counterparts, in both attendance and occupancy rates. It hosts more than 120 events annually, including some of the most important industry-wide exhibitions in Mexico. Designed to international standards, Expo Guadalajara was built on a single level and spreads over an area about a fifth of a mile (300 meters) on a side.

It has kept pace with international design standards, instituting an award-winning quality control system in 1992 and enlarging and modernizing its facilities. Currently, about 500,000 square feet (45,000 square meters) in nine flexible modules can handle 50,000 visitors a day and accommodate expositions from small to gigantic.

Furthermore, Expo Guadalajara goes a long way toward minimizing the planning and organizing hassles with its convenient one-level design, with 15 loading gates (which can accommodate 65 tractor-trailers simultaneously) that open directly to the exhibition floor.

Nearly daily, a huge squadron of booths buzz with activity in the main exhibition hall. If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll catch one of the big fairs, such as fashion (January and July), ice cream (February), computers (March), handicrafts (June), furniture (September), jewelry (October), or books (November). Stop by the convenient food court in the middle of the complex for a light meal or refreshment.  

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