Guadalajara and Tequila

Guadalajara is where a great deal of what the world recognises as Mexican culture actually comes from: mariachi was born in this region, along with the charreada, the Mexican rodeo, and the wide-brimmed hat that goes with both. The city has a colonial centre of cathedrals and plazas, the Hospicio Cabañas with Orozco's ferocious murals across its dome, and in Tlaquepaque and Tonalá two craft districts. An hour northwest, the volcanic soil around the town of Tequila grows blue agave in fields that run to the horizon, a landscape listed by UNESCO along with the old distilleries in it. Tours go through the whole process, from the jimador cutting the piñas with a coa to the ovens, mills, fermenters and stills.

What you actually see

• The agave fields - blue agave running to the horizon in volcanic soil.
• A working distillery - piñas, ovens, fermenters and stills, ending in a tasting.
• Hospicio Cabañas - Orozco's murals across the dome of the old hospice.
• Mariachi and birria - the music in Plaza de los Mariachis and the goat stew.

When to go

October to May is drier; the city sits high enough to be temperate year-round. The mariachi festival in late summer and the October festivals fill Guadalajara. Distillery tours run daily, and the tourist train to Tequila is a comfortable way to avoid driving after tasting.

Honest expectations

Tasting and driving do not mix and the road to Tequila is busy, so use the train or a tour. The big-name distilleries run polished, high-volume tours; the smaller ones are more interesting and less scripted. Plaza de los Mariachis has declined and is not the atmospheric spot it once was, with better music at Tlaquepaque and the festivals.

Nearby

Lake Chapala is an hour south; the Tequila volcano and the agave landscape lie northwest.