Day 11: What to do in Zacatecas
Although today we have several visits to do in ZacatecasWe wanted to take the day with a little more tranquility and take advantage of this Jordanian trip to Mexico in 45 days to rest a little and start to gain strength for the next stage of the trip that will be in a few days.
After enjoying the beautiful views that we have from the terrace of the room of the Hotel Casa Torres, our accommodation in Zacatecas, we go to the breakfast room when it is 8 in the morning to take this time with time, also taking advantage to review the itinerary of things what to do in Zacatecas that we have scheduled and when it is 9 in the morning go out to the streets of Zacatecas, which at this time begin to cheer up with the coming and going of the people who start their work.
Views of Zacatecas from the terrace of the room
As we commented yesterday before discovering some of the tourist places of Zacatecas, the city had not seemed too striking, or at least not as much as San Miguel de Allende or Guanajuato, which we had visited before, although as we were entering its historical center, this initial perception was changing until we found a city that was gradually won until it became, as we will tell later, one of our favorite cities and one of the essential places to visit in Mexico.
Something we want to comment on is that after our experience, we can say that the visits to do in Zacatecas They are many and very interesting, although we believe that the most interesting thing about the city is itself and what really makes you fall in love with it is its day to day life, its people and the atmosphere that is lived in its streets. That's why in addition to visits what to do in Zacatecas that we will tell you below, we believe that spending a good part of the day wandering around and living those moments, is one of the essential things to do in Zacatecas that you can't miss
What to do in Zacatecas
What to do in Zacatecas
Declared World Heritage by Unesco, Zacatecas is probably one of the most beautiful cities in Mexico, although also one of the least tourist, although in its historic center we can find incredible jewels such as its Cathedral, museums, streets full of places full of charm , houses that seem taken from a film of yesteryear and a unique atmosphere.
Streets of the Historic Center of Zacatecas
As we mentioned before, if there is anything what to do in Zacatecas that you can not miss, it is undoubtedly wander through its historic center. Although this is something that we recommend you to do throughout the day, to have a first impression, it is best that before starting the tour you go from the center to San Francisco Square, passing through the Conquerors Fountain, something that you It will allow you to start having a first view of the city.
Hidalgo Avenue
Streets of Zacatecas
We advise you to go along Hidalgo Avenue, the main artery of the city and then take Juan de Tolosa Street, from which you will arrive to San Francisco Square. Both in this section and in the adjacent streets, you can start to see the charm of this beautiful city, in which the locals with their traditional signs and colors, make you continuously shoot the camera.
Conquerors Fountain
Saint Francis Square
Shops of Zacatecas
As we recommend, we make this tour through the main arteries of the city until we reach the Plaza San Francisco, something that makes us realize how wrong we were yesterday when we thought that this city was not what we expected.
And is that little by little, step after step and minute by minute, we can say that Zacatecas is stealing our hearts and that we have not yet started visits to do in Zacatecas We have planned for today.
After this first contact, we begin with the visits that we have scheduled in the city and that begin, how could it be otherwise in the Plaza de Armas.
Amazing Zacatecas
Main Square
Considered as the icon of the historic center of the city, this square is one of the places to visit in Zacatecas that you can not miss, also on several occasions of the day, since it is amazing how it changes with the passing of the hours. Here you can also see the Government Palace, on the east side and the Palace of the Bad Night, just in front of the previous one in addition to the back of the Cathedral.
Main Square
Zacatecas Cathedral
Noted for being one of the most impressive baroque works in the country, this unusual pink cathedral is another of the places you cannot miss in the city.
In addition to its color, the multiple carvings among which you can see the Virgin of the Zacatecanos, a Christ and the Twelve Apostles stand out.
Zacatecas Cathedral
Zacatecas Cathedral
Santo Domingo Temple Santo Domingo square
The Temple of Santo Domingo, located in the historic center of the city, in the Plazuela de Santo Domingo, is another of the churches that we advise you to visit in Zacatecas, both for its exterior and interior, in which an impressive staircase stands out.
Santo Domingo Temple
Calderón Theater
Very close to the Cathedral is the Calderón Theater, center of representations, which we advise you to visit, even if it is only outside, as it is one of the best known places in the city.
In addition, just in front of the Francisco Goitia Square, there is the market, where you can enter to see some of the charming craft shops that are located inside today.
Calderón Theater
After this visit, when it is 11 o'clock and the temperature is 9 degrees, we decide that the time has come to make a stop in a cafeteria, where to get warm and take a break, since Zacatecas is a city to taste little by little , without hurry and above all, with the calm that gives to be fully at ease in a city.
After this break, we decided to continue with the planned itinerary of the visits to do in Zacatecas, but making a small change, which is to leave the Zacatecano Museum for this afternoon in which the forecast announces rains to now approach the El Eden Eden, one of the visits to do in Zacatecas that you can not miss.
El Eden mine
The schedule of the El Edén Mine is from 10 to 6 in the afternoon and the entrance fee of 100 pesos per person. The visit is guided and although it is done in a group, being low season and being the only ones we are right now, we do not wait for anyone, starting the visit within 5 minutes of arriving at the mine.
Access to the El Eden Mine
Keep in mind that the mine has two entrances, a superior one, known as the east entrance and a lower one, in the historic downtown area. We recommend you to start the visit through the east entrance, since this gives you the opportunity to start the visit through the mine itself and not through the museum, then take the little train that will take you to the other entrance, from which you can walk Reach the historic center of the city.
In addition this will allow you to reach the entrance through some of the most charming streets of the city, something that also, as you can suppose in one of the great attractions of this visit.
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The guided tour lasts approximately 1 hour, in which the guide explains both the history of the mine and many of the anecdotes, as well as despite being a source of wealth for the city and the surrounding area, it also proved to be a nightmare for workers who worked in horrible conditions.
El Eden mine
El Eden mine. Visits to do in Zacatecas
After the guided tour you reach the museum, where the guided tour ends. Although in principle it may seem that it is not essential, we recommend you not to skip the visit, about 20 minutes, since both for the place and for the exhibition it is highly recommended.
El Edén Mine Museum. Visits to do in Zacatecas
After visiting the museum, as we mentioned earlier, you have the possibility of taking a train that takes you inside the mine, in approximately 5 minutes to the lower entrance, from where we continue our walk along the Torreón Avenue that passes just also by the Alameda, until arriving again at the historical center of Zacatecas.
We have to say that although initially we did not have much hope placed on this visit, the truth is that we liked it a lot and we can only recommend it.
Details of the shops in Zacatecas
Again in the most central area of the city, we see that it is after 2 in the afternoon, so being where we are, we cannot resist going to Gorditas Doña Julia, a restaurant that we want to try before leaving Zacatecas, since it is highly recommended to eat chubby. And the truth is that after trying them, we cannot agree more with the recommendation.
Chubby Mrs. Julia
We ordered 4 varied gorditas, between 15 and 20 pesos each, plus two sodas for 165 pesos. We can only say Awesome! Although we also have to say that they fill quite a lot, despite not appearing and that the rajas con queso and the egg ones are not spicy, the following!
After lunch and practically when it is already 3:30 pm, we approach the Starbucks that we have right next to have a coffee and take advantage of work for a while updating all the social networks that these days we have not been able to update as much as We would have wanted.
It's 4:30 in the afternoon, when we confirm that sometimes the weather forecast is right, seeing that it starts to rain, so we decided to visit the Zacatecan Museum, as we had planned.
Zacatecano Museum
With a schedule from 10 to 17 from Wednesday to Monday and a price of 30 pesos per person, the Zacatecano Museum is one of the visits to do in Zacatecas We advise you not to get lost.
This museum is located in the old Mint and has several rooms through which you can learn much more about the Zacatecan culture. Although after the visit, we have to say that although the museum as a whole is highly recommended, for us, the really remarkable thing is the incredible collection of Huichol art that they have. Also as an extra, at the end of the tour they have a small shop, with beautiful crafts, where we cannot avoid doing some shopping.
Zacatecano Museum
Huichol art. Zacatecano Museum
After the visit, when it is after 6 pm and seeing that it does not stop raining, we decided to stop at the Hotel Casa Torres to rest and when it is almost 8 pm to go out to enjoy dinner at the Karnes restaurant in its juice where we ordered a guacamole, cheese with sausage and a meat in its juice with soda and water for 250 pesos.
We are not going to lie to you, dinner has not been bad, but it has not been especially memorable, so the truth is that we would not recommend it ...
And so we will return to the hotel at 9 to rest and tomorrow continue with our route in a good city: Guadalajara.
In this route to do in Zacatecas We will visit and get to know places like Hidalgo Avenue, Juan de Tolosa Street, San Francisco Square, the Plaza de Armas, the Cathedral, the Calderón Theater, the Parish of Santo Domingo, the Zacatecano Museum and the famous El Eden Eden.
Day 12: Zacatecas - What to do in Guadalajara
