Instead of flying from Cancun to Puerto Vallarta we decided instead to stop in Guadalajara for 2 nights. I’ve always wanted to explore the capital of Jalisco state as I heard the architecture was very Spanish and the food and nightlife was good. I was not disappointed – Guadalajara is a fantastic city. The only downside was that due to COVID restrictions there were no open restaurants after 7pm so we did room service for the first night (at the Westin) and UberEats for the second night. UberEats works super well in Mexico – no problems at all.

Guadalajara contains so many churches and cathedrals that I have lost count. The architecture is quite stunning and reminds me more of a European city than a Mexican one. Most of the museums were closed but the churches remained open. I do not know if this was because it was a Sunday and a service had just finished or they are starting to reopen them for tourists. Either way it worked well for us.

As we walked down one of the main streets we found an open art gallery. After the usual temperature check and hand sanitizer we were let in. The building itself is pretty neat and they had an exposition on the second floor regarding refugees coming from Guatemala and trying to get into the US. It was quite moving.

If you ride one of the rapid bus lines to the Northern end you can see Huentitán which is a state park. There is a lookout here and a nice area to picnic as well as a few food stalls. The bus is super easy to use. You pay to get into the bus terminal through turnstiles and then you board the bus. When you exit the bus you go back though the turnstiles. The buses are separated from traffic so they never get stuck in traffic jams.

Chapultepec is an area with a lot of restaurants and bars. It’s also somewhat famous for LGBT culture. Due to COVID all the bars were closed in Guadalajara but there were some interesting artwork like this cow in front of a small restaurant.