Guanajuato 2025
| Category | Type | Name/Description | Notes | Cost | Origin | Destination | Kms | To Date | Total |
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| 2025-02-08: Travel to Mexico City | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Room in Loft with a big terrace | Check-in 15:00; Check-out 11:00. Self check-in with Keypad Room in Loft with a big terrace Free cancellation before 3:00 p.m. on Feb. 3. Cancel before check-in at 3:00 p.m. on Feb. 8 for a partial refund. We are a Franco-Salvadorian couple; living in Mexico for 15 years. It will be a pleasure to receive you in the Center of Mexico City and to share our experience in the city and in the whole country. | 301.07 | Mexico City | ||||
| Tip | General Info | Canadian Embassy in Mexico City | Calle Schiller No. 529, Colonia Polanco, 11580 México, D.F., México Ph: +52 55-5724-7900 E-Mail: mxicocs@international.gc.ca | 0 | |||||
| Tip | General Info | Phone Numbers to Reach Us Rhonda: +52 998 475 5827\n Brent: +52 441 151 3415\n WhatsApp: 780-566-8327 (can't phone this, but can use WhatsApp)\n Canada alternate (VOIP): 1-587-206-5456 | 0 | ||||||
| Travel | Flight | Fly to Mexico City via Toronto | Booking Reference: 3VGEM8 00:05-06:00 AC176 08:00-12:25 AC991 (MAX8) Cost is for two people | 2986.18 | Edmonton | Mexico City | |||
| Note: We flew to Mexico City via Toronto today. Before we even got to Toronto I realized that I probably forgot my heart meds at home. They didn’t make it onto my checklist and if it isn’t on my checklist, it doesn’t happen. Eek!\n\n The moment we landed I messaged Shannon and Elissa to see if they could help - Shannon to send my pills to Elissa in Calgary and Elissa to bring them along when she comes to meet us next week. I also called the Cross to ask how big a deal it is if I missed taking them for a couple of weeks, and they seemed to think it could be a pretty big deal but they weren’t willing to say one way or another. I was busy trying to sort all that out while Brent and I used public transit to get to where we’re staying - that part of the day went off without a hitch. \n\n Shannon and I couldn’t find a courier that would get the pills to Calgary on time for Elissa to bring them, but while we were fiddling with that idea, Elissa talked to her pharmacist and got a solution - my pharmacist sent my Rx down to Elissa’s pharmacist in Calgary and Elissa can pick up some replacement pills for me tomorrow, well before she has to leave to come meet us in Guanajuato. \n\n While I was panicking, I also reached out to Nancy and Michel to see if they could help, and while they were both willing, Elissa already had a solution before I had to inconvenience anyone else. Yay!\n\n So Brent and I settled in to our beautiful AirBnB and then walked around Mexico City’s Centro Historico. We stumbled onto both Garibaldi Plaza, which is a riot, and Templo Mayor. We’ll have to go back tomorrow and get another look at Templo Mayor. It’s huge and really cool.
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| 2025-02-09: Mexico City - Templo, Lucha Libre and Mariachi Central | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Room in Loft with a big terrace again | |||||||
| Activity | Sight See | Templo Mayor | 0 | ||||||
| Activity | Sight See | Plaza Garibaldi | 0 | ||||||
| Activity | Tour | Lucha Libre Experience Mexico’s #1 LUCHA LIBRE EXPERIENCE! | You will have a tasty and fun night that you can only experience in Mexico City with local friends. We will start by tasting mouthwatering tacos in one of our favorites taquerias, then we will go have some beer and great mezcal. While we wash down the tacos, we will introduce you to the history and nuances of lucha libre—professional Mexican wrestling. We'll then head to the arena for a fantastic night of lucha libre! At the arena, we’ll catch the main two or three fights. The first few matches are amateur, and in our experience, arriving too early can make the show feel like it drags on. But don’t worry—we’ll make sure you’re there for the best action. Other things to noteTickets, food, and drinks before the show are included — all you need to do is enjoy. Tipping is a custom in Mexico. While not mandatory, it’s a great way to show appreciation if you feel your guide met or exceeded your expectations. On Sundays we will start at 15:30 in Roma Norte. | 212.32 | |||||
| Meal | Dinner | Cariñito Tacos | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Reminder | Terminal Central de Autobuses del Norte Visit Terminal Central de Autobuses del Norte to get bus schedules for Guanajuato | Catch Z1 bus toward Miguel Hidalgo-Acueducto to get to bus terminal | 0 | |||||
| Note: We had a super-full, super-fun day today. \n\n First we got acquainted with the Mexico City transit system and ended up in Centro Historico where we got a closer look at the archaeological site of Templo Mayor. \n\n We then made our way down to Roma Norte where we met up with our tour group to have some beer and tacos, and attend a Lucha Libre wrestling match, which was delightfully over-the-top. \n\n We then came back to our part of town and had a final beer at Plaza Garibaldi, which is absolutely crawling with mariachi bands. The folks at the next table hired three different mariachi bands to play songs for them while we had our beers.
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| 2025-02-10: Mexico City | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Room in Loft with a big terrace again | |||||||
| Note: We went out for breakfast this morning at a place that our host recommended and visited a bakery that he recommended. They were both very nice but definitely more upscale than we are. \n\n We then went to do some walking around. Highlights were the Bellas Artes, the Ciudadela artesans market and the purple statue of Justice and The Young Woman of Amajac. \n\n Now we’re taking an afternoon siesta because all of this walking around after almost a year of hardly moving is pooping me out! Note: After a bit of a recharge, we went back out walking. We visited Catedral Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México, which is enormous, and even has a gift shop right in the cathedral. We then walked down Calle Emiliano Zapata, which I found really interesting - it had raised walkways on either side and (finally) some street art. We walked as far as La Santísima before turning around and having dinner and a beer on our AirBnB terrace.
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| 2025-02-11: Mexico City, Elissa arrives Guanajuato | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Room in Loft with a big terrace again | |||||||
| Note: Short walkabout this morning to Chinatown, which was very pretty and very small. Note: After visiting Chinatown, we went out for some more walking. We walked around the northeast end of Centro Historico, which was crazy busy, and then took the metro wayyyyy down to the Coyoacán neighborhood where the Frida Kahlo museum is. Unfortunately the museum was sold out of tickets for today but Coyoacán was really interesting anyway. We had a look at Iglesia de San Juan Bautista, which was very nice. \n\n When we were ready to leave Coyoacán, I suggested to Brent that we go back up to Plaza Garibaldi one last time before we leave Mexico City. I popped the question and asked him if he would Mariachi me, so we went up to the Plaza, got a beer, and in relatively short order a Mariachi band found us and we got Mariachi’d!
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| 2025-02-12: Travel to Guanajuato | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Casa de Diego in Guanajuato | Check-In: 3:00; Check-out: 12:00. Host greets you. Free cancellation before 3:00 p.m. on Feb. 7. Cancel before check-in at 3:00 p.m. on Feb. 12 for a partial refund. | 465.85 | Guanajuato | ||||
| Travel | Bus | Primera Plus to Guanajuato | Depart 10:00, Arrive 14:45. Conf: mINv7RHCNko Sale de: Norte: Dirección: Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas #4907, Col. Magdalena de Las Salinas CP 07760 Teléfono: 01 55 5587 1552 Guanajuato: Llega a: Central de autobuses: Dirección: Carretera de cuota Guanajuato - Silao km 7.5 (esquina Don Juan Jiménez), Col. Ejido la Yerbabuena CP 36230 Teléfono: 01 473 733 2836 | 129.06 | Ciudad de Mexico Sale de Norte | Guanajuato | |||
| Travel | Vehicle | Bus Terminal to AirBnB | Taxi is best/only way to get there | 0 | Bus Terminal | Diego Rivera's House Museum | |||
| Note: Elissa had a heck of a journey getting down here, but she made it last night, and brought me my missing heart meds. \n\n We left our Airbnb at 7:30 this morning and took the metro to Central del Norte and left Mexico City on a Primera Plus bus, which was crazy clean and comfortable. We had a six hour ride to get to Guanajuato to meet up with Elissa. Our airbnbs are on the same tiny steep alley, and amazingly, our patios face each other! Crazy.
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| 2025-02-13: Guanajuato | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Casa de Diego in Guanajuato again | |||||||
Note: We went for a walk all over Guanajuato today, including walking up to the monument across the valley from us, visiting five Catholic Churches, and walking up Kiss Alley (Callejon de Beso). A special surprise was getting in a quick visit with Uriel and Ana from Queretaro as they were in town with a client.
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| 2025-02-14: Guanajuato - Mummy Museum | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Casa de Diego in Guanajuato again | |||||||
| Note: Today we walked over to the mummy museum. I was taking us the long, boring way, but Brent spied a sign for a side route up some colorful stairs to get there instead. Much better!\n\n The mummy museum itself was educational, fascinating, disturbing and grim. The mummies were much more recent than I expected - one died in 1967. They were not mummified deliberately… it just happened as a result of the local conditions. I was disproportionately fascinated by the quality of the shoes (on the mummies who had shoes). \n\n When we were walking down from the mummy museum, Elissa talked to a fellow who warned us that the path we were on had biting dogs on it and he recommended a different way. Of course, we took his advice. \n\n After the museum we took a walk along a ridge visiting a number of look-offs (and look off we did). We then had lunch in the Mercado.
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| 2025-02-15: Guanajuato | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Casa de Diego in Guanajuato again | |||||||
Note: Another day in paradise walking all over Guanajuato. We spent the morning by ourselves while Elissa dealt with some health stuff then we met up, walked back up to the big monument, walked through some of the tunnels, and went for some dinner.
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| 2025-02-16: Guanajuato | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Casa de Diego in Guanajuato again | |||||||
| Note: Another great day of walking around Guanajuato. It’s a great city for exploring. It has a zillion callejónes (alleys) that are just narrow paths and staircases between houses. \n\n I’ve been feeling like I’m coming down with something so I decided to stay in this evening. Brent has gone over to Elissa’s rooftop patio for sunset.
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| 2025-02-17: Guanajuato | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Casa de Diego in Guanajuato again | |||||||
Note: Another morning in Guanajuato and guess what we did? That’s right… we walked around! We hadn’t really been in the SW part of the city yet so we covered that this time. On the way back I started to bonk (I’m still sick with some kind of head cold, just not so bad that I’m knocked right down) so we high-tailed it back through one of the tunnels. It was long and dark and noisy, and there was some annoying Canadian woman singing ‘I Am Cow’ all the way… oh wait… that was me.
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| 2025-02-18: Guanajuato, Elissa Leaves, Mina de San Juan de Rayas | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Casa de Diego in Guanajuato again | |||||||
| Activity | Sight See | Mina de San Juan de Rayas | 0 | ||||||
| Note: Elissa left us this morning to go home to Calgary. Man… it sucks to be Elissa! ;P\n But now we have to take our own photos of ourselves, so it sucks to be us, too. We had so much fun having her along on the trip. \n\n Anyway, we walked up to Mina de San Juan de Rayas this morning, which was quite a good hike. It was a very interesting site, and it looks to still be operating. \n\n On the way down we saw some young men carrying bricks. Anyone who thinks Mexicans are lazy needs to visit Mexico and see how hard these people work. \n\n We also took another spin through the Mercado and bought a nice bag for our lovely pharmacist back home who helped in the process of getting me my heart meds. Then we bought some not-quite street tacos and ate them on our terrace. \n\n It was a very nice last day here. Tomorrow we move on to Queretaro.
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| 2025-02-19: Travel to Queretaro | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | La Encantada | Third time staying here | 311.36 | Queretaro | ||||
| Travel | Bus | Primera Plus to Queretaro | Depart 11:10, Arrive 13:40. Conf: mEYQEKOjYIw Guanajuato: Llega a: Central de autobuses: Dirección: Carretera de cuota Guanajuato - Silao km 7.5 (esquina Don Juan Jiménez), Col. Ejido la Yerbabuena CP 36230 Teléfono: 01 473 733 2836 Querétaro: Llega a: Terminal de Autobuses: Dirección: Luis Vega y Monroy #800 Col. Ex-Hacienda Carretas CP 76070 Teléfono: 01 442 229 0187 / 01 442 229 0061 / 01 800 890 9090 | 55.09 | Guanajuato | Queretaro | |||
| Note: Adios Guanjuato: \n\n Annnnd just like that we’re leaving Guanajuato. \n\n We took a cab into town (from Central de Autobuses) when we got here because the navigation apps that I use didn’t know about the local transit system. Using my keen senses of observation, though, I quickly noticed that there were busses marked ‘Central de Autobuses’ running EVERYWHERE and very frequently. They cost a whopping $11 (eleven pesos), which is about $0.80CAD. We came back to the terminal using a bus. Note: Hola Querétaro\n We arrived at Queretaro without incident, and at the bus terminal we were able to easily recharge our Qrobus cards. What a different experience from last year when we tried to GET the Qrobus cards. \n\n At the terminal we hopped on the local bus to Alameda (central park) which is near our Airbnb. The Airbnb is pretty much exactly the way we remember it, including our friend, Simon, working here. \n\n We had a visit and a cerveza with Simon, then we went to ‘Elissa’s Taco Restaurant’ with Tom and Ann from Illinois who are also staying here.
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| 2025-02-20: Queretaro | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | La Encantada again | |||||||
| Note: We don’t get many days in Queretaro this time so we’re just doing a few favorite things. Last night was Tacos Tucson. This morning was baked goods from Panico and fruit from our nearby green grocer. We almost had a conniption because we thought Panico was closed down but we just had to walk another block. Whew! Note: The neighborhood of Hercules is one of Queretaro’s neighborhoods that is being considered for Barrio Magico status. Brent and I have gone walking there a couple of times before and today we went back for another look. It’s a very interesting area with lots of great street art.
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| 2025-02-21: Queretaro | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | La Encantada again | |||||||
| Note: Continuing with our ‘Highlights Reel’ of Querétaro, we went for breakfast at La Casa de la Marquesa, then walked around Centro Historico, visiting Templo de Santa Rosa de Viterbo and Mercado la Cruz. Querétaro still has a lot of Valentine’s Day decorations up so it’s very festive looking. We also randomly saw a parade celebrating the original indigenous towns of Querétaro. \n\n I am not yet over my head cold and we’re hiking up to the monarch butterfly sanctuary tomorrow so I’m calling it quits early today to get some rest.
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| 2025-02-22: Queretaro - Butterfly Tour | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | La Encantada again | |||||||
| Activity | Tour | Butterfly Tour with Uriel and Ana | Cost is $4400MEX, plus tip. | 400 | |||||
Note: This is our third visit to Querétaro, and our third visit to the Monarch butterfly sanctuary. It was a beautiful day so the butterflies were very active, similar to the first time we came (and unlike the second). We went again with Uriel and Ana, two of our favorite Queréretaro-ians, Ana’s friend, Quetzali, and two fellow Edmontonians who are staying at our Airbnb (Maggie and Paul).
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| 2025-02-23: Travel to Mexico City | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Room in Loft with a big terrace Part 2 | Free cancellation before 3:00 p.m. on Feb. 18. Cancel before check-in at 3:00 p.m. on Feb. 23 for a partial refund. Same place as at start of trip | 150.54 | |||||
| Travel | Bus | Primera Plus to Mexico City | Depart 11:30, Arrive 14:20. Conf: zKvnpmuDr4g Querétaro: Llega a: Terminal de Autobuses: Dirección: Luis Vega y Monroy #800 Col. Ex-Hacienda Carretas CP 76070 Teléfono: 01 442 229 0187 / 01 442 229 0061 / 01 800 890 9090 Ciudad de México: Llega a: Norte: Dirección: Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas #4907, Col. Magdalena de Las Salinas CP 07760 Teléfono: 01 55 5587 1552 | 72.01 | Queretaro | Mexico City | |||
| Note: Not much excitement today, but the transfer from Querétaro to Mexico City went extremely smoothly. \n\n Querétaro’s public transit system is a little unpredictable so we left really early. Brent and I had both found busses that should take us to the main bus terminal so we went to wait at the bus stop. The first bus was a number that we did not recognize but Brent noticed it said TAQ (Terminal Autobus Querétaro). I asked the driver to confirm that that was, in fact, her destination and she said yes. She drove us pretty much directly to the TAQ. We got there so early that when we stopped at the Primera Plus desk to ask which gate to go to, the lady asked us if we’d like to switch to an earlier bus, so we did. \n\n They have security at the TAQ, and Brent, and my day pack, sailed right on through, but they stopped me to tell me I had to check my backpack (which, incidentally, is IDENTICAL to Brent’s) inside. This was a little unnerving because now I had our tickets and had to go check my bag, but Brent had my daypack, and, therefore my ID. Turned out to be no big deal. I got my bag checked and went back to security and got through. I had spoken with an old fella who was checking bags for the same bus as me and he calmed my nerves a bit and made me feel comfortable with the whole process. \n\n So we got to CDMX early, took the Metro to Centro, and decided to walk rather than take our last transfer because everything was so busy the closer we got to Centro. CDMX Centro was INSANELY busy with people. We were too early to check in to our Airbnb so we found a place that had some tables and stopped for lunch. It didn’t look like anything special at first but it turned out to be really cool. It was called Cafe de Blanco, and it was a really old department store style food counter. \n\n After lunch we continued to our Airbnb, and holy smokes is it beautiful. It’s a shared space, and right in CDMX Centro, but it is stunning and has a fabulous rooftop patio with flowers and hummingbirds.
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| 2025-02-24: Mexico City | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Room in Loft with a big terrace Part 2 again | |||||||
| Note: Today is our last day in Mexico, and we spent it walking around. We attempted some recommendations from our new friend, Maggie. Yesterday Café de Tacuba and the Palacio Postal were too busy to get within ten feet. Today Palacio Postal was closed. We tried going to Chapultepec park, but the Metro line was under construction so when we got booted off we considered our options and went for a different walk instead. We did manage to get lunch in Tacuba today. \n\n We stopped in at a number of Catholic Churches, but I’m not sharing photos from them. Most of today’s photos are of street art, which we had failed to find in CDMX at the start of the trip.
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| 2025-02-25: Travel Home | |||||||||
| Travel | Flight | Fly to Edmonton via Toronto | 13:25-19:05 AC990 (MAX8) 20:45-23:07 AC177 Cost included in flight down | 0 | Mexico City | Edmonton | |||
| Note: We rode the subway several times in Mexico City and we can definitely tell it is the busiest subway system. We know there’s a city bus that will take you to the airport for 35 pesos (about $2.50CAD) but we’d gotten pretty comfortable with the subway and knew there was a stop right at the airport. It was a two-transfer trip and we got on at Pino Suárez near our Airbnb. The station there was in-FREAKIN-sane. An absolute ocean of humanity, and I thought oh noooooo… what have we gotten ourselves into!? But, the ocean of humanity was mostly heading into the city and we were heading out, so all three of our trains were relatively empty. It was a fast and easy 40-minute ride to the airport; and it cost us 5 pesos each ($0.70 total). Crazy. \n\n We had a final Mexican meal and now a wait for our plane to Toronto. Let’s hope our wings stay on for landing!
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| 2025-02-26: Arrive Home | |||||||||
| Note: Thoughts on Mexico:\n We love visiting Mexico. We have discovered some things through our years of visits. \n\n We don’t love all-inclusives because we like to be active and we like to experience more of real-life Mexico. At an all-inclusive you can relax and not work too hard - body or brain. But we like to adventure and have authentic experiences, and we like to learn stuff. \n\n There are parts of Mexico that are very geared to the Canadian and American tourists. We have visited lots and decided that they’re not our bag. We do like to enjoy street food, museums, natural attractions and culture, though, so just going to some random city or town wouldn’t really be our bag either. \n\n So we’ve landed on a preference for visiting places that are geared for Mexican tourists. We love the central plateau, particularly Queretaro state. We also love Merida on the Yucatán peninsula. Fortunately, these places are not known for cartel activity. \n\n Things that we’ve found Mexico to be extremely good at are:\n (1) moving people around. The taxis and busses are great and you rarely have a big problem finding a way to get from A to B. \n (2) feeding people. There is food… good food… to be had everywhere. Sometimes we have to hunt for a grocery store because we don’t like to eat out all the time but most of what we want is readily available. \n (3) providing public washrooms. At least in the touristy areas (white or Mexican), it’s very easy to find a baño (although you almost always have to pay for them). \n\n Some things that Mexico sucks at are: \n (1) providing a tourist info office. Sure you can find lots of ‘tourist info’ stands but those guys just want to sell you a tour. They don’t just give out info or answer questions. \n (2) providing complete and accurate information about local transit. There’s always some sleuthing required if you want to use this. \n (3) building sidewalks. Yikes. It's especially bad for people in wheelchairs, in fact, I don't know how anyone in a wheelchair would manage Mexico at all.\n (4) removing dog poop from sidewalks and... everywhere. Oh, and managing sewage smells... everywhere. | |||||||||
