Why Mexico’s Second City Is a First Rate Bargain

If you’re looking for a taste of city life and culture in Mexico but haven’t worked up the nerve to visit Mexico City yet, Guadalajara might just be the place you’re looking for.

Guadalajara's Centro Historico

Like most under-appreciated destinations, Guadalajara’s pleasures come cheap. With Mexico’s tourism industry still reeling from the swine flu scare, there are few tourists in Guadalajara.

This is especially so during the area’s rainy season, which runs from June through August. Although rain was in the forecast during each day of our visit, we experienced only a few isolated showers during our stay there.

Those who do visit are likely to receive the red-carpet treatment. Besides being in the driver’s seat when it comes to booking hotel and restaurant reservations, U.S. tourists are also enjoying an especially favorable exchange rate of almost 14 pesos to the dollar. Last year, at this time the rate was about 10 pesos to the dollar.

Under the Radar. Despite being Mexico’s second largest city with a population of about 5 million ( compared with Mexico City’s 21 million), most guidebooks devote little attention to it.

That’s both a blessing and a curse. The lack of information about things to do there makes planning more difficult. But, once you’re there, finding interesting things to do is pretty straightforward.

This is especially so if you stay in the city’s historic district, which is comprised of about 10 square blocks of centuries old plazas, churches, museums, and government buildings. You can spend a couple of days touring these sites and relaxing on the plazas. The elegant shabbiness of this area reminded me of the French Quarter of New Orleans.

We stayed at the Hotel de Mendoza, which is just a few yards away from two of Guadalajara’s biggest plazas. Besides being a real bargain at $70 per night, the Hotel de Mendoza is one of the few hotels in the historic district that has a pool. Although the pool was somewhat small, it was a nice way to cool off after a day of touring the city.

Hotel. The hotel’s staff was very nice and the it also had a good restaurant. My only complaint is that the beds were hard. I discounted the comments I had seen about this on Trip Advisor, thinking that it wouldn’t bother me. I figured the beds could be no worse than sleeping on the ground during camping trips. But they’re not much better than that either.

Plaza Tapatia

The city also has a straightforward and affordable public transportation system. Guadalajara’s rapid bus transit system has stations at each stop and dedicated lanes that avoid traffic delays.

We used rapid transit to take us to a park that overlooks a huge canyon called the Barranca de Oblatos. The juxtaposition a city and scenic canyon reminded me of Griffith Park in Los Angeles. There was also a university there with several outdoor cafes.  The rapid transit system also stops at the zoo, and parque aqua azul–a beautiful park that is right next to the arena where the Mexican rodeo or charreada is held each Sunday at noon.

Mexican rodeo or "charreadas"

Even less expensive was the regular city bus to Tlaquepaque, an area within Gaudalajara with a main square devoted to craft shops and restaurants.