Day 13: Go to Tonalá from Guadalajara - Tlaquepaque
This trip to Mexico for free continues to give us early rises and today, we are going to go to Tonalá from Guadalajara, it was not going to be less, so after having breakfast at the One Guadalajara Centro, which is our accommodation in Guadalajara these days, we went out to the streets of the city, which at this time of the morning begin to wake up little by little.
It's 8:30 in the morning and as soon as we look at the sky we see that the forecast is still not very pleasant, so we make a small change of plans, deciding to leave for this afternoon one of the visits to do in Guadalajara that we had planned and which is none other than Tlaquepaque.
In this way this morning we can go to Tonalá from Guadalajara and discover one of the markets, which we have been told, is one of the most spectacular in the country.
Also, being Sunday, the Tonalá Handicraft Market It is even more lively as it is the day of the week, along with Thursday, where handicraft stalls and hundreds of items are mounted on the streets of practically the entire town.
How to go to Tonalá from Guadalajara
There are several ways to go to Tonalá from Guadalajara:
- Taxi: From the center of Guadalajara to Tonalá for a price of approximately 250 pesos. To make the return you will not have problems since in Tonalá it is easy to find taxis.
- UBER: the price of the trip is 170 pesos.
- A perfect option with which to visit two of the most interesting points of the city is this guided tour of Guadalajara and Tlaquepaque or this excursion to Tlaquepaque and Tonalá.
- Bus: You can go to Tonalá from Guadalajara with the 275D bus for 20 pesos per person per trip or the TUR bus for 30 pesos per person. Both are caught in the corner of Madero with Avenida 16 de Septiembre.
- Tour Tapatío (tourist bus): With this tour, which leaves from the Rotunda Jaliscenses Ilustres, in the historic center of Guadalajara you can make several trips around the city, including Tonalá, Tlaquepaque, Zapopan and the historic center of the city. city.
The price is 140 pesos per person on weekends and 130 during the week and you can ride as many times as you want throughout the day.
Go to Tonalá from Guadalajara. Tapatío tour (tourist bus)
After valuing the different options we have for go to Tonalá from Guadalajara, in the end we decided on the tourist bus, which will allow us, in addition to reaching the handicraft market, on the way back take the line that takes us to Tlaquepaque and thus do both visits on the same day, saving money as well as spending for the different tourist attractions of the city.
We have to say that although this is not an option that we usually take or recommend, the truth is that after the experience we have to say that it is a perfect way to know Guadalajara and the surroundings.
Go to Tonalá from Guadalajara in the tourist bus it takes us 1 hour of journey in which we are listening to the history of many landmarks of both the city and Tonalá, arriving at the Tonalá Market when it's 10:30 in the morning.
The bus stop is at the Hacienda del Cortijo, right next to Domino's Pizza, just a few meters from the street where the craft market begins.
More practical information to prepare your trip to Mexico
- 10 essential places to visit in Mexico
- 10 essential tips for traveling to Mexico
- Best travel insurance for Mexico
- Security in Mexico
We have read that one of the important things here is to be careful with belongings, since the appropriation of the alien is common. So to avoid a bad time, we decided not to take out the camera and choose to take pictures with the mobile, also having them controlled.
Tonalá
After the experience we have to say that in the market of Tonalá or Tianguis de Tonalá, as I am also known, it is best to get lost in the streets without following a plane or course, letting yourself be carried away by the colors and smells of the many stands of Food that is interspersed with handicrafts.
And that is what we do for two hours, losing ourselves first through the main streets of the town, where craft stalls accumulate and anything you can imagine, and then throw us into the less traveled streets where we find many shops With less commercial charm and craftsmanship, in addition to some small restaurants we have to say, they steal our hearts.
Tonalá Market
Postcards of Tonalá
We could say that the Tonalá Market is easily reachable in a couple of hours, if you do not want to buy, because if you have any idea of stopping at each position or come looking for something, you probably need all day to travel most From the market.
Tonalá Handicraft Market
As we mentioned, the Tonalá Handicraft Market has two distinct parts, which can be seen perfectly on Sundays. The first is the one that takes place every Thursday and Sunday, when hundreds of stalls cram the streets and alleys of Tonalá.
The best tours and excursions in Guadalajara in Spanish
If you prefer to forget about preparations or have little time, you can book the following tours in SPANISH
- Excursion to Tlaquepaque and Tonalá
- Guided tour of Guadalajara and Tlaquepaque
- Excursion to Ajijic and Lake Chapala
- Excursion to Tequila
- Excursion to Guachimontones
- Many more excursions and tours in / from Guadalajara here
The other part, is the one that can be seen throughout the week in the streets adjacent to the main streets where the craft market is mounted and where you can see shops and workshops that expose their handmade crafts daily. It is in the latter where we recommend you buy if you are looking for any most special piece, since most of them are made in their own workshops thus promoting local commerce.
Tonalá Market
As we mentioned earlier, in Mercado de Tonalá it is also famous for the many food stands that are intercalated to those of handicrafts, so it does not take long until the smell of food forces us to stop at a restaurant, in this case El Jardín, where we ordered a guacamole, melted cheese, tacos and quesadillas plus soft drinks and coffees for 200 pesos.
Eating in Tonalá
After a short table, it is 13:15 when we return to the streets of Tonalá, ready to enjoy the market and its incredible atmosphere again while we are going back on our steps to go in search of the tourist bus in which to return to Guadalajara, now stopping before in Tlaquepaque.
Punctual at 14:10 leaves the bus that will take us to Tlaquepaque from Tonalá, where we arrive in about half an hour, finding a neighborhood that directly and just set foot in its streets, we can say that we fall in love.
Tlaquepaque
Tlaquepaque
8 kilometers from Guadalajara, entering Tlaquepaque is like entering any small town in the colonial era where color is the main protagonist.
As we said before in Tonalá, here in Tlaquepaque the walk without a fixed direction is an obligation that will discover you in each corner new colors and new shops in which the charm and good products become a constant.
Tlaquepaque
Tlaquepaque Stores
Walking through the Independencia walker, which we could say is the main artery of Tlaquepaque, is a gift for the senses where you can find workshops and beautiful little shops in which, although you do not want to buy, you will surely go to the shop window.
Tlaquepaque
After our one and a half day stay in Guadalajara, if you have this time, we would recommend dividing the views so that one of the days you can visit the historic center and Tlaquepaque in the afternoon and another day to visit Tonalá and the neighborhood of Zacopan, another neighborhood that although we will not visit due to lack of time, say that it is very similar to Tlaquepaque, with a lot of charm.
If your stay in Guadalajara also coincides with Thursday or Sunday, the visit to Tonalá is advisable to do those days, as it is when the largest craft market in the area is celebrated.
Another of the areas that we recommend to know in Tlaquepaque is the Hidalgo Garden, a place where the atmosphere and the food stalls are usual and where you can sit on any of its benches to rest your feet after the walk, in addition to your hands If you carry them loaded with bags with the purchases of the day.
Tlaquepaque Guadalajara
After a couple of hours touring Tlaquepaque and although initially we planned to take the bus to return to the center of Guadalajara at 4:30 in the afternoon, something happens that makes us delay almost an hour and that is none other than an antique shop. Or rather a catrina that we see in his shop window.
Although at first we see that it is a piece too big, we do not stop falling in love, so after a couple of assessments and taking into account that in each trip we always try to take a piece a little more special, we abort the mission of leaving at 4:30 in the afternoon and make this purchase for which we need almost half an hour in which a very friendly owner wraps the catrina in the best way to get home completely.
One of these came with us ...
After the purchase we spend some time in a cafeteria that is right next to the bus stop and at 5:30 in the afternoon we return to take the bus that takes us to the center of Guadalajara in 45 minutes.
At 6:15 in the afternoon we decided that before going to the hotel, to ensure a table, we will go to dinner at La Chata de Guadalajara, where we tried to go the first day and it was full.
And today it was not going to be different, although we see that there are not so many people, so we decided to stay and make a queue of 30 minutes to enter, and then taste, finally, the famous cake drowned for 60 pesos each.
Drowned Cake
With a full stomach and after eating one of the typical dishes of Guadalajara, when it is 9 p.m. we say goodbye to Guadalajara and this first stage of the trip to Mexico in 45 days returning to the One Guadalajara Center where we fall surrendered.
Day 14: Guadalajara - How to go to San Cristóbal de las Casas México
